User blog:ACT4583/Pathetic Pinhead Proposal: Bob Ewell

Next candidate.

The Work
To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1960 novel by Harper Lee, with a 1962 film adaptation. It deals with the black racism that was ubiquitous in the United States during the 20th century. Unsurprisingly, our candidate is a bigoted man, by the name of...

The Candidate and Their Actions
'♪ Bob the Bigot! ♪'

'♪ Are we racist? ♪'

'♪ Bob the Bigot! ♪'

'♪ Yes we are! ♪'

Okay okay, that's likely too far...anyways...

Bob Ewell is the derogatory and abusive father of eight children, including Mayella and Burris Ewell. His family is extremely impoverished, living in a cramped, filthy, and disorganized house. He supplies food to his family by illegally hunting, and is so poor he cannot afford basic services like education or healthcare for his family.

Sometime before the events of the novel, Ewell had found out that his daughter Mayella was making out with a black man named Tom Robinson. Earlier, Tom had empathized with the Ewells and helped them with their daily chores. Mayella, who had no one who truly loved her, felt deep affection for Tom and forcibly made love with him. However, when Bob found out about this, he scared Tom away and proceeded to physically abuse (and possibly rape) Mayella.

At the beginning of the novel, Bob takes Tom to court for supposedly beating and raping her daughter. Bob seems aware of the racially biased justice system of Maycomb County, and takes advantage of it, knowing that the chance that Tom is found not guilty is slim to none. Bob is sentencing Tom to death in the hopes that he would be respected and honoured by the people of Maycomb.

During the trial, Tom's lawyer, Atticus Finch points out that the injuries that Mayella sustained were inconsistent with the fact that Tom's left arm had been essentially disabled, as her injuries indicated that her abuser was left-handed. It is later revealed that Bob was left-handed (by having him write his name), and that he was the one who truly assaulted Mayella. The all-white jury however still finds Tom guilty in spite of Atticus' astute observations, and Tom is sent to prison.

Bob relishes in and boasts about his victory at the trial (especially after finding out Tom had been shot and killed in prison while attempting to escape), but the other residents of Maycomb County, realizing that Bob had been lying and exploiting the justice system, show scorn and derision towards him. Bob becomes extremely infuriated and incandescent for still not garnering any respect, and becomes increasingly violent, spitting in Atticus' face, attempted breaking and entering in the judge's house, and intimidating Tom's widow Helen.

Eventually, his violence culminates in his ultimate revenge for Atticus, and on Halloween night, he attempts to kill Atticus' two children, Scout and Jem, using a kitchen knife. However, he is blocked by the enigmatic Arthur "Boo" Radley, and the two engage in a struggle. Eventually, Boo manages to fatally wound Bob using Bob's kitchen knife. When the Maycomb County Sheriff, Heck Tate, finds out about the fight, he reports that Bob accidentally killed himself by "falling on his own knife", in order to protect Boo's identity.

Immorality
Certainly. It was implied he raped his own daughter, and he pins that rape on Tom by testifying against him. He says that he hopes this trial will make him a hero in the town's eyes, but in truth he knows what he is doing is immoral and that it only stems from his racial prejudice against blacks. Besides, when he still isn't seen as a hero, he goes all out on his villainy and commits more evil-doings, including trashing the judge's house and attempting to murder Atticus' children.

Cowardice
To be frank this is the one section where my uncertainties about Bob's qualifications lie. Bob's cowardice isn't especially explicit, and we don't get a scene where he cries out after the tables turn against him. Nonetheless, I ultimately do think there are enough suggestions of cowardice for Bob to be one. For one, he never directly confronts Tom, and has to rely on false rape accusations to get "revenge" against him. However, I think what truly makes Bob a coward is that after Atticus counters his arguments, Bob doesn't try to fight or kill him directly (spitting in his face does not count). Rather, Bob goes after Atticus' children, knowing they are defenseless. The implication that Bob didn't dare to fight Atticus because the latter had defeated his claims and proved himself to be a worthy threat makes me believe that this is enough to consider Bob a coward.

Stupidity
Considering his lack of education, Bob was never truly smart to begin with. However, his true shining moment of stupidity comes during Tom's trial. In short, Bob doesn't even try to cover up the blatant lies in his testimony. When he beat up his daughter, he never considered the injuries on her would indicate a left-handed assailant, even though Tom's left arm was disabled. He doesn't even bother trying to cover up this hole in his argument, and he clearly demonstrates that he is left-handed when he is asked to write his name. Granted, it is possible that he purposely didn't bother trying to create a fool-proof argument because he knew the prejudiced jury would find Tom guilty regardless. Nevertheless, this is still not a smart move, and I doubt he would have been able to cover up the transparent lies in his arguments, even if his life depended on it.

Apart from this moment, in general he seems to prioritize committing evil over even basic self-preservation. This is clearly demonstrated by his actions after the trial, such as when he acts belligerently around everyone just because he still wasn't being viewed as a town hero, when he breaks into the judge's house out of petty revenge, and when he tries to kill Atticus' children but karmically ends up losing his life when Boo Radley comes to the rescue.

Lack of Charisma
Nah, no charisma. He doesn't pretend to be nice or charming during the trial, and remains smug throughout it.

Incompetence
Bob possesses no real skill, and as shown by his flimsy lies is not a very competent person. The only reason why he was even able to succeed in testifying against Tom was because of the racist jury. Otherwise, his blatant lies wouldn't have been able to carry him so far.

Hateability
Definitely. The narrative treats him with due disgust, and none of the characters (not even his own family) likes him. He is played completely unsympathetically, he lacks any altruistic qualities, and his purpose in the story is to demonstrate the true evils of racism and bigotry.

Final Verdict
Fair yes.