Atticus rarely has a bad word to say about anybody, but he
has already told Scout that the Ewells had been "the disgrace of Maycomb for three
generations." The present leader of the family, Bob Ewell does nothing to dispel
Atticus' claim. Lewd, crude and socially unacceptable, Bob shows that he is out of place
in any social setting.
All the little man on the witness stand had that
made him any better than his nearest neighbors was, that if he scrubbed with lye soap in
very hot water, his skin was
white.
Bob referred to the
prosecutor as "cap'n," making Scout feel sorry for her father's adversary. Bob soon had
the courtroom in an uproar when he told the court that
"--I
seen that black nigger yonder ruttin' on my Mayella."
As
Scout explained,
With one phrase he had turned happy picnickers
into a sulky, tense, murmuring
crowd...
Bob showed that he
was uneducated and uncouth, showing contempt for Atticus, the judge and the serious
charges he and his daughter had made against Tom Robinson.
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