What do Dill and Scout learn from Mr. Dolphus Raymond in chapter 20 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

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.

What do Dill and Scout learn from Mr. Dolphus Raymond in chapter 20 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

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.

What do Dill and Scout learn from Mr. Dolphus Raymond in chapter 20 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

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.

What do Dill and Scout learn from Mr. Dolphus Raymond in chapter 20 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

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

What do we learn about Mr. Dolphus Raymond in this To Kill a Mockingbird chapter?

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.” 

What do Dill and Scout learn about Mr. Dolphus Raymond, and does it change the way they think of him?

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.

What does Jem tell Scout and Dill about Mr. Dolphus Raymond in To Kill a Mockingbird?

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.