The Ewells play a significant part in this story of "To Kill a Mockingbird". In the first chapter, Scout mentions the Ewells to us that the "Ewells started it all". Scout means that the Ewells had an affect on the residents of Maycomb. The story will involve an allegation of rape and the way black and white issues (the prejudice that runs through the whole of the story) are covered. Burris Ewell, the son of Bob Ewell, shows how bad his living conditions are. He has head lice and is very dirty. Scout describes him as: "He was the filthiest human I had ever seen. His neck was dark grey, the backs of his hands were rusty, and his fingernails were black deep into the quick". He does not care that he is dirty or he has head lice. He cannot read, write or spell his name. He has no mother and Mayella Ewell brings him up. From the very beginning of the story, the Ewells are portrayed badly. Scout learns from her father that she had to go to school but the Ewells do not. Atticus explains that the Ewells are not regular people and this goes back three generations: "None of them (Ewells) had done an honest day's work in his recollection. He said that some Christmas, when he was getting ride of the trees, he would take me with him and show me where and how they lived. They were people, but they lived like animals." This quote shows us the prejudice that the Ewells experience from other people in Maycomb because of their low social position in the town. We learn about the Ewells mainly in the court case when Mayella Ewell has accused a black man, Tom Robinson of raping her. From the court case we learn that Bob Ewell is ignorant and quite crude in his use of language and his background: "Every town the size of Maycomb had families like the Ewells. No economic fluctuations changed their status - people like the Ewells lived as guests of the country in prosperity as well as in the depths of a depression.