Minor Characters In To Kill A Mockingbird

In novels, there are major characters and minor characters. The purpose of a minor character is to be a foil for the main character, or to highlight their weaknesses or strengths. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the minor character Bob Ewell is the foil character to Atticus Finch the main character. To Kill a Mockingbird implies multiple themes throughout it. Atticus and Bob Ewell highlight the theme of courage and cowardice within the novel.

Atticus Finch symbolizes justice and the courage to defend someone no matter their race. While Bob Ewell is the cowardice, prejudice, and racism of the time period personified. When these two characters confront each other, the difference in their personalities and even their moral standards is clearly evident. In the morning, following the trial the confrontations between Atticus and Bob become physical when “Mr. Bob Ewell stopped Atticus on the post office corner, spat in his face, and told him he’d get him if it took the rest of

Even as he is degraded and attacked by Bob Ewell, he never retaliates. Bob Ewell, nevertheless holds grudges even after the trial ends. Tom Robinson's wife Helen becomes a target of Bob’s harassment on her way to work, “she looked around and saw Mr. Ewell walking behind her.... all the way to the house...crooning foul words.” (334) His constant hassling of Helen comes to the attention of Helen’s employer. He promptly threatens to sue Ewell and have him arrested for the harassment. This consequently puts an end to him bothering Helen when she is walking to and from work. The way Bob Ewell get exacts his revenge on people depends on if he sees them to be stronger than he is. He displays this as he harrases Tom Robinsons wife while he is incarcerated. Furthermore he attempts to kill Atticus’s children while he is drunk late at