The Ewells are first introduced to us reasonably early on in the book, Scout’s first day at school. The boy we meet is Burris Ewell. This is where we first discover the disrespect of the Ewell family. When they are being taught, the teacher notices a louse coming from his hair. She then tells him to go home and wash, but he says it’s not worth it because he only comes to school for one day each year. Subsequently we find out that The father of the Ewell children, Bob Ewell does not force his children to participate in schooling. The authorities have tried so many times to force Bob to do this and failed every time as well. Consequently they have given up trying.
From this we can assume that the Ewell children are neglected, their father is poor and what little money he does have he spends on alcohol leaving him only to poach for food and sustenance. The authorities only allow this because they feel sorry for his children.
Nobody condones the Ewells activities, and nobody associates with them. Even the most neutral person in Maycomb’s community says “the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations. This means however, that even if a Ewell is a good person he is discriminated against because his name is Ewell. An addition to this is that all of the Ewells are at a huge disadvantage because nobody trusts them or gives any of them a chance to prove that they are trust worthy.
In the trial of Mayella Ewell, the second time we meet the Ewells, there is a disturbing thing that happens. The county all condemn the Ewells actions but when it comes to a trial against a black man that is innocent, they whole town still sides with, and I quote, “the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations”, the Ewells. They do this purely because Tom Robinson is a black person. Tom Robinson is left as another scapegoat of the American civil war 60 years after it happened. The community even condemns Atticus’ action of defending a Negro, even though he is a better man than Bob Ewell. Even the court room is segregated, in a so called ’even society’. The Negro’s sit in their own section above the whites of Maycomb County purely so that the whites don't have to look at a another black person apart from the accused, Tom Robinson.
Even after the Ewells win the racially unfair trial we still discover a grudge, they swear revenge on Atticus just because he dared to challenge white supremacy by defending a Negro man in a case against a white person.
In conclusion, I think it is safe to say that racism used to play a big part in human behaviour, and in some communities still does. So I deduce that no matter what someone thinks of someone else, in the end it comes down to the colour of their skin.
