Most people would argue that Dolphus Raymond is completely reasonable. He is a white man who has chosen to live with a black woman and have a family with her. He makes this choice with the knowledge that most people in town will not approve. In Maycomb, the races are still completely separate and racism still pervades all aspects of social life. So, when he decides to pretend to be the town drunk, there is...
Most people would argue that Dolphus Raymond is completely reasonable. He is a white man who has chosen to live with a black woman and have a family with her. He makes this choice with the knowledge that most people in town will not approve. In Maycomb, the races are still completely separate and racism still pervades all aspects of social life. So, when he decides to pretend to be the town drunk, there is a reason for this. In Chapter 20, Dolphus says that he acts like a drunk to give people a reason for his behavior. Since they can not accept that he would choose to live with a black woman, he pretends to be a drunk. He explains:
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.
For the sake of argument, one could certainly argue that this is unreasonable. Even though Dolphus is simply trying to placate the racists in town, he gives people the impression that a white man would have to be drunk all of the time to even consider living with a black woman. In this sense, Dolphus is being unreasonable in terms of challenging racist notions in the South. With his message, that a white man must be drunk in order to live with a black woman, he is confirming those racist notions. And this is unreasonable if he, or anyone, wanted to show that such a union/family is completely reasonable.
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