Is "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, a book about man's inhumanity to man, or a story about courage and hope?

Harper Lee's famous book, 'To Kill a Mockingbird', is one of society's most treasured examples of writing. It has won a Pulitzer Prize, amongst other prestigious writing awards, and has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. It has been turned into a movie, and is even a standard part of high school syllabus in most countries. But what angle is Ms Lee trying to convey? Is it illustrating man's inhumanity to man in Alabama at …

…but within the darkness, there is always a glimmer of courage and hope. In 'To Kill a Mockingbird', Maycomb is portrayed as a prejudiced, racist town, to the extent that men cannot acknowledge men of a different skin colour. Such a town could never thrive as a community, due to this fact. But there is always hope in the next generation, as characters like Scout and Jem illustrate continually throughout the course of the book.