To Kill a Mockingbird — Chapter 27

About This Passage

This passage opens the chapter's account of Bob Ewell's three small revenges. Lee tells the reader that Bob Ewell was the only man ever fired from the WPA for laziness — a detail Lee delivers with quiet humor that does not soften how mean-spirited Bob Ewell remains. After his short burst of fame at the trial, he expected to be a hero. He was not. He was as forgotten as Tom Robinson. He returns to the welfare office and mutters that the people running the town will not let an honest man make a living. He blames Atticus loudly enough that Ruth Jones, the welfare lady, walks to Atticus's office to warn him. Atticus's response is calm and small — he is not going to fret, and Bob Ewell knows the way to the office if he wants to come in. The passage shows Lee's craft of giving the reader the full pattern of Bob Ewell's grudge in one paragraph.

Narration Prompt

Retell Chapter 27 by listing the three small things that happen to Maycomb people in October — Bob Ewell at the welfare office, the visitor at Judge Taylor's screen door, and Bob Ewell harassing Helen Robinson — and then describe how Lee uses the chapter's last sentence about a longest journey together to prepare the reader for what comes next.

Discussion Questions

1. Lee writes that Bob Ewell expected to be a hero after the trial but found himself as forgotten as Tom Robinson. Examine why Bob Ewell's expectation of becoming a hero was wrong, and consider what the disappointment teaches about how Maycomb actually felt about Bob Ewell's testimony.
2. Mr. Link Deas closes his store, walks Helen Robinson home past the Ewell house, and stands at the gate to warn Bob Ewell. Examine why Mr. Link Deas's small public act of bravery succeeds in protecting Helen when private complaints had not, and consider what the chapter teaches about how a community's silence enables a bully and how one loud voice can break that silence.

+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide