Mr. Dolphus Raymond has a reputation for liking ladies of a different race than he is, and of being quite a drunk. He has taken to living with colored people, and whenever he is seen in public, he has a brown paper sack with what people assume to be whiskey or some sort of liquor bottle in it. He walks around town sipping his drink constantly; hence his reputation for being a drunk.
This makes it all the more starling when, outside of the courthouse during a recess during the trial, Dolphus Raymond casually offers Dill a drink from his mysterious liquor bottle. What is ths--a grown man offering a small child a drink of whiskey? How dare he? Has he no principles? Well, come to find out, it's just soda pop that is in the bottle that he conspicuously keeps hidden in a brown paper bag. The kids think that's awful strange--why have soda pop in a bag, so that people think he's drinking all of the time? He explains that he does it to give people an excuse for his behavior of living with black people. He says near the beginning of chapter 20,
"It ain't honest, but it's mighty helpful to folks...they could never, never understand that I live like I do because that's the way I want to live."
If people think he lives with black people because he's just a lousy drunkard, then it helps them to understand his behavior better. No one would willingly choose to live that way, according to them. So, drinking makes him do it. He chooses to support the lie to help people be less harsh and cruel in their judgments for him. So, Mr. Dolphus Raymond is not a drunk, and the children are the ones to discover this truth. I hope that helps; good luck!
No comments:
Post a Comment