Table of Contents
What is special about the Ewells?
Atticus explains to Scout that the Ewell family has special privileges because common citizens have essentially become blind to some of their activities. Two special privileges given to the Ewells include not requiring the children to attend school, and allowing Bob to hunt and trap out of season.
What new insight do we learn about the Ewell family?
Atticus gives additional insight into the lives of the Ewells by telling his daughter that the Ewells have been the disgrace of Maycomb for many generations. Atticus says that they lived like animals and were given special privileges because of their unconventional ways.
What do we learn about the Ewells in Chapter 17?
What do we learn indirectly of the home life of the Ewell family in this chapter? We learn that there are many children, and one always drunk father. They are very poor and are abused by the father. Mayella in specifically is often assaulted by him.
What illegal things do the Ewells do?
The law against hunting is for hunting for sport. Mr. Ewell is hunting to feed his family because he refuses to get a job.
Who are the Ewells and why are they treated differently?
the Ewells are poorer than the Cunningham’s. They do not work and are dishonest people. They don’t have to go to school and can hunt out of season.
What does the Ewells home environment suggest about the family?
The Ewell family’s existence is one of poverty and filth. Bob Ewell doesn’t work (until he gets a job with the WPA where he is promptly fired) and the children must take care of themselves in order to survive.
Why is Burris poor?
Walter Cunningham and Burris Ewell are both poor, but the behavior of their families is completely different. His family lives behind the dump and his father collects welfare checks and spends them on alcohol. Walter, on the other hand, comes from a poor farming family, but a respectable one.
Are the Ewells poor?
Scout describes the position that the Ewells hold in the Maycomb community. Her description makes clear that the Ewells are not a powerful family who are playing with the lives of those less fortunate. Rather, the Ewells are the poorest of the poor and at the very bottom of white society.