Courthouse In To Kill A Mockingbird

One effect of Maycomb’s social preconception of African Americans is a racially divided town, which is exemplified through the setting. Maycomb owns a courthouse that “sagged in the square” (Lee 5). The setting of the courthouse stresses how highly prejudiced and ignorant citizens of Maycomb are.The courthouse represents the justice in the town, and its lack of structural integrity the prejudice presents. If Maycomb’s court system was unbiased, the courthouse would be standing tall, since figuratively, there is no corruption bringing it down. Additionally, the courthouse is a prominent figure in Maycomb. Its location in the square, or the center of the town, is important, as it reflects the rest of the town’s behavior. It implies that the court

When he is proven guilty, the town’s sense of justice is eradicated. Maycomb’s citizens are heavily racist towards African Americans, who live “past the dump… some five hundred yards beyond the Ewells’” (Lee 171). The Ewells are included in the main portion of Maycomb, despite their notorious living habits. However, the African Americans live farther out than the Ewells, beyond the town’s dumping ground, despite being more respectable people than them. The Ewells, the worst of the white community, are still considered superior to the black community. They are a family of low power in the white community, having no education, money, or traceable ancestry. In a town where lineage governs the social class, the Ewells are at the bottom. The same descriptions of the Ewells can be used to describe any African American family. However, the one difference that sets them apart is skin color, seen through the separation between the two community’s living locations. The setting is an indirect demonstration of how easily a town can segregate due to prejudice. Furthermore, the blacks and whites are separated, even in public places, like the courthouse, in which everybody should be treated

The concept of compassion is taught to the children through the aphorism of “‘consider[ing] things from his [other people’s] point of view… climb into his skin and walk around in it’” (Lee 30). In a town where ignorance rules, it is especially hard for the children to remain true to their morals. Atticus instills the teaching of skin walking to have his children consider life from other’s perspectives. When walking into someone else’s skin, the children are feeling what it is like to be that person, rather than judging by the outside. With the spread of this concept comes the decline of Maycomb’s prejudice. If everyone in the town looked through someone else’s skin to feel what life is like for somebody else, the town would drastically change. Atticus has his children not only look through somebody else’s perspective, but also experience their life. When one climbs into another’s skin, they are not completely understanding the whole situation. They are blind to the rest of the story behind the person. However, when they climb into the skin of others, and walk around in it, they are able to experience how the other person truly feels. Atticus educates his children, who are the future of Maycomb, against the town’s usual beliefs. The influence parents have on children affects the way the children will behave