Why Is Bob Ewell Important In To Kill A Mockingbird

“Being a good person does not depend on your religion, status in life, race, skin color, political views, or culture. It depends on how you treat others,” - unknown. Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is a story that takes place in the fictitious town of Maycomb, AL during the nineteen-thirties. In Maycomb, Jeremy and Scout Finch are the children of a lawyer. A trial involving the false accusation of Tom Robinson, a black man, raping a white woman, causes the children to learn of inequality in their own town. From their father, the children learn to become more considerate of others for a change. Bob Ewell makes up the rape story. He is a terrible father to his kids and a terrible person towards everyone in Maycomb. Bob Ewell also attempts to kill Jem and Scout because the people of Maycomb did not appreciate his effort to benefit from Tom Robinson’s false verdict of rape and eventual death. Furthermore, Bob Ewell deserves the least amount of respect out of all the characters in To Kill A Mockingbird.

He often drinks up the whole welfare check given for the whole Ewell family to use. As a matter of fact, even Mayella admits in her testimony, “The jury learned the following things: their relief check was far from enough to feed the family, and there was a strong suspicion that Papa drank it up anyway-he sometimes went off in the swamp for days and come home sick; [...]” (Lee 244). In this quote, it is explained to the jury Mayella’s father, Bob Ewell, drinks up the government money that should be used for necessities. Bob Ewell also goes away into the swamp sometimes for days leaving his eight children with nineteen year old Mayella. Unfortunately for Mayella, Bob Ewell is a better alcoholic than he is a diligent father, therefore he deserves the least amount of