tion ofRobert Ewell, his family, and how he lives. A good example is the passage in which Robert Ewell testifies in the TomRobinson Trial. This is a description of the Ewell’s home as well as aninsight into the Ewells themselves. We learn what kind of a father Robert isand the kind of life into which he has forced his eldest daughter, Mayella.
We also see how the county of Maycomb cruelly discriminates against the blackcommunity even though they are more respectable than people like the Ewells.
Lee uses such detail in the account of the Ewell cabin because the best way tounderstand the Ewells is to understand how they live. For example, shestates, “The cabin’s plank walls were supplemented with sheets of corrugatediron, its general shape suggested it’s original design: square, with four tinyrooms opening onto a shotgun hall, the cabin rested uneasily upon fourirregular lumps of limestone. Its windows were merely open spaces in thewalls, which in the summer were covered with greasy strips of cheese cloth tokeep out the varmints that feasted on Maycomb’s refuse.” This descriptionpaints a very vivid picture of the cabin and also tells a little bit about theEwells themselves. From this we can infer that the Ewells took very little (ifany at all) pride in their home and it’s appearance. Later in the passage Leeadds, “What passed for a fence was bits of tree limbs, broomsticks and toolshafts, all tipped with rusty hammer heads, shovels, axes and grubbing hoes,held on with pieces of barbed wire.” By now it is apparent that the onlyhousehold repairs the Ewells make are with things they find at the dump. Theimage Lee is trying to form of these people is made very obvious by her use ofdetails.
We Will Write a Custom Essay Specifically
For You For Only $13.90/page!
order now
The passage also gives quite a bit of insight into Mr.Ewell himself. Forexample, Lee states, “The varmints had a lean of it, for the Ewells gave thedump a thorough gleaning every day^?” This statement informs us that the Ewellsmain source of revenue is form the town dump. Quite a pathetic way to keepones family fed; but what can one expect for an unemployed alcoholic likeMr.Ewell? As Lee states earlier in the passage, “No truant officers could keeptheir numerous offspring in school; no public health officer could free themfrom congenital defects, various worms, and diseases indigenous to filthysurroundings.” THIS DOES NOT CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR THESIS>However as terrible as he is as afather he serves quite a useful purpose as a contrast to Atticus Finch.
Mr.Finch’s loving and attentiveness towards his children his is made veryobvious when compared to Mr.Ewell’s abusiveness and neglect.
“One corner of the yard, though, bewildered Maycomb. Against the fence, in aline, were six chipped-enamel slop jars holding brilliant red geraniums, caredfor as tenderly as if they belonged to Miss Maudie Atkinson, had Miss Maudiedeigned to permit a geranium on her premises.” Mayella Ewell is the eldest ofthe Ewell children, and only member of the Ewell family who has any pride andsense of dignity at all. As a result of that she is forced to be mainprovider and caregiver for the younger Ewell children as Lee expresses in thisstatement, “Nobody was quite sure how many children were on the place. Somepeople said six, others said nine; there were always several dirty-faced onesat the windows when anyone passed by.” With all those children to take careMayella was only able to get a few years worth of education, and had no timefor any friends. After being forced into this kind of life by her father onemight wonder why Mayella would want to lie under oath on the witness stand todefend his lies. Probably because she was afraid of what he would do to her ifshe told the truth, but also because she had been living with the abuse fromhim all her life, and couldn’t imagine her life being any different.
In direct contrast to the Ewells was the “Negro settlement some five hundredyards beyond the Ewells.” As Lee states, “their cabins looked neat and snugwith pale blue smoke rising from the chimneys and doorways glowing amber fromthe fries inside. There were delicious smells about: chicken, bacon fryingcrisp as twilight air. Jem and I detected squirrel cooking,
Related essay samples:
- To Kill a Mockingbird – Atticus Speech analysis Essay
- Essay: To Kill A Mockingbird In The Widely Known Novel To Kill A Mocki
- To Kill a Mockingbird Key Passage
- To Kill A Mockingbird – Plot Summary
- Evil: Relation Of Experience And Maturation
- 2 poems
- “To kill a mockingbird” Explanation of the quote Essay
- Atticus Finch’s portrayal in “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee Essay Sample
- How Is Atticus Finch’s Character Introduced and Developed in Part 1? Essay Sample
- Family life in To Kill A Mockingbird Essay
- Return To Bitter Creek
- Isolation by Lucy Hayden Ancram
- Study Material for Class X Compulsory English Elti Bikaner, Rajasthan
- “The Crucible” and “To Kill a Mockingbird” Essay Sample
- Teaching Children About Morals English Literature Essay