But Finch is the point. This speaks to an era more than an area. The fact that Finch sees what is to be done, sees and fights the clear injustice, and stands up for what is clearly right, is what it is all about.
TKAM's main theme is that evil thrives when good men do nothing.
I tend to think it feeds liberal anti-America stereotypes that say America's past is all about hate and racism. This is why liberal teachers like the book so much.
Atticus Finch knows he is going to lose but takes it on the shoulder and does what he knows is the right thing.
The most moving scene, to my mind of the movie version, is when Gregory Peck is sitting on the porch in his rocker and his young daughter asks him "Atticus, do you defend niggers?"
He takes off his eye-glasses and rubs his eyes and tells her, "Scout, don't say Nigger. It's common."
You have to be southern to know that being called common is worse than any other name calling.