“Racism is still among us. But it’s up to us to prepare our children for what they have to face and, hopefully, we will overcome it” (Rosa Parks). Prejudice will always remain in society, and this is certainly the case in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Scout is introduced into the story as an innocent child, along with Scout's brother Jem, and she befriends a little boy named Dill. This story takes place in the town of Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. While the children are innocent, the adults oppress Tom Robinson because he is black; when he testifies in court for allegedly raping a white teenage girl, the verdict is guilty. As the children grow up, they realize how much racism and prejudice exist in the city. Atticus, Scout and Jem's father, teaches them many life lessons based on the morality of compassion. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows the idea that when prejudice causes stereotypes to become ingrained in society, compassion is one of the ways to respond despite the spread of prejudice. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Because prejudice spreads in Maycomb County, symbolism is used to explain how people spread prejudice. Scout explains how far the Ewell and Black settlements are from the center of town. When Scout's family visits the Ewells, Scout describes the environment around their house. Using symbolism, she describes that "a dirt road led from the highway, past the dump, to a small black settlement, about a quarter of a mile beyond the Ewells" (Lee 171). Scout shows how far the settlements of Ewell and Negroes are from the center of the city. Readers can now learn more about the Maycomb County background from Scout's explanation; the prejudices show how bad the conditions were around the house. Lee chooses the words "dump" and "dirt road" to describe the area around the Ewell and Negro settlement because she wants to convey to the reader how prejudiced the Negroes and Ewells are. Lee represents the "dump" as despair because black people are known to have low social status and most people believe black people are bad. Additionally, the dirt road that leads to the black settlements says more about the social status of black people. The dirt road represents the descent of black people because white people think black people don't do anything in the city. Scout shows how unclean the roads and environments were in the black settlement area. The symbolism attracts the reader's attention so that they can get an idea of ​​the prejudices of black people. Atticus emphasizes how important it is to understand a person by putting yourself in their shoes. Miss Maudie describes what the setting of the fall season is like in Maycomb County. As she does so, she explains to the children what Maycomb's environment is like: “'Well, one blade of nutgrass can destroy an entire garden. Look here. When fall comes, it dries up and the wind blows all over Maycomb County!' » (Lee 42). Miss Maudie shows how the symbolic meaning of "a blade of nut grass" relates to the speed with which rumors spread. Here, Miss Maudie claims that this is a depiction of rumors and lies being spread. She uses symbolism to state that one thing can lead to great things later. Miss Maudie also explains that nutgrass dries up in the fall; thatrepresents how people learn to learn, believe and accept the rumors that are spread. This leads to another event; everyone in town is talking about Boo's murder of their father. Boo didn't kill his father; There are rumors and lies spreading throughout the city. Miss Maudie teaches a lesson here that people always lie about others, and those lies spread quickly. Because prejudice is so common in Maycomb County, it breeds stereotypes that are embedded in Maycomb with irony. Scout explains how the sheriff separates the Boos from the blacks: "The sheriff didn't have the heart to put him in jail alongside the blacks, so Boo was locked in the basement of the courthouse" (Lee 11) . By locking Boo in the basement of the courthouse, it shows that the sheriff wants to separate him from the other black people in jail. Additionally, Boo's separation from Black suggests that Boo is an outcast. Boo is white while the others in prison are black; this leads to an ironic situation. The “didn’t have the heart” phase indicates that the sheriff has compassion. However, the sheriff does not show compassion toward the Negroes; by separating Boo from the niggers, it is not an example of equality. The irony is important in what the sheriff does because the incompassion he shows does not bring much fairness to the town. The sheriff tried to be nice, and by locking Boo in the basement of the courthouse rather than putting him in jail, it also shows inequality. By combining stereotypes and irony with history, Lee shows us that some people (in this case, black people) are segregated because of their race, gender, or identity: "Black people worshiped there on Sunday and men whites played there during the week. » (Lee 118). The words “worshiped” and “played” show the lack of respect white men have for black people. The injustice shown by white men leads to poverty for black people because they were once trapped in slavery. In the church, white men are having fun and not doing anything productive. However, black people use their time wisely in prayer and worship. The irony here is that people involved in churches generally pray, worship, and rejoice. In this case, white people go wild and sin. In the small town of Maycomb County, people spread injustice and lies about different people, like Boo Radley and Tom Robinson. Lee applies irony to segregation because she wants the reader to understand a deeper meaning of the story and its lesson. In this context, Lee incorporates irony here because she wants readers to have a central idea of ​​the message contained in the text. Even though prejudice involves certain people throughout the story, Scout and Jem are able to feel compassion to help provide a reasonable response to the circle of prejudice from the aphorism they learned from Atticus . Atticus teaches one of his most important lessons to his children, and these will have an impact on the children: "First of all," he says, "if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along much better with all kinds of people. You never really understand a person until you consider things from their point of view... - Sir? '-until you climb into its skin and walk around in it'” (Lee 30). By saying that people can get along, Atticus teaches Scout a lesson; he states that you can't truly understand what a person is going through unless you walk in someone's shoes. Empathy is about discovering what others must experience on a daily basis. This idea leads to compassion because Atticus shows concern and sympathy toward those who are different. The lesson metaphor.