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Literary analysis to kill a mockingbird essay
Literary analysis to kill a mockingbird essay
To kill a mockingbird literary analysis essay
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One of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird is Bob Ewell. Bob Ewell is a selfish drunk who doesn't know how to control himself. He beats his children and he can’t hold a steady job for long. He is obsessed with revenge for Atticus for making him look like a fool at the trial of Tom Robinson, whom Ewell’s daughter is accusing of rape. Because of his false testimony, he can never be trusted again in front of the whole courtroom. He will do anything to get back at Atticus, and is willing to go as far as going after his children. He also has a grudge against the judge in the trial, and against the wife of the accused. Bob is crazy and delusional and is trying to gain back his reputation by taking down all the people that went against him in …show more content…
The town gossip, Miss Stephanie Crawford, tells Atticus’ children what she overheard in downtown Maycomb: “Atticus was leaving the post office when Mr. Ewell approached him, cursed him, spat at him, and threatened to kill him.” This shows that he is furious with Atticus that he would go so far as to curse and spit and threaten him in broad daylight where anyone could watch and hear. Atticus then explains why Bob Ewell did these horrible things: “Jem, see if you can stand in Bob Ewell’s shoes for a minute. I destroyed his last shed of credibility at the trial, if he had any begin with. The man had to have some kind of comeback, his kind always does. So if spitting in my face and threatening me saved Mayella Ewell one extra beating, that’s something I’ll gladly take. He had to take it out on somebody and I rather it be me than that household of child.” This explains why Atticus did nothing at the post office and will do nothing against Bob Ewell. Later, Bob realizes that Atticus is not about to do anything back at him, so he kicks it up a notch and goes after his children instead. He almost got his revenge, but Arthur Radley came and saved the children from
Evidence: In Harper Lee’s To kill a Mockingbird Bob Ewell is a main antagonist against Mr. Finch who one of the protagonist. Bob Ewell is a man who is controlled by his alcohol. His wife died so he ended up getting relief checks. Instead of using this money responsibly for his kids, he would go out into the woods after he had bought liquor with the money from his relief checks and drink until he got sick then came home. Bob Ewell has hurt his kids because of his drinking habits. He doesn't want them to go to school. He likes them to stay home and work around the house so he doesn't have to do anything.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, the most important character trait portrayed by Bob Ewell is prejudice. Throughout the book, Bob Ewell demonstrates how prejudice has been kept alive through ignorance and fear. First, by blaming Tom Robinson for beating Mayella. During the trial, Bob Ewell stood up and pointed his finger at Tom Robinson "I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin' on my Mayella"(84)! Bob Ewell emphasizes Tom’s race over everything else. He doesn’t care who he is as a person all he cares about is the color of his skin. Towards the end of the trial, Atticus has one last chance to prove the Ewells wrong. Atticus asks: “About your writing with your left hand, are you ambidextrous, Mr. Ewell? I most positively
Bob Ewell is the villain of the novel and, as a result of the trial, he tries to get revenge on Atticus and his family. In the trial itself he is revealed as a very unpleasant character. We learn that he drinks and sometimes leaves his family for days, he is violent and he may even be committing incest with Mayella. Atticus establishes that he is left-handed and that Mayella was probably beaten up by a left-handed man - it seems that he, and not Tom Robinson, beat up Mayella after he saw Mayella trying to kiss Tom. Bob therefore lies during the trial and is prepared to sacrifice the life of an innocent man for the sake of his daughter's reputation. His unpleasant behaviour during the trial and his assumption that everybody will be on his side against a black man convince the reader that he is a thoroughly unpleasant character.
Bob Ewell’s understanding of justice is seen in a bad light when he threatens Atticus. The first clear sign of Mr. Ewell wanting to get revenge on the Finches is when he spits in Atticus’s face. Mr. Ewell approaches Atticus “cursed him, spat on him, and threatened to kill him” (291). Atticus simply takes the abuse to protect Mayella from her dad, Bob Ewell. Mayella, being the reason for this conflict, gets abused by her dad from her mistake of kissing a black man. Mr. Ewell simply lets his anger get to him and releases it on people around him. Like he did
Bob Ewell attacked the kids to get at Atticus. Boo Radley happen to be around and fought off Bob. He ended up stabbing Bob to protect the kids. When the sheriff came to check out the situation, Boo was already there checking on Jem. Atticus and the sheriff was talking on how to take this to trial. Sheriff Tate made the case that Bob Ewell fell on his own knife. He said, “Let the dead bury the dead.” Sheriff Tate realized an innocent man died for a crooked man’s actions, who is now dead.
Evidence: When Atticus went to tell Helen that tom was dead Bob Ewell showed up and spit on Atticus, Yet Atticus did not do anything he just walked away and
There are no two characters in To Kill a Mockingbird that differ in identity as much as Atticus Finch and Bob Ewell. Atticus is a man of the law. He defends Tom, an innocent man wrongly convicted, despite the flack his family get from it. “‘ My folks said your daddy was a disgrace an’ that nigger oughta hang from the water tank!’” (Lee 76) He sets a good example for his children. He calls everyone he know ‘Sir’ or ‘Ma'am’.
Bob Ewell decided to get back at Atticus for the Tom Robinson case by attacking his kids. Boo Radley saved Scout and Jem by stabbing Bob, but Heck Tate is insistent on saying that Bob fell on his knife. Atticus agrees and then explains the situation to Scout. Scout explained to him, “‘Yes sir, I understand,’ I reassured him. ‘
Defending a black man caused havoc around town as no one supported Atticus. After the trial was over, Bob Ewell the father of Mayella Ewell who Tom Robinson was accused of raping confronted Atticus outside the courtroom where he spat and cursed on him and also threatened to kill him. “Too proud to fight, you nigger-lovin’ bastard? “(pg 217) said Bob, Atticus wanted no part of this and he took everything in. When Scout hears about what Bob did she is frightened, she knows Bob is an ignorant and poor man who is known as a drunk. “We’re scared for you, and we think you oughta do something about him,” (pg 218) said Jem, Scout and Jem let Atticus know that they are scared for him and he should do something about Bob before he does something. No harm occurs to the Finch family until...
Bob Ewell is a relentless man due to his action within the text. He is unstoppable when it comes to attempting to cause trouble. Sometime after the trial, Bob Ewell and Atticus saw each other and Scout said that he told Atticus "he'd get him if it took the rest
Another consequence of defending Tom Robinson in court, aside from being known as a "nigger lover" and opening himself to several other forms of racial hatred from the good people of Maycomb, Atticus was also arguing against a man who was known to be a violent drunk. Bob Ewell was a frightening man and it was noble of Atticus to put himself in a position of opposing such an unstable individual. Atticus remained a gentleman when Ewell confronted him at the post office. Most men in his position would have violently lashed out at Robert E. after being spat upon. Atticus did the right thing and remained a gentleman throughout the confrontation.
All the evidence and all the fingers point to Bob Ewell, however, the jury cannot find Tom Robinson due to the racism and bias that is ever present in Maycomb. The town knows the truth in about Bob Ewell. Although nobody will explicitly say it, every person in the town realizes what actually happened the evening of November twenty first. No person wants to be the first to break the mold. Every individual waits for someone else to connect the dots and speak the truth, but because Bob Ewell is white, Tom Robinson is convicted for the crimes. Bob Ewell, even though was never sentenced to jail time, is the second looser in this situation. Although Bob Ewell is never imprisoned, Atticus’s mission is accomplished; the goal was never to prove Tom Robinson’s innocence, that was already clear. Atticus’s goal was to prove Bob Ewell’s crimes. Atticus from day one knows that he has no chance of winning the trial when he says, “Simply because we were licked one hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win” (101). Atticus realizes that, since Maycomb will not allow Tom to be found innocent, that the enviorment that Tom has been accuses in does not have the open mindedness that would even give a
Bob Ewell believes that Atticus is not a good man because he tries to stand up for Tom and the way he tries to get back at Atticus is by going after Jem and Scout on the way home from the pageant. “We were nearly to the road when I felt Jem’s hand leave me, felt him jerk backwards to the ground” (351). Jem and Scout were surprised by someone at a vulnerable time because it was dark and they were defenseless and taken by surprise.
"The only thing we've got is a black man's word against the Ewells'. The evidence boils down to you-did-I-didn't. The jury couldn't possibly be expected to take Tom Robinson's word against the Ewells,'" Atticus solemnly explains this to his brother. First of all, Atticus demonstrates courage when he undertakes the task of defending Tom Robinson, a black man wrongly accused of rape. Atticus knows he won't win the case and like Mrs. Dubose in her battle against morphine, he is "licked" before he begins. Nevertheless, Atticus knows that Tom is innocent and that he must fight for him, since no one else will. Atticus's strong sense of morality and justice motivates him to defend Tom with vigor and determination, giving it all he's got with one mission in mind. He wants the people of Maycomb town, whether they believe it or not, to hear the truth about Tom, "That boy might go to the chair, but he's not going till the truth's told"
In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the theme of “good versus evil” is very prevalent throughout the novel. The main example of this theme would be of course be between Tom Robinson and the Ewells. Tom Robinson representing the good and the Ewell family being the evil. At first in the novel the it looks like the Ewells are going to win because Tom Robinson is shot and killed by prison guards. The key factor to why the good eventually triumphs evil in the novel is because Bob Ewell is filled with retribution. This desire on getting revenge leads him to get back at the people who wronged him. The family that he is most angry at are the Finches. This would lead to his downfall because he tries to kill Scout and Jem, but Boo Radley takes