“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives” (Madison). Knowledge brings immense power as it is able to avoid the ignorance placed by society. This ignorance has been a longstanding issue from slavery until now. About 60 years after the abolition of slavery, severe racial segregation continued to take place in the South. During then, the Great Depression resulted in a period of poverty and unemployment that was quickly followed by the Scottsboro Trials in 1931, in which nine boys were falsely convicted of rape. These false accusations were formed by the racial prejudice as African- American’s were commonly looked down upon. This prejudice is the inspiration of the plot and theme of Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird where main protagonists Jem and Scout experience the prejudice that occurs in the fictional town, Maycomb County. The two along with their friend, Dill Harris, first tease Boo Radley while he secretly communicates with them while Calpurnia and Atticus teach them lessons. Their father, Atticus, receives a new case to defend the falsely convicted Tom Robinson for rape. Bob Ewell attacks Jem and Scout but Boo Radley kills him to protect the child. With this in mind, Harper Lee states that prejudice results from the ignorance of society, but the solution is the empathy that arises from knowledge. The prejudgment of others is inevitable and prejudice spreads due to differences in race and gender. Prejudice is easily spread so when Scout asks Mrs. Maudie why she must kill each weed, Mrs. Maudie replies, “'Why one sprig of nutgrass can ruin a whole yard Look here When it comes fall this dries up and the wind blows it all over Maycomb County!'” (Lee 42). The nutgrass symbolizes prejudice because it is unwanted but also unavoidable just as how prejudice is unwanted and damaging and yet it is always present. It only takes one difference to cause prejudice, which further illustrates how prejudice can be common, but it is hard to remove. Mrs. Maudie experiences prejudice towards her garden because she is a woman. She is not prejudiced and has good morals yet she is still judged based on her gender. This quote further proves the theme of prejudice by emphasizing how there is very little required for prejudice to take place, yet it is hard to remove. This prejudice also occurs multiple times as race. As Atticus leaves for an emergency session in the state legislature, Calpurnia takes Scout and Jem to her mainly African-American comprise