The forbidden secrets may include: the alleged rape, which really involved a white woman making inappropriate overtures to a black man; domestic violence with a father beating his daughter; mental illness in a family. In a small Southern town in this time period, a family's reputation was all important. In a time of segregation, any interracial "romance" would be taboo. In these times, the black man would always be suspect and public hostilities would run high. The mob mentality at the jail was diffused only when Atticus could personally relate to individuals he had helped in the past or by making polite social connections on a familial level. That mob mentality of black vs white could also be a forbidden secret.
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