Mr.Ewell, the antagonist in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, has a few traits that influence his relationship with others. One he’s a racist guy. Two, he’s a liar. And three he is very weird since he’s a drunk.
In the screenplay it says, “Ewell stands in front of the car. He turns and looks at Jem. Atticus goes to Ewell and Ewell spits in Atticus’s face”. Suddenly, weirdness comes now when Ewell decides to spit in Atticus’s face just when Atticus stands in front of him. Ewell also frightened Jem by the way he was standing by the car and looking at him all creepy. Ewell should’ve never done that . He is a very cruel man to Atticus and his kids.
After in the next part, lines 72-75 it says, “Atticus stares at him, wipes off his face, and starts to get in his car. He and Jem drive off as Ewell watches them angrily.” This shows how Ewell was a very mean guy while Atticus and his kids still maintained enough calm to move away from him.
Atticus responded at one point of the play (p.40) saying, “There’s a lot of ugly things in this world son. I wish I could keep em all away from you. That’s never possible.” Ewell is making Atticus worry for his kids and maybe even frighten him because of his cruel ways.
Ewell’s traits deepen a reader’s sense of cruelty and sparks a feeling of danger and hatred toward others such as Atticus and his family. Who knows if he’s this way to his family also?
I’m glad you’re enjoying reading To Kill A Mockingbird! I liked your comparison of the circumstances then to today, though I’d say its more comparable to the social state of today’s world. You did a great job inferencing what is going on in the first chapter when the reader isn’t totally sure at that point in the book. I’d be interested to hear your take on the rest of the book and its themes!