To Kill a Mockingbird is in the literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood.
In literary criticism , a Bildungsroman ( [ ˈbɪldʊŋs.ʁoˌmaːn ] ; `` novel of formation , education , culture '' ) , novel of formation , novel of education , or coming-of-age story ( though it may also be known as a subset of the coming-of-age story ) is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood ( coming of age ) , in which character change is extremely important . Coming-of-age story . The Bildungsroman is a specific subgenre of coming-of-age story . To Kill a Mockingbird . As a Southern Gothic novel and a Bildungsroman , the primary themes of To Kill a Mockingbird involve racial injustice and the destruction of innocence .