Who is Dolphus Raymond and what do we learn about him in Chapter 16 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

In chapter 16, Jem, Dill, and Scout head to the Maycomb courthouse and watch the community gather in the square. Jem points towards a white man named Dolphus Raymond, who is sitting with a group of black people in the far corner of the square. Jem then explains to Scout and Dill that Dolphus Raymond is an alcoholic, who prefers being around black people and has several biracial children. When Dill comments that Dolphus Raymond does not look like trash, Jem explains to him that Dolphus comes from a wealthy family and owns nearly half of the riverbank. Jem then attempts to explain why Dolphus prefers to congregate with black people by telling Scout and Dill that Dolphus is attracted to black women, which upsets many of the white citizens. According to Jem, Dolphus's bride found out that he was having an affair with a black woman and 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." In chapter 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.

Who is Dolphus Raymond and what do we learn about him in Chapter 16 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

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.

Who is Mr. Dolphus Raymond in chapter 16 of To Kill a Mockingbird and what are three notable points about him?

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.

What did Dolphus Raymond mean by his statement in chapter 20 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

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. 

What did Dolphus Raymond mean by his statement in chapter 20 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

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."

What is Dolphus Raymond's role in To Kill a Mockingbird?

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.

Who is Mr. Dolphus Raymond in To Kill a Mockingbird?

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. 

Who is Mr. Dolphus Raymond in "To Kill a Mockingbird" and what is his secret?

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.

Who is Mr. Dolphus Raymond in "To Kill a Mockingbird" and what is his secret?

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.