In To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 27, who does Mr. Ewell blame for losing his job?

After the trial, Bob Ewell got a job working for the WPA. The WPA (Works Progress Administration) was a government program under President Franklin D. Roosevelt whose purpose it was to provide jobs for the unemployed during the Great Depression. Scout explained how it occurred:

... Mr. Bob Ewell acquired and lost a job in a matter of days and probably made himself unique in the annals of the nineteen-thirties: he was the only man I ever heard of who was fired from the WPA for laziness (To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 27).

Before getting the WPA job, Bob Ewell had not worked at all. Instead, he lived on his weekly welfare check. After being fired from the WPA, Bob Ewell went right back to collecting his check and not working. His lack of work ethic had been evident when he got fired for laziness. Despite this, Bob Ewell blamed Atticus. He told Miss Ruth at the welfare office that Atticus had gotten him fired, though it was an untrue statement.

Who is blamed by Bob Ewell for his WPA job loss in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Bob Ewell blames Atticus for the loss of his WPA job. He accuses Atticus of "getting" his job. Of course, Atticus has not interfered with Ewell's position at all, but to Bob, it is yet another black mark against the Finches, who he is sure are out to destroy him in any way they can.

Scout surmises that Ewell lost the job due to laziness, and then opines he was probably the only person in the 1930s to lose a government job for that reason. This is a dig at the WPA, which employed many, many people under the New Deal, but was sometimes mocked by conservatives as "We Piddle Around"—some of them saw it as government make work. Scout is saying that one would have to be extremely lazy to lose such an easy job.

Whatever the reason—and it is likely that Ewell did not show up for work given his history—this perceived wrong adds to his desire to get revenge on the Finches.

At the beginning of chapter 27, Scout mentions that three small things that were out of the ordinary happened in Maycomb, and each one involved Bob Ewell. The first strange thing that happened concerned Bob acquiring and losing his WPA job in a matter of days. Scout mentions that Bob must have been the first person in history to lose his job on account of his laziness. Ruth Jones, the woman who works at the welfare office, says that Bob Ewell openly accused Atticus of "getting his job." Ruth was so upset about Bob's comments that she told Atticus what Bob said about him.

Bob seeks revenge on Atticus for making him look like an ignorant, malevolent man by exposing the truth to the community during the Tom Robinson trial. Despite the fact that Bob wins the case, the community knows the truth and has no respect for Bob. Bob thought that him winning the case would bring him notoriety but instead makes him an outcast. As a result, Bob begins to blame Atticus for all of his failures and negative reputation throughout town.