Many people don't realize it, but our world matures with age, and the people along with it. Society's attitudes towards things, its moral education, and its general opinion on the world have all changed to adapt to the problems of today. In Harper's Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee shows how the world was before our moral development, and the evilness that the world once lived in. To Kill A Mockingbird shows the causes and effects of injustice through oppression of the innocent, racism, and existence of social inequality.
Throughout the novel, a symbol of “mockingbird” appears. The title “To Kill a Mockingbird” has a true meaning to it, and that is: the oppression of the innocent. Miss Maudie explains in the novel that, “'Mockingbirds don’t do one thing, but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.'” In the novel, the mockingbirds are innocent people who are harmed by injustice, and in unnecessary ways. Several times in the novel, the oppression of the innocent is displayed. Jem for one, is a mockingbird. He is innocent, but assaulted by Bob Ewell, purely on vengeance, only because Atticus defended Tom Robinson, and he wanted to get pay back. Boo Radley is also a mockingbird. He is emotionally damaged by his cruel father as a child, but everyone leads to believe that he is a creepy maniac. Scout mentions near the end of the book, “'Well it'd be sort of like shootin' a mockingbird, wouldn't it?'” (page 370) This refers to Boo Radley and how Scout feels if they were to hurt Boo Radley anymore; he has suffered enough from their injustice community. Another mockingbird is Tom Robinson. He was charged guilty of raping May Ewell, even though he was likely to be not guilty. There was not enough evidence against him, but he was still convicted. After his death, Mr. Underwood compares his murder to “the senseless slaughter of songbirds”. This is once again, referring to mockingbirds, and the oppression