Bob Ewell’s Personality and Actions in to Kill a Mockingbird

Introduction

I think that Bob Ewell does all the things he does because when he was a child, he learned all these bad things from his parents. “Children learn how to communicate from their parents,” according to The Mission Podcast (Here Are 5 Unbelievably Toxic Things Good Parents Never Do). Bob Ewell shows his personality during the trial in To Kill a Mockingbird when he accuses Tom Robinson of hitting Mayella Ewell (Lee 124). Bob Ewell does all these things that show his personality, including threatening Atticus and trying to harm Jem and Scout because of his low-income upbringing.

Body

Bob Ewell’s Personality and Upbringing

For example, during the trial, Bob is lying about what actually happened between Mayella and Tom (Lee 172-178). Also, during the trial, Bob agrees with everything that Sherriff Heck Tate says. For example, he said, “I hold with everything Tate said” (Lee 176). I personally do not think Bob Ewell was even listening when Tate was on the stand, and Bob was acting like he knew everything while he was on the stand. These events are important because when a person is on the stand in court, they are supposed to tell the truth, and then they have to swear on the Bible. Bob is clearly lying on the stand because when Atticus asks questions such as “Mr. Ewell, you heard the sheriff’s testimony, didn’t you?” Bob says, “How’s that?” (Lee 176). Implying that he did not know what the sheriff said. One of the most obvious things that Bob says is, “How’s that” when Atticus asks, “Do you agree with Tate’s description of Mayella’s injuries” (Lee 176). It is pretty obvious that Bob is lying when Atticus asks that question because he wants to make sure that he says the same thing as Tate. This relates to me because when I was younger, I lied all the time. For example, one time in second grade, I told my teacher that over the weekend, I went to the moon. She could tell I was lying mostly because that was impossible. I think Atticus could tell, too, and I do not think Bob is very happy with some of the questions Atticus asks on the stand.

Bob Ewell’s Hostility Towards Atticus and Threats to Jem and Scout

For instance, the first question Atticus asked was, “Mr. Ewell folks were doing a lot of running that night. Let’s see; you say you ran to the house; you ran to the window; you ran inside; you ran to Mayella; you ran to Tate. Did you, during all this running run for a doctor?” and Mr. Ewell said, “Wadn’t no need to. I saw what happened.” (Lee 217) Atticus was kind of making Bob look like a little kid who exaggerates everything. This relates to me because when I was little, I over-exaggerated a lot of things, most of which I cannot remember. For example, when Bob was saying I ran here, then I ran there. Then after the trial, Bob approached Atticus and cursed him, spat on him, and threatened to kill him (Lee 217). This is not ok because it is not right to threaten to kill someone just because they did not agree with you on something. It is really bad when a grown-up threatens kids, just like how Bob threatened Jem and Scout. Bob was really drunk one night, and he went after Jem and Scout.

Therefore, when Jem and Scout were on their way back from their Thanksgiving play, they heard footsteps behind them, but when they stopped, the footsteps stopped. They thought it was just Cecil Jacobs because, on their way to the play, Cecil scared them. Since it was pitch dark, they could not see who it was. Then, after they got attacked by whoever was following them and they were both inside and settled down, Scout found out that Jem had a broken arm and was unconscious. Then, Tate went and looked around the big oak tree, and he found Bob Ewell dead underneath the tree with a kitchen knife stuck between his ribs. So, I believe that Bob was going to try to hurt the kids on their way back home. I found out that Boo Radley was the person who killed Bob and helped the kids get away from Bob before he could seriously hurt them. You can really tell that Bob has a horrible personality because he tries to kill or hurt two kids who really did not do anything wrong to make Bob want to do this. Again his upbringing makes him do some extremely unethical things.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I feel like Bob Ewell’s kids might turn out just like Bob, just not as bad as he was. Children learn from their parents, and if their parents are always doing bad things like drinking in front of their kids, then their kids will think it is ok because their mom and dad do it. The book does not really talk about Bob’s kids too much, but they do talk about Mayella Ewell. She sometimes acts like her father, like with the whole Tom Robinson thing, but she also says that she is lonely, and that is why she did all those things to Tom.

Work Cited

1. https://medium.com/the-mission/here-are-5-unbelievably-toxic-things-good-parents-never-do-1fc3477657c
   Lee, Harper, To Kill a Mockingbird. New York, NY, Werner Books, 1960. Print.

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