In chapter 3 of To Kill a Mockingbird, what do we learn about the Ewells?

In Scout's first grade class at school, a conflict arises between the teacher, Miss Caroline, and one of the students, Burris Ewell. Miss Caroline spots a louse on Burris and freaks out. Another student, Little Chuck Little, who is a polite and brave kid, tries to solve the problem by calming both of them down. When Burris gets angrier at Miss Caroline for asking him to sit down, Little Chuck Little tells her to let him go. Burris Ewell leaves the class while shouting rude insults at Miss Caroline. 

The Ewell kids (there are many of them) only go to school one day out of the year. The only reason they go on that one day is because the truant officer forces them to. The Ewells are lower-class white folks with very little education.

That night, Scout asks her father Atticus if she can skip school like the Ewells do, but Atticus refuses to let her. He tries to teach Scout a lesson about walking around in another person’s skin. Atticus and Scout do reach one compromise: if she will go to school, they will continue reading at night. As an aside, he asks her not to mention their reading at school. This shows that although the Finches are not extremely wealthy, they have education on their side, which makes them more "middle class" than the "white trash" Ewells. This socioeconomic conflict will come into play later in the novel, when Tom Robinson, a black man, is on trial so supposedly raping an Ewell daughter. (a fabricated story by the Ewells). The conflicts are between the "middle class" whites (Atticus is the lawyer representing Tom), the "lower class" whites, and the black community. 

This scene in Chapter 3 introduces the Ewell family by framing them as people who don't quite "fit" in society because of their lack of education and socioeconomic status, but also sets it up to show how even "lower class" white people are not systemically oppressed as deeply as black people are. 

In chapter 3 of To Kill a Mockingbird, what do we learn about the Ewells?

We learn that at least one of the Ewells, Burris, is enrolled in Scout's class for the year. Now, here's the deal with the Ewells... they only go to school on the first day. This is because the truancy lady gets on 'em at least once a year to get into the classroom. We also learn that this is Burris' third try at first grade because he never goes any longer than that.

This condition of the Ewells, the fact that they really don't go to school, makes Scout wonder why she has to. In her immaturity she asks Atticus if she too can stay home. What she doesn't understand is the difference in class that exists between her and Burris. Obviously when her father demands that she does go to school, among other things, we realize that the Finches are certainly the upper class among the two.

In chapter 3 of To Kill A Mockingbird, what do we learn about the Ewell family?

In chapter 3 of To Kill a Mockingbird, the reader learns that the Ewell children are truant most of the year. They are also backward, illiterate, poor, dirty, and defiant of the attendance rule. They have no mother, and their father is "right contentious."

During Scout's traumatic first day of school, she attempts to assist the stranger who is her first-grade teacher. Miss Caroline Fisher stands in the middle of the room as she calls the roll. When she suddenly catches sight of something, Miss Caroline screams. Little Chuck Little believes that she has been startled by a mouse, but the teacher points to what Scout calls "a hulking individual" that is unknown to her. While Little Chuck runs to obtain a cup of water for Miss Caroline, the "hulking" boy reaches into his hair and squeezes a louse and kills it.

After she has calmed down, Miss Caroline asks the infected boy his name. He tells her that it is Burris Ewell, but he does not know how to spell his name. When Miss Caroline reads the remedy for lice, urging him to follow the instructions, the boy, whose face is dirty except for a small area, asks, "'What fer, missus?'" Miss Caroline tries to explain as politely as she can that Burris should go home and treat his scalp with kerosene. Then, the "filthiest human" Scout has ever seen stands up. Seeing him clearly, Miss Caroline suggests that he bathe before he returns to school the next day. Burris answers with a rude laugh. "You ain't sendin' me home, missus—I was on the verge of leavin'—I done done my time for this year—"

It is then that one of the older children explains, "He's one of the Ewells, ma'am. . . . Whole school's full of 'em. They come the first day every year and then leave." The same older student explains that the "truant lady" can only get the Ewells to attend on the beginning day by threatening to ask for the assistance of the sheriff; otherwise, "she give up tryin' to hold 'em." Despite hearing all this, Miss Caroline tries to enforce the rule of obligatory enrollment. She orders Burris to sit down, but Burris defiantly challenges her: "'You try and make me, missus.'" Then, the gallant Little Chuck Little stands and urges Miss Caroline to let Burris leave because he is "a hard-down mean one" and may "start somethin'" that could cause harm to the other children. Because Burris seems to fear Little Chuck, he does not challenge the smaller boy. When Miss Caroline tells Burris that she must report his behavior, Burris rudely insults her. He waits until she cries; then he leaves.

From this behavior of Burris's, the reader can surmise that there is little, if any, positive parental direction. One of the students informs Miss Caroline that the Ewell children are, for the most part, on their own. Furthermore, the father is "right contentious," suggesting, perhaps, that he is neglectful and may beat the children. (His many shortcomings are later revealed in other chapters.)

In chapter 3 of To Kill A Mockingbird, what do we learn about the Ewell family?

In Chapter 3, Burris Ewell openly disrespects Miss Caroline when she asks him to go home and wash up. One of Scout's classmates informs Miss Caroline that the Ewells only come to school on the first day to appease their truancy officer. After Miss Caroline threatens to call the principal, Burris verbally insults her by calling her a "snot-nosed slut of a schoolteacher" (Lee 18). That night, Scout describes to her father her rough first day of school. Scout tells Atticus that she doesn't have to go to school because Burris Ewell only has to attend the first day of class. Atticus then explains the Ewell's family history to his daughter. Atticus tells Scout that the Ewells have been the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations. Scout learns that the entire Ewell family lives like animals and Bob Ewell is a notorious alcoholic who spends all of his money on whiskey. The community also allows the Ewells certain privileges, like trapping and hunting out of season so that Bob's children don't starve.

In chapter 3 of To Kill A Mockingbird, what do we learn about the Ewell family?

It is in this chapter that Atticus tells Jem and Scout (and us) about the background of the Ewells and why Burris Ewell is able to get away with playing truant whilst Scout is unable to do so. Note that Atticus tells that they have been a "disgrace to Maycomb for three generations," which is how they are allowed to get away with things that other people are not allowed to get away with:

Atticus said that the Ewells had been the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations. None of them had done an honest day's work in his recollection... They were people, but they lived like animals...

He said that the Ewells were members of an exclusive society made up of Ewells. In certain circumstances the common folk judiciously allowed them certain privileges by the simple method of becoming blind to some of the Ewells' activities. They didn't have to go to school, for one thing. Another thing, Mr. Bob. Ewell, Burris's father, was permitted to hunt and trap out of season.

The reason for this difference in treatment is that Mr. Ewell spends his relief checks on alcohol and his children are often left to cry in their hunger. That is why people turn a blind eye to Mr. Ewell's illegal activities, even when they infringe the law. Giving him a chance to feed his family is more important than upholding a law in this case. Thus this chapter reveals very important information regarding this family, the way they are treated by the residents of Maycomb and also the desperate position that they find themselves in.