committed suicide by shooting herself, which explains Dolphus's drinking habit. Jem also tells Scout and Dill that Dolphus sent two of his biracial children up north, where people "don’t mind ‘em." Inchapter 20, Scout and Dill have an enlightening conversation with Dolphus Raymond, who gives Dill a sip of his Coca-Cola and explains to them why he feigns alcoholism.

Dolphus Raymond hails from an old Maycomb family, and he is probably one of the wealthiest men in town. A former plantation owner (Tom Robinson injured his arm in an accident on one of Dolphus's cotton gins), Raymond lives on land he owns along the river. Engaged to be married at one point, his fiance committed suicide following the rehearsal when she

"... went upstairs and blew her head off. Shotgun. She pulled the trigger with her toes."

Dolphus's fiance had discovered that he had a black mistress, and following the suicide, Dolphus has "been sorta drunk ever since." He weaves around town, apparently sipping whiskey from a straw that is hidden in a paper sack. He has fathered a number of "mixed chillun," and the white people in town won't have anything to do with him or his kids. It is obvious that Dolphus marches to the tune of a different drummer, and he prefers the company of black people to whites.

Mr. Dolphus Raymond comes from a well-to-do family in Maycomb, but he is not at all a traditional citizen.  Raymond is known as a drunk because he is usually seen with a bottle in a brown paper bag.  It is all a front, however, and a way to explain his behaviors and attitudes towards blacks.  Raymond lives with and enjoys the company of blacks over the white citizens of Maycomb.  He has a black mistress and even some mixed children with her.  He fakes being an alcoholic (the bag really has Coca-Cola in it) to give people a way to explain his “odd” preferences.  The town’s people are able to explain away his behavior and fraternizing with blacks as an effect of his alcoholism.  It is also easier for Raymond than to explain his beliefs of equality and feelings of respect for blacks.  People would not understand his lifestyle, and therefore, he fakes an addiction to avoid confronting the racist views of Maycomb.  It is a sad situation when you have to hide who you are or pretend to be something you are not because of society’s views about race.

Dill and Scout learn from Mr. Raymond that there are distinct inequalities in the town of Maycomb that make it difficult, if not impossible, for people to see beyond race and also make it difficult, if not impossible, for people from the Black community to receive fair treatment.

Mr. Raymond is one of the town’s drunks, or so it would appear. Before the children have a conversation with him, the reader is introduced to Mr. Raymond when he rides by Scout and Jem in his usual drunken stupor. In fact, Jem says,

Mr. Dolphus Raymond lurched by on his thoroughbred. “Don’t see how he stays in the saddle,” murmured Jem. “How c’n you stand to get drunk ‘fore eight in the morning?”

However, Mr. Raymond is not actually a drunk, as the children learn shortly afterward. He prefers to keep his distance from Maycomb people of similar background to his and uses the appearance of drunkenness to accomplish this.

Ironically, he is from “a fine old family” of Maycomb. Maycomb’s proper ladies and gentlemen would not want to be in the company of a raging alcoholic who cannot keep himself in check. We get a glimpse into Mr. Raymond’s preference to avoid the other white people at the picnic outside the court during Tom’s trial. Scout relates,

In a far corner of the square, the Negroes sat quietly in the sun, dining on sardines, crackers, and the more vivid flavors of Nehi Cola. Mr. Dolphus Raymond sat with them.

When Dill and Scout discover that the paper bag containing Mr. Raymond’s whiskey contains nothing more than Coca-Cola, he tells them,

You little folks won’t tell on me now, will you? It’d ruin my reputation if you did.

He explains why he maintains the charade of being among the town’s notorious drunks.

Some folks don’t—like the way I live.

Mr. Raymond lives as he pleases and integrates with Maycomb's Black community. In fact, he has multiple mixed-race children. The townspeople might be horrified by his inability to accept clear demarcations between the races, but they accept what they see as his eccentricities because they dismiss him as an alcoholic. He says,

Folks can say Dolphus Raymond’s in the clutches of whiskey—that’s why he won’t change his ways. He can’t help himself, that’s why he lives the way he does.

He feels that he can explain this to the children because they’re still “little folks” who are innocent and do not understand how corrupt racism is. He adds that in a few years, Dill will not

cry about the simple hell people give other people—without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give colored folks, without even stopping to think that they’re people, too.

It says everything about the level of racial prejudice in Maycomb that a white man has to pretend to be a hopeless alcoholic to be able to socialize with African-Americans. Yet that's precisely what Dolphus Raymond's forced to do. The very idea of a white Southerner choosing to spend his free time in the company of those deemed racially inferior would've been almost unthinkable at the time. But as everyone thinks that Dolphus is a drunk, they give him a pass for his eccentricities.

Dolphus's behavior is also indulged because he comes from an old, respectable family, the kind of "good" family that would meet with Aunt Alexandra's snobbish approval. This shows us that there's a distinct social, as well as racial, pecking order in town, which also prevents the forging of meaningful human relationships on anything like normal terms.

In Chapter 20, we find out a secret about Dolphus Raymond. What we find out is that he is not really usually drinking any kind of alcohol from out of his brown paper bag. Instead, he is just drinking Coke. Mr. Raymond pretends to be a drunk so that he can do what he wants -- he uses being drunk as an excuse. He wants to do as he pleases, but he can't just do it and tell people he doesn't care what they think -- he has to have an excuse for why he behaves that way.

They learn several things from Mr. Raymond. They learn first that what people think of him isn't true—he isn't a drunk, drinking whiskey from a Coca-Cola bottle, but actually is drinking Coca-Cola. They learn that he allows the town to misunderstand him, and that he does so because it makes the entire situation (him being openly involved with a black woman) easier to accept. They also learn how badly he sees whites as treating blacks, and how much he esteems Atticus. Taking all this together, this is part of how they learn about what's wrong with the racial attitudes they live with.

Greg

The theme of systemic racism runs through Harper Lee's narrative in her coming-of-age novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee's fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, was a product of her own upbringing in the American South, where institutionalized segregation was a way of life and her characters are reflections of the author's observations. There are exceptions to the rule, of course, as the novel's young narrator, Scout, relates stories of her father's wisdom and courage. Atticus Finch is a small-town lawyer whose clients sometimes have no choice but to pay their legal bills in livestock. Atticus is the moral center of To Kill a Mockingbird. His defense of an African American man accused of raping a white woman provides numerous opportunities for Lee to emphasize the lawyer's upright moral standing in a sea of ignorance and virulent racism. 

Atticus is not the only white citizen of Maycomb who refuses to countenance the racial attitudes that prevail among most of the town's population. Another such citizen is Dolphus Raymond, viewed for much of the novel as a drunk who socializes exclusively with Maycomb's African American community. In chapter sixteen of the novel, Scout relates the following tale of one typical morning in Maycomb:

Mr. Dolphus Raymond lurched by on his thoroughbred. “Don’t see how he stays in the saddle,” murmured Jem. “How c’n you stand to get drunk ‘fore eight in the morning?”

Later in chapter sixteen, the subject of Dolphus Raymond and his propensity for consuming alcohol again becomes a topic of conversation among the children when Dill asks Jem about this peculiar adult's habits:

“Why’s he sittin‘ with the colored folks?” “Always does. He likes ‘em better’n he likes us, I reckon. Lives by himself way down near the county line. He’s got a colored woman and all sorts of mixed chillun. Show you some of ’em if we see ‘em.”

It is well-established that Dolphus Raymond is a town drunk who prefers the company of blacks to whites. He is a social outcast among Maycomb's predominantly white population—a risky proposition in this virulently racist town. It is in Chapter 20 when Dill, physically upset by the gross miscarriage of justice he is witnessing in the rape trial of Tom Robinson, reluctantly accepts an offer from Dolphus to drink from the bottle of liquid the latter keeps in a brown paper bag:

Dill released the straws and grinned. “Scout, it’s nothing but Coca-Cola.” Mr. Raymond sat up against the tree-trunk. He had been lying on the grass. “You little folks won’t tell on me now, will you? It’d ruin my reputation if you did.”

For the past several chapters, Dolphus Raymond has been depicted as an alcoholic whose lack of judgment results in his association with blacks. Indeed, Dolphus is known to have a black woman with whom he has conceived children. With the revelation that his bottle is not filled with whiskey but rather, Coca-Cola, his ruse is up, at least with respect to the Finch children and Dill. When Dolphus remarks that his reputation would be ruined if word got out that he is not really a drunk, he is being ironic. He is protective of a reputation that most ordinary people would eschew, the alcoholic. He plays the drunk, however, so that he can freely associate with the African American community. Whites do not bother him because they have written him off as a drunk. His presumed alcoholism is the cover he needs to associate with blacks. 

Dolphus Raymond is actually proud of his reputation as being one of Maycomb's leading eccentrics. Rumor has it that the paper bag he carries with a bottle inside actually disguises the whiskey that he drinks, and Dolphus does nothing to discourage folks' opinions about him. He actually weaves about deliberately to further strenghthen the validity of the rumor. However, when he meets up with Dill and Scout outside the courthouse, he decides to share his little secret with his innocent young friends. When Dolphus offers Dill a sip from the bottle to "settle your stomach," he seems to take "delight in corrupting a child." Scout cautions him.

"Dill, you watch out now," I warned.

But Dill quickly discovered the real truth.

Dill released the straws and grinned. "Scout, it's nothing but Coca-Cola."

Dolphus made them promise not to reveal his secret, and when Scout asked him why he performed this "sinful" act to create a less-than-honest impression, Dolphus answered that

"I try to give 'em a reason, you see... they could never, never understand that I live like I do because that's the way I want to live."

While most of Maycomb's citizens prove themselves to be racist through their views of Atticus's work in proving Tom's innocence, Dolphus Raymond represents another facet of their white society.

Earlier in his life, Dolphus was engaged to be married to a white woman. According to the rumors Jem passes on to Scout, his soon-to-be-bride found out that he was having an affair with a black woman and killed herself. This is especially shocking since Dolphus was from a "real old family," a social standing which people like Aunt Alexandra value.

Later in chapter 20 when the children actually have a chance to talk to Dolphus, they are shocked to learn that he isn't the town drunk he pretends to be. He explains to Scout and Jem that he actually prefers the company of black people, but Maycomb could never understand this. Instead of just saying "the hell with 'em," Dolphus tries to give everyone a reason to explain his choices, which white Maycomb would find otherwise impossible to explain:

It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason. When I come to town, which is seldom, if I weave a little and drink out of this sack, folks can say Dolphus Raymond’s in the clutches of whiskey—that’s why he won’t change his ways. He can’t help himself, that’s why he lives the way he does.

Giving people this "reason" to explain his otherwise unfathomable choices ultimately makes things easier for Dolphus and his family to build a life in Maycomb—at least until the children get a little older and head to the North. Dolphus is willing to sacrifice facets of his own reputation in order to live the way he wants and avoiding constant conflict for his choices.

His role in the novel shows Scout that there are people who will deliberately perpetrate fraud against their own character in order to find a bit of peace and uphold a greater goal. Because he understands the complexities of their white society, he also delivers an ominous line to Scout as they part company:

You haven’t even seen this town, but all you gotta do is step back inside the courthouse.

Dolphus knows the way this trial will end because he has seen the ugliest side of their town. His words foreshadow the ultimate decision the all-white jury will therefore reach.

Dolphus Raymond is a white man in Maycomb who seems to prefer living with the blacks. In fact he has children with a black woman. This is quite unheard of in a town as steeped in prejudice and racism as Maycomb, all the more so as Raymond is actually from a wealthy family. Scout and Jem often see him hovering around, when he always appears drunk. Later, however, the children make a startling discovery. He does not drink alcohol at all, he only pretends to. This is to give people a reason for his unconventional behaviour in living with a black woman - they just put it down to his drinking.

Dolphus Raymond provides an example of a character in Maycomb who refuses to live according to its strict code of conduct and racial segregation. However, although he is able to go against this code, he is not really capable of outright confrontation with society; he has to provide a cover, and, as far as we are shown, he only confides his secret to children. 

At the end of chapter nineteen and throughout all of chapter twenty, readers learn many things about Mr. Dolphus Raymond in Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird. In chapter nineteen, Scout compares Mayella Ewell to Dolphus Raymond, in the context that Mayella must be the loneliest person in the world because:

 "She couldn’t live like Mr. Dolphus Raymond, who preferred the company of Negroes, because she didn’t own a riverbank and she wasn’t from a fine old family."

This suggests that Mr. Raymond is from a fine old family, which may lend him some allowances in behaving outside the social norms of Maycomb. Scout also divulges that Mr. Raymond prefers the company of black people. 

In chapter twenty, readers learn that Mr. Raymond has mixed-race children. Scout, Dill, and Jem are discussing the trial, and in particular Dill's moral reaction to the unfair treatment of Tom Robinson. Mr. Dolphus Raymond is sitting under a tree with his brown-sack-covered bottle. He encourages Dill to take a drink of his bottle and Dill reveals that it is only filled with Coca-Cola. This goes against the assumptions they (and most of the town) have made that Mr. Raymond is a drunk.  

“Some folks don’t—like the way I live. Now I could say the hell with ‘em, I don’t care if they don’t like it. I do say I don’t care if they don’t like it, right enough— but I don’t say the hell with ’em, see?” Dill and I said, “No sir.” “I try to give ‘em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason. When I come to town, which is seldom, if I weave a little and drink out of this sack, folks can say Dolphus Raymond’s in the clutches of whiskey—that’s why he won’t change his ways. He can’t help himself, that’s why he lives the way he does.” 

Because Mr. Raymond prefers the company of black people and is unashamed of his mixed children, he says he perpetuates the lie that he is a drunk because it helps people by giving them a reason why he is like that. This insinuates that his actions are not congruent with a person fully in control of their mental faculties. In a way, his actions are cowardly, because people do dismiss his lifestyle choices due to his supposed alcoholism. He tells Dill that he will learn to conform to society as he grows older, and he will not stand up to the invisible social structure either. He says: 

“Things haven’t caught up with that one’s instinct yet. Let him get a little older and he won’t get sick and cry. Maybe things’ll strike him as being—not quite right, say, but he won’t cry, not when he gets a few years on him.” “Cry about what, Mr. Raymond?” Dill’s maleness was beginning to assert itself. “Cry about the simple hell people give other people—without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give colored folks, without even stopping to think that they’re people, too.” 

In chapter 20, Dolphus Raymond befriends Scout and Dill outside of the courtroom and offers Dill a sip of Coca-Cola from his brown brag. Initially, Scout and Dill are surprised at the fact that there is Coca-Cola and not alcohol inside Dolphus's paper bag. Dolphus then explains to the children that he feigns alcoholism as a way help the racist citizens of Maycomb cope with his lifestyle.

Dolphus lives a then-taboo lifestyle by openly associating with African Americans and having several biracial children. In order to avoid conflict and help people "latch onto a reason," Dolphus finds it easier to act like an alcoholic so that people leave him alone.

After Dolphus discloses his secret to the children, Scout asks him why he decided to let them in on his secret. Dolphus responds by saying, "Because you’re children and you can understand it" (Lee 1960, 205). He then proceeds to explain how in a few years Scout and Dill will become accustomed to watching African Americans being treated unfairly and informs Scout that her father is not a "run-of-the-mill man."

By the end of their conversation, both children have a newly positive perception of Dolphus Raymond. They no longer view him as a wicked man, but as a compassionate individual with a different perspective on life. Before returning to the courtroom, Scout thanks Dolphus for his drink and honesty.

When Scout, Jem and Dill all get together and go into town to see the scene at the courthouse, they arrive when everyone is out having lunch on the town square. They see Mr. Dolphus Raymond drinking out of a paper bag in one corner of the square and Jem explains what is going on.

He explains that Dolph, who is white, lives among the black community in Maycomb and that he has a black woman as a girlfriend, with whom he has had a number of children. He tells the story about his first marriage not happening because the bride-to-be killed herself prior to the wedding. 

Jem explains that Mr. Raymond is well-off and came from a "real old family," which means a respected white family in Maycomb. He also notes that he takes very good care of his children and seems to be a well-meaning man even though the town looks down on him. He points out that it is hard for the children being "mixed" and that Dolph has sent a couple of them up north where folks don't seem to mind so much.

It says something about the level of racial prejudice in Maycomb that a white man has to pretend to be a drunk in order to live with an African-American woman. As far as the good folk of the town are concerned, drink is the only rational explanation for such eccentric behavior. As Dolphus says:

"[I]f I weave a little and drink out of this sack, folks can say Dolphus Raymond's in the clutches of whiskey—that's why he won't change his ways. He can't help himself, that's why he lives the way he does." 

As Dolphus Raymond comes from a respectable family, his actions can't be explained away by the respectable townsfolk as typical "white trash" behavior. Dolphus is a Raymond, not a Ewell. 

It also says something about the adults' intolerance that Dolphus only feels comfortable in revealing his secret to children. Their perspective on the world is altogether more innocent and less encumbered by the prevailing prejudices and social conventions of adults. The children, especially Scout, are aware of the huge chasm that separates the races in Maycomb, but they are too young to understand the bigger picture. Nevertheless, Scout does come to realize that people in Maycomb who don't fit in, for whatever reason, need to make some kind of compromise in order to live their lives.

Dolphus Raymond is a local "drunk"; or at least, that's what everyone thinks. He is a white man from a good family, but he has chosen to live on the black side of town with his mistress, who is also black. There, they raise their children, & live in relative peace. He is a source of rumor & speculation amongst the townspeople, because of his chosen lifestyle.

His secret? Mr. Raymond is not an alcoholic. In fact, all he carries in his brown paper sack is a bottle of Coca-cola. When Dill leaves the courtroom distressed, Mr. Raymond shares the soda with Dill, and talks with the children about tolerance and love. He explains that letting everyone think he's drunk helps them deal with the fact that he's chosen to ignore social standards, and instead pursue happiness with the woman he loves. He understands Dill's sickness at the cruelty he has witnessed during the trial, and explains that when they are grown, they'll no longer cry about the injustice in the world.

Mr. Raymond is another adult, like Miss Maudie and Atticus, who teaches the children a lesson in equality, and exteding compassion to all people. He shows that there are others in Maycomb who stand behind Atticus' decision to represent Tom, whether they can speak up in public or not. Mr. Raymond has chosen to keep a small secret in order to maintain his position in life, & he shares this with the children because he sees that they, unlike the other adults, will understand.