In Chapter Seventeen of To Kill a Mockingbird what devices does the author use to characterize the Ewells, especially Bob Ewell.

Chapter 17 of To Kill a Mockingbird, the
classic novel by Harper Lee, is set in the courtroom at the trial of Tom Robinson, who is charged
with Mayella Ewell's rape.

The main characterization here is
provided through direct or indirect
characterization.

Lilia Melanie, of Brooklyn College,
provides definitions of two of the methods an author can use to provide the reader with
information about his or her characters.

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In direct
presentation, a character is described by the author, the narrator or the other
characters.

In indirect
presentation, a character's traits are revealed by action and
speech.

Harper Lee uses
direct characterization in having some characters describe others (such as Boo Radley), and
indirect characterization based on how characters act and what they say. Indirect
characterization plays an enormous role in coming up with our impressions of Bob and Mayella
Ewell, which will remain with the reader until the end of the
story.

Bob Ewell, we learn, is a drunken good-for-nothing who is
mean-spirited and lazy. In the courtroom, we hear from Ewell's own mouth that he is a racist, not
only in using the n-word, but in acting as if Tom is of no consequence when he falsely accuses
him. His ego, we will find, cannot abide the idea that he not be seen as a force to be reckoned
with—mostly because he is white.

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All the little man on the witness stand had that made him
any better than his nearest neighbors was, that if scrubbed with lye soap in very hot water, his
skin was
white.

...and,

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It was becoming evident that he thought Atticus an easy
match. He seemed to grow ruddy again; his chest swelled, and once more he was a red little
rooster.

Ewell has no respect for the
court, taking the proceedings anything but seriously, and showing his sense of superiority
towards Tom Robinson and his race, even though socially, Ewell is really the bottom of the "food
chain," while Tom Robinson is a hard-working, gentle, caring man (as seen in how sympathetic he
is towards Mayella, which ultimately gets him in trouble).

Ewell is
crude and vulgar, seen as he answers the prosecuting attorney's
questions.

Mayella was
screamin' fit to beat Jesus—

He is
ultimately warned by the judge to watch his mouth. Ewell's behavior shows him to enjoy disrupting
the court proceedings in order to make his point, but I think he also takes pleasure in the power
he exerts over the proceedings and the attention he receives.

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Mr. Ewell was sitting smugly in the witness chair,
surveying his handiwork.

It is implied
that Mayella was beaten by someone left-handed; learning through Atticus' questions and Ewell's
demonstration of his writing (with his left hand), the reader realizes that Bob Ewell has
probably not only struck his daughter, but lied about doing
it.

Mayella does not take the stand in this chapter, but the fact
that she is supporting her father's accusations against Tom Robinson tells us a great deal about
her. Believing that Bob Ewell was probably the left-handed person who beat her, we can assume
that she has been physically abused in the past and is probably scared to death of her dad. Her
willingness to support Mr. Ewell's accusations in the charging of Tom Robinson for her rape,
shows Mayella also to be a liar (although his violent behavior toward her makes her actions
understandable, though not admirable).

Through direct and indirect
characterization, we find Mayella to be a frightened young girl who has lied about Tom Robinson's
actions, and Bob Ewell to be an arrogant, drunken, violent, disrespectful man who has lied about
what he says he saw Tom Robinson doing to Mayella.