Ewell had been through quite a lot lately, with getting a job at the WPA there was hope that he would move on from the aftermath of the trial, but then was fired very soon after because of his laziness. After that someone had broken into the house of Judge Taylor with him still in it, no harm was done to the judge, but there was damage to his property. Many people in the town surmised that it was Mr. Ewell which caused even more stigma around himself and his family. And lastly of his many problems towards the end of his life was the conflict between him and Helen Robinson and Link Deas, who has been providing work for Helen after the death of Tom. Bob had been tormenting Helen because of the trial, making it very hard for her to travel to and from work, and Mr. Deas confronted him about it, creating more tension between Bob and the rest of the town. With all of that leading up to the attack of Jem and Scout, that put many people on edge. During the night of the attack it had been reported that after being offered rides home, Jem and Scout decided it would be easier and less of a burden for them to walk home because of the wire ham costume that Scout had to wear for the Halloween