How is mr. purkapile like his spoon river neighbor, mrs. mcgee?

The better answer than above is this!

Mr. Purkapile is like his Spoon River neighbor in a sense that they both felt trapped in their marriage. Evidence of this is shown when Mr. Purkapile says, "I never had a chance to escape", which means that there was no way out of the marriage for him. Mrs. McGee on the other hand was trapped by her husbands manipulative ways.

Explanation:

jefferson introduced the idea that one does not change a government for "light" causes because he wanted to emphasize the seriousness of colonists' reasons for declaring independence.