“Racism is still among us. But it's up to us to prepare our children for what they're going to face and hopefully we can get through it” (Rosa Parks). Prejudice will always remain in society, and it certainly does in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Scout is introduced into the story as an innocent child, as is Scout's brother Jem, and befriends a short boy named Dill. This story is set 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 the alleged rape of a white teenager, the verdict comes out as guilty. As the children grow up, they realize how much racism and prejudice exists 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 fixed in society, compassion is one of the ways to respond despite all the prejudices that spread. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay As prejudice spreads in Maycomb County, symbolism is used to help explain how people spread prejudice. Scout explains how far the Ewell and Negro settlements are from the center of town. When Scout's family goes to visit the Ewells, Scout describes the environment around their home. Using symbolism, he describes that “A dirt road ran from the highway past the dump, to a small negro settlement about five hundred yards beyond the Ewells” (Lee 171). Scout shows how far the Ewell and Negro settlements are from the center of the city. Readers can now learn more about the Maycomb County setting based on Scout's explanation; the injury shows 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 he wants the reader to understand how prejudiced the Negro and Ewell are. Lee represents the "dump" as desperation because blacks are known to have low social status and most people believe blacks are bad. Furthermore, the dirt road leading to the Negro settlements tells the reader more about the social status of the Negroes. The dirt road represents the descent of the blacks because the whites think that the blacks do nothing in the city. The scout shows how unclean the streets and environments were in the area of ​​the Negro settlement. The symbolism grabs the reader's attention so much that he or she knows he or she may get a sense of black prejudice. Atticus emphasizes how important it is to understand a person by walking in their skin. Miss Maudie describes what the setting is like in the fall season in Maycomb County. This way he explains to the children what the Maycomb environment is like: “'One sprig of hickorywort can ruin an entire garden. Look here. When autumn comes everything dries up and the wind blows it all over Maycomb County!'” (Lee 42). Miss Maudie shows how the symbolic meaning of “a sprig of hickory weed” relates to the speed with which rumors spread. Here, Miss Maudie states that this is a depiction of rumors and lies being spread. Use symbolism to say that one thing can lead to great things later. Miss Maudie also explains that walnut grass dries up in autumn; this represents how people learn to know, believe and accept the rumors that are spread. This leads to another event; everyone intown gossips that Boo killed his father. Boo didn't kill his father; these are rumors and lies spread throughout the city. Miss Maudie teaches here that people lie about others all the time and those lies spread quickly. Because prejudice is so common in Maycomb County, prejudice causes stereotypes embedded in Maycomb with irony. Scout explains how the sheriff separates Boo from the niggers: “The sheriff didn't have the heart to put him in jail with the niggers, so Boo was locked in the basement of the courthouse” (Lee 11). By locking Boo in the courthouse basement, this shows that the sheriff wants to separate him from the other blacks in prison. Furthermore, the separation between Boo and the blacks suggests that Boo is an outcast. Boo is white while the others in prison are black; this leads to an ironic situation. The “had no heart” phase indicates that the sheriff has compassion. However, the sheriff shows no compassion towards the blacks; separating Boo from the niggers, this is not an example of equality. Irony is important in what the sheriff does because the incompassion he shows isn't much fairness in the town. The sheriff tried to be nice, and by locking Boo in the courthouse basement instead of putting him in jail, this also shows inequality. By connecting stereotypes and irony to the story, Lee shows us that some people (in this case, blacks) are segregated because of their race, gender, or identity: “Negroes worshiped there on Sundays, and white men gambled there on Sundays. weekdays. "(Law 118). The words "worshiped" and "gambled" show the lack of respect white men have for blacks. The injustice shown by white men leads to poverty of blacks because they were once trapped in slavery. In the church, white men joke and do nothing productive. However, black men use their time wisely to pray and worship. The irony here is that people involved in churches usually pray, worship and rejoice. In this case, white people rage 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 he wants the reader to understand more meaning depth of the story and its lesson. In this context, Lee incorporates irony here because he wants readers to have a central idea of ​​the message contained in the text. If prejudice involves some people throughout the story, Scout and Jem are able to feel compassion to help give a reasonable response to the circle of prejudice from the aphorism they learn from Atticus. Atticus teaches one of his most important lessons to his children, and they will impact the children: “'First of all,' he said, 'if you can learn one simple trick, Scout, you'll get along very well with them.' all kinds of people. You never truly understand a person until you consider things from their point of view...» «Sir? '-until you get under his skin and walk in it'” (Lee 30). Saying that people can get along with each other, Atticus teaches Scout a lesson; states that you can't truly understand what a person is going through unless you walk in someone's skin. Empathy is about learning what other people face on a daily basis. This idea leads to compassion because Atticus shows concern and sympathy for those who are different. The metaphor in Atticus's lesson helps him explain to children how to have empathy for others, such as the “mockingbirds” in the story. Using a metaphor, he describes that one should learn to put themselves in other people's shoes and understand how it feels. Here, Atticus is trying to explain that the scout needs to get used to being in other people's shoes for.