Why did Harper Lee name this book To Kill a Mockingbird?

In 's novel, the
mockingbird symbolizes a certain innocence or, more accurately, a lack of guilt and
blameworthiness (which is not exactly the same as innocence).

The lesson of
the mockingbird is that the vices of cruelty and aggression are evident when people attack those
who do not deserve to be attacked. 

Miss Maudie explains the mockingbird's
significance at one point. 

"Mockingbirds dont do one
thing except make music for us to enjoy. They dont eat up peoples gardens, dont nest in corn
cribs, they dont do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. Thats why its a sin to kill a
mockingbird.

The mockingbird has a beauty of its own and
an autonomy that should be respected. To harm a living creature that is itself doing no harm is
a sin. 

Cruelty, in the novel, is the result of a lack of empathy.learns this
lessons in a number of places in the novel but nowhere more directly than in a discussion she
has with her father. 

First of all, he said, if you
can learn a simple trick, Scout, youll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never
really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view

Sir?

until you climb into his skin and walk around in
it.

Rushing to judgement, especially judgement based on
rumors or bias can lead a person to commit the sin of attacking those who are not deserving of
attack. 

Thethat become "mockingbirds" in the novel includeand
Walter Cunningham, two figures subjected to unwarranted criticism and unfounded condemnation (to
greater and lesser degrees, respectively). 

"Tom
Robinson himself is another mockingbird. Innocent of the crime for which he is tried, he has
to face the evil of hatred simply because of the color of his skin" .

Each of theseis wronged and is judged without consideration of any
his actual merits. Gossip, superficial class biases and wrong-minded race prejudice are some of
the contributing factors to the false views that arise around these characters.

Thus the title of the novel comes to reinforce the lesson of the mockingbird offered in
the novel. Practice empathy. Understand others before judging them. Do not harm those who have
done no harm. Question your biases. 

By challenging his children to learn to
be empathetic and to base their opinions on actual experience instead of hearsay,demonstrates a
compassionate ethos that inspires his children to keep an open mind about the world they live in
(and the people they share it with).