Discussion Questions for Chapter Twenty-Seven of To Kill a Mockingbird
Of what has Bob Ewell ridiculously accused Atticus? (248)
Getting him fired from his job, when he got himself fired after only a few days.
How did Judge Taylor react to hearing a prowler lurking around outside his house? (248)
He investigated the noise, saw a shadow, and settled back into his reading in his chair, with a
shotgun across his lap to protect himself from any further intruders.
Who do you suspect was lurking around outside Judge Taylor’s house? (248)
Answers may vary, but most students will say: Bob Ewell.
Bob Ewell won. Tom was convicted and then died. You’d think he’d be happy, having gotten
what he wanted. Why is Bob Ewell going after Helen Robinson? (249)
Answers may vary, but may include that: he’s adding insult to injury; he hates everyone
connected to Tom Robinson; he’s just spiteful and mean: it wasn’t enough for him to make her a
widow, now he has to terrorize her, too.
When Mr. Link Deas—who continues to employ Helen more for her sake than his, since he
doesn’t really need the extra help, and he knows she needs the money—figures out that Helen is
taking the long way around to get to work, and he makes Helen tell him the reason, what’s the
reason and what does Mr. Link Deas do about it? (249)
She’s avoiding the Ewells who physically intimidate and attack her. Mr. Deas walks Helen
home the short way, past the Ewells’ place. He stops outside the Ewell property, and yells at the
(apparently empty) house (though he knows they are all inside, lying on the floor) that if the
Ewells continue to bother her he’ll have Bob in jail before sundown.
What tactic does Bob Ewell switch to after Mr. Link Deas (Helen’s employer) goes to the Ewell
house and yells at Bob that if he goes after Helen again he’ll make sure Bob goes to jail? (249)
Bob follows along some distance behind Helen, softly crooning foul words.
When Bob Ewell follows Helen Robinson all the way to the house of Mr. Link Deas, what does
Mr. Link Deas say to Bob, and with what result? (249-250)
He tells Bob Ewell to get his stinkin’ carcass off his fence, he can’t afford fresh paint for it
(implying Bob is very dirty), and to stay away from Helen (his cook) or he’ll have him arrested
for assault or the Ladies’ Law (a nonexistent law that he made up). Bob Ewell apparently
believes him and leaves Helen alone after that.
What does Bob Ewell mean when he says to Mr. Link Deas that he “ain’t about to go with no
n*****”? What did Bob Ewell think Link Deas was accusing him of wanting to try to do? (249)
Bob is saying that he wouldn’t ever sexually assault a black woman. His racist revulsion would
overcome his hatred and desire to harm a black woman. He couldn’t stand to touch a black
person.
How does Atticus summarize Maycomb’s reaction to Bob and Mayella’s lies? (250)
Very few people actually believed their lies. Maycomb said to them, basically, “[O]kay, we’ll
convict this Negro, but then go back to your dump [and be quiet].”
What reason does Atticus give as to why Bob Ewell tried to burglarize Judge Taylor’s house?
(250)
Atticus may have proved Bob a liar, but Judge Taylor made Bob look like a fool. John Taylor
looked at Bob Ewell like he was a three-legged chicken or a square egg. He was clearly against
Bob and for Tom the whole time, and Bob picked up on that.
The ladies of the Missionary Society (to which Aunt Alexandra belongs) condemn the Mrunas
(the African tribe that J. Grimes Everett, the missionary whom they financially support, is trying
to convert to Christianity) because in the Mrunas’ society, all the adults help to raise all the
children of the village. Consider for a moment which characters in Maycomb help to raise Jem,
Scout, and Dill. How is it hypocritical of the ladies of the Missionary Society to condemn the
concept of “it takes a village to raise a child”? (250-251)
Mrs. Merrriweather is condemning the Mrunas for believing that the whole tribe was one big
family. All the men are fathers to all the children, and all the women are mothers. Of course,
this is exactly how things work in Maycomb. Everyone minds everyone else’s business. Miss
Maudie, Miss Rachel, even Miss Stephanie, Mr. Avery, all help to raise Scout and Jem and Dill
and the other children.
Near to Halloween, what practical joke do the kids of the town play on the deaf old women
Misses Tutti and Frutti Barber and whom do the old women incorrectly blame? (251-252)
The children sneak into their house and relocate all their furniture to their cellar. The women
blame fur-sellers who came to town recently, dark-skinned Syrians (from Syria).
Why do the kids of the town keep their shoes on ‘til the bloodhounds are put away? (252)
They’re all afraid that the bloodhounds will pick up their scent of their feet and identify them as
the culprits, and they’d be punished.
What role will Scout play in the Halloween pageant that Mrs. Merriweather has written and will
narrate at the high school? Describe Scout’s costume. (252-253)
Scout will be pork, more specifically, a cured ham. It’s chicken wire covered in strips of brown
cloth.
Why does Atticus say he is not going to go to the pageant that night? (253)
He says he’s just not feeling up to going. He’d been in Montgomery all week and had just gotten
home late that afternoon.
What is Aunt Alexandra’s excuse for not going to the pageant that night? (253)
She says she’s going to go to bed early, she’s worn out from decorating the stage.
What do you think of the members of Scout’s family not going to see her performance?
Answers will vary.
When Aunt Alexandra says someone just walked over her grave, what does this foretell? (253)
This usually foreshadows a death (your own death or the death of someone close to you).
What other examples of foreshadowing have we seen? What symbols or incidents from
throughout the book stand for future chaos, prejudice, and violence?
Answers may vary, but may include: Jem’s attack on Mrs. Dubose’s camellias, the snowstorm
and fire at Miss Maudie’s, the mad dog in February, Bob Ewell going after Helen Robinson, Bob
skulking around outside of Judge Taylor’s house, and Bob’s statement after he heard about Tom
Robinson being shot and killed that “that makes one down, and about two more to go.”
Why does it not matter to Scout whether or not Atticus and Aunt Alexandra go and see her
perform in the actual pageant? (253-254)
Scout does a dress rehearsal for Atticus, Alexandra and Calpurnia, and they say she did a great
job and she was wonderful. After that it doesn’t matter if they go or not.
Why do you think Bob Ewell still wants to ‘get’ Atticus?
Answers will vary, but may include that: he still resents Atticus for having exposed him as the
child-molesting and child-abusing alcoholic lying bigot that he is.
If Bob Ewell wanted to strike back at Atticus, but didn’t feel he could do it directly, consider
how he might strike at Atticus indirectly. Think back to when Jem wanted to attack Mrs.
Dubose, but couldn’t directly, physically attack a sick old lady. What had Jem attacked in order
to hurt Mrs. Dubose, without directly physically attacking her?
Her camellias.
Why did Jem attack Mrs. Dubose’s camellias, specifically?
They were her most prized possessions, the things she loved most in the world and that meant the
most to her.
What are Atticus’s ‘prized possessions’ which he loves more than anything else in the world?
His children, Jem and Scout.
What had Bob Ewell said upon learning of Tom Robinson’s death?
That it made one down and about two more to go.