TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD Chapter 27
Chapter 27
Fall arrives in Maycomb, and three small things happen that worry Aunt Alexandra and the children. The first thing that happens is about Bob Ewell. He gets a job working for the government, but he is lazy and quickly loses the job.
Ewell openly blames Atticus Finch for losing his job. He says Atticus made him lose his good name, and now no one will hire him. Ewell continues to talk badly about Atticus around town. Atticus just tells everyone that Ewell’s anger is just Ewell being Ewell. Atticus is not worried.
The second thing happens to Judge Taylor. The Judge is sitting in his house one Sunday evening, reading a book. His wife is at church. Suddenly, the Judge hears a scraping sound outside his house. He hears someone trying to open the back door.
Judge Taylor is not afraid. He sits quietly, and he takes his gun, which is always close by. He keeps his gun in his lap. He yells out loudly, “Who is it?” The sound stops immediately. The person leaves quickly. The Judge goes to the back door, but the person is gone. The Judge does not call the Sheriff. He simply returns to his reading, but he knows someone tried to break into his house.
The third and most worrying thing happens to Helen Robinson, Tom Robinson’s widow. Helen is trying to work to earn money for her family. Mr. Link Deas, Tom’s old boss, gives her a job.
To get to work, Helen has to walk a long way and she must pass the Ewell house. Every day, when she walks past the house, Bob Ewell follows her and speaks bad, harsh words to her. He stands in his house and yells at her until she is past his property. Helen is terrified by this harassment. She starts taking the very longest road to work just to avoid walking past his house.
Mr. Link Deas learns about this. He is angry and decides to help. Mr. Deas stands up for Helen. He walks with Helen to her home. Then he goes to the Ewell house and speaks to Bob Ewell.
“If I hear that you have bothered this woman again, I will have you put in jail,” Mr. Deas shouts at Ewell. “Leave her alone!” Bob Ewell is angry but afraid of Mr. Link Deas. He stops bothering Helen.
Aunt Alexandra worries about these three incidents. She is afraid that Bob Ewell is looking for a way to get revenge on Atticus.
The town prepares for the Halloween celebration. This year, the town has a big event at the school to stop the children from doing silly pranks, like they did the year before.
There is a pageant, a play, at the school where the children dress up as the products of the county. Scout is going to be dressed as a ham. She has a big costume made of cloth and wire.
On the night of Halloween, Scout misses her entrance cue in the play because she falls asleep in her big ham costume. She is very embarrassed. After the play, Scout and Jem prepare to walk home. They wait for the lights to go out at the school. It is a very dark night.
