The extent of prejudice and the effect it has had on society can be seen through the fact that even this innocent child and her brother feel free and at ease to communicate with the term "nigger". In chapter 8, when building a snowman and noticing its surface colour, Scout remarks, "Jem, I ain't ever heard of a n***** snowman," in which her brother replies "He won't be black long". Of course, it is understood that neither child realizes the gravity of such terms. In fact, no one in the society of that time realized the insensitivity of such terms, simply because at that time, it was generally accepted by all of society. Even the African Americans tolerated and accepted that they were "n*****s". This fact is evident in probably the most important scene in the book, that being The Court Scene (chapters 16-22).
Look at the court scene though as well as the scene in which Calpurnia takes the kids to church, and different prejudices against are shown, like the kids are kind of being prejudiced against, I guess, as the african americans (e.g: Lula) dislike their presence.
As human beings, we tend to make assumptions of others based criteria such as a person’s clothing or skin. However, we rarely realize that these assumptions often lead to violence and strife. In other words, prejudice ruins and sometimes even destroys our society; it causes us to lose all compassion and understanding for our fellow human beings. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch says, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (39). We often fail to examine the situation from a different viewpoint because our opinions are biased, and the result is the failure to judge others accurately. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows us how prejudice causes us to believe in rumors, judge others by their race, and deem the beliefs of others unacceptable.
As a form of prejudice, rumors...