To Kill a Mockingbird Group

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mnyman94
mnyman94
Student
High School - 9th Grade

What sort of person is Dolphus Raymond in "To Kill a Mockingbird"?

Chapter 16

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Posted by mnyman94 on Saturday November 29, 2008 at 6:32 AM and tagged with chapter 16, character, dolphus raymond, to kill a mockingbird.

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  1. katemschultz Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    If you are only to chapter 16, you only know half of Dolphus Raymond's story. He seems to be a person who is on the lower-edge of society, in the eyes of most Maycomb-ites. He is a wealthy man--he owns a lot of land by the river. However, his first wife killed herself and the town blames that for Dolphus' constant state of drunkenness. They also blame his lifestyle of being drunk--he lives with the black folks, and has mixed children with a black woman. Jem notices Dolphus going to town during the trial and tells this information to Scout, saying that Dolphus can't even sit up straight in his saddle.

    However, there is more to Dolphus Raymond and the children learn this during the trial.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/mockingbird/chapter-16-summary-anal...

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    Posted by katemschultz on Saturday November 29, 2008 at 8:34 AM

  2. dtvest
    dtvest Teacher
    College - Freshman

    Dolphus Raymond is one of Harper Lee's white characters in To Kill A Mockingbird.  He drinks from a bottle covered by a paper bag to give the impression to fellow white southerners that he is a drunk, a morally weak man.  However, as Dill discovers when he takes a sip, the man actually drinks coca-cola from the bag.  His purpose for appearing to be a drunk is to excuse himself in the eyes of his white peers for being married to a black woman and fathering racially mixed children.  In the time period of the novel, nothing could have been lower than a white man openly consorting with a black woman.  Actually, he is simply a white man who has been beaten down by life, losing his wife years earlier, and he is too weak to stand up for his beliefs on race.

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    Posted by dtvest on Saturday November 29, 2008 at 11:39 AM

  3. ashleyvanessahsm
    ashleyvanessahsm Student
    High School - 9th Grade

    He has "in-between children" with a black person. He is often drunk, and (according to Jem) drinks whiskey from a coca-cola bottle in a paper bag so he doesn't upset the ladies. His first wife shot herself in the head on the rehearsal wedding day, when she found out that he had children with a black person. Dolphus figured he could get married and still see his black woman (IDK her name at the moment).

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    Posted by ashleyvanessahsm on Tuesday December 1, 2009 at 2:49 PM