After her husband's death, Helen Robinson didn't have the privilege of mourning quietly. She was now her children's sole support, both financially and emotionally. Link Deas had given her a job to help the family, but Helen found herself at Bob Ewell's mercy every day.
Accordingly, Helen had to walk a mile out her way to get to work. It was next to impossible to use the public road, as Bob Ewell and some members...
After her husband's death, Helen Robinson didn't have the privilege of mourning quietly. She was now her children's sole support, both financially and emotionally. Link Deas had given her a job to help the family, but Helen found herself at Bob Ewell's mercy every day.
Accordingly, Helen had to walk a mile out her way to get to work. It was next to impossible to use the public road, as Bob Ewell and some members of his family often lay in wait to harass her. For his part, Mr. Link Deas had to speak to Bob Ewell twice about harassing Helen.
The first instance happened when Mr. Link Deas walked Helen home. On the way past the Ewell home, he stopped to warn the Ewell family against further antagonizing and harassing his cook. The second instance happened when Link spoke to Bob Ewell about following Helen from afar and "crooning foul words" in the distance.
For his part, Bob Ewell denied any wrongdoing. He crudely claimed that he would never think of violating Helen. In response, Link asserted that Bob Ewell didn't need to physically violate Helen for him (Link) to pursue charges against him. As a warning, Link proclaimed that he would resort to having Bob charged under the Ladies' Law if he had to.
Although Bob Ewell eventually stopped harassing Helen, we can see that Helen had many difficulties to face after Tom's death. Not only did she have to navigate a new and precarious life with her children, she also had to face ugly attitudes and harassment from the Ewell family on a daily basis. It was only when Link Deas intervened that she received any measure of peace at all.
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