hypocritical lessons teachers give students.

Harper Lee also comments on gender roles throughout the novel. Aunt Alexandra's traditional views of womanhood contrast greatly with Scout's tomboy personality. The prototypical Southern Belle, who maintains the house and engages in social affairs, is challenged throughout the novel.

Religion is another aspect of society that Lee analyzes. Lee comments on the destructive nature of radical Christianity through the character of Mr. Radley, and portrays the dual nature of hypocritical Christians during Alexandra's missionary circle. Lee suggests that truly moral individuals like Atticus and Maudie live like Christ, rather than simply profess they are Christians.

Most notably, Harper Lee comments on the prejudiced nature of society and the broken justice system. African Americans are viewed with contempt and treated with indignance simply because they are black. Tom Robinson is wrongly convicted, despite the lack of evidence and conflicting testimonies from the Ewells. The majority of Maycomb's community harbors prejudiced feelings which impact the results of the trial. The justice system fails Tom Robinson, and racism remains an issue in Maycomb.

Not only are African Americans viewed with contempt, but so are poor white families. Harper Lee does not fail to address society's caste system which discriminates against less wealthy families throughout the novel as well.

Harper Lee criticizes the blindness of a racist and prejudiced society in her novel. By making Scout the narrator of the story, Lee shows the injustices of the small-town Depression-era society she writes about in a very direct way. Scout, who is five when the book starts and eight when it ends, struggles to understand why Tom Robinson, a black man who is obviously innocent, is convicted of raping a white woman. She also struggles to understand why the town has made Boo Radley, a white man who prefers solitude, a pariah. Lee criticizes the society for being so closed-minded that it convicts a black man in contradiction of the evidence and that it ostracizes a gentle white man who appears unconventional. Her message is that a child can see the truth more easily than adults, whose minds have been clouded by prejudice. Her view is that racism is a form of prejudice that a child can see is wrong but that adults justify.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, if I was to limit Harper Lee's criticism of Maycomb to two words, I would use "racist" and "classist." Classism, or being a classist, means having a bias based on social or economic position (usually determined in terms of wealth). 

I would extend that criticism by saying that Lee is also critical of the cowardice such that people are unwilling to accept social change and being unwilling to change themselves. Part of this is just habitual and how they've been raised. But the other part is a unwillingness that stems not from habit or tradition, but from a desire to keep the status quo, to keep things as they are. A wealthy white family in Maycomb (or any town with strong social traditions) will deny social change (legally and personally) in order to maintain their upper class standing and this must rely on the continued suppression of other people. This suppression, in the context of To Kill a Mockingbird, is both racist and classist. Lee is criticizing this tradition of sustaining racist attitudes (the general fallacious ideology that white citizensshouldoccupy a higher social standing than black citizens) and classist attitudes in order to sustain social and familial traditions (if you're from a poor family, you're going to be poor). 

So, Lee is criticizing many aspects of this society and they are individual and sociological criticisms that have to do with racist and classist traditions. 

The most obvious social issue addressed in To Kill a Mockingbird is racial prejudice. The town’s attitude toward Tom and Atticus (for defending Tom) show that there is a deep seated ancestral bigotry ingrained in the social fabric of Maycomb County. There are characters who defy this bigotry, but for the most part it is an accepted part of the area’s rural life.

We also see some of the problems that females face. This is not a very obvious social issue in the novel, but as we look at the events through the eyes of young Scout, we see a real frustration with the expectations that are placed on her as a girl. She is expected to behave and look a certain way, and she doesn’t want to do it.

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To best answer this question, it would be best to discuss one specific issue which is addressed in the novel.  It would be difficult, if not impossible, to address all of the novel’s topics in just one short paragraph.  However, two of the main issues that are discussed in the novel are racism and a destruction of innocence (killing a mockingbird).  Racism is addressed in a variety of ways throughout the novel.  We see it with the trial of Tom, the reaction of the town when they learn that Atticus is defending him, and in Bob Ewell’s reaction when he sees Tom with his daughter, Mayella.  The destruction of innocence is also seen through the character of Boo Radley as the town reacts to his self-imposed isolation.  It would be best to find one main theme in the novel and write one paragraph for each of the themes discussed. 

To Kill a Mockingbird does not shy away from social issues of race, class, or gender.

Whenever Scout is scared or disagrees, Jem uses her gender against her.

"See there?" Jem was scowling triumphantly. "Nothin' to it. I swear, Scout, sometimes you act so much like a girl it's mortifyin'." (ch 4)

Gender is a running theme throughout the book.  Scout is often ridiculed for being a girl by Jem and told to act like a lady by Aunt Alexandra.  Scout is a tomboy.  Even her nickname is more boyish than girly.

I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn't supposed to be doing things that required pants. (ch 9)

Aunt Alexandra has a very stubborn stereotypical image of what a girl should be.  She expects Scout to conform to it.

Another example of the gender differential is in Atticus being a single father.  Atticus is not considered the ideal single parent, because he is not a girl.  Children are said to need a mother, and he cannot provide a mother’s guidance.  He also seems to give some credence to this stereotype by apparently parenting his children as little as possible other than providing moral guidance.

Class is also tackled in the book.  The Finches are upper class because they are from an old family.  When Scout starts school, she is introduced to Walter Cunningham, who is from a poor proud family, and the Ewells, who are poor but coarse.  She learns that there are different degrees of poverty.

The Cunninghams never took anything they can't pay back- no church baskets and no scrip stamps. They never took anything off of anybody, they get along on what they have. They don't have much, but they get along on it. (ch 2)

The Ewells, on the other hand, live like animals.  They do not work or go to school.  They are vulgar, violent, and stubborn.

"They can go to school any time they want to, when they show the faintest symptom of wanting an education," said Atticus. (ch 3)

The Ewells are the villains of the story, because Mayella is coerced by her violent father into accusing Tom Robinson of rape just because he saw them together.

In Maycomb, segregation and discrimination are in full force.  Blacks and whites do not interact except as employee and employer.  When Atticus defends Tom Robinson, a black man accused by a white woman, all hell breaks loose.  Everyone in town seems to have an opinion.

"Do all lawyers defend n-Negroes, Atticus?"

"Of course they do, Scout."

"Then why did Cecil say you defended niggers? He made it sound like you were runnin' a still." (ch 9)

Atticus, unlike most people, does not feel bothered by defending a black man.  He believes people should be judged by the content of their character.

You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral…. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men. (ch 20)

Lee does not take the easy way out and acquit Tom Robinson.  She has Atticus establish that there is no way that Robinson could have committed the crime, and there is no evidence the crime was ever committed.  It was a fabrication.  Yet because a black man felt sorry for a white woman, he is convicted.