Dolphus Raymond made sacrifices with his reputation in order to allow him to live the life wanted to live, in a society that demanded every person keep up with the status quo. To be white and associate with black people was already looked down upon, and Dolphus was a landowner and of a well established family. Mr. Raymond settling down with a person of color and having a family with her, not to mention being publicly happy about it, would have seemed like a fall from grace to other white people. His first act of courage was rejecting his background.
“He doesn’t look like trash,” said Dill.
“He’s not, he owns all one side of the riverbank down there, and he’s from a real old family to boot.”
Dolphus went further than rebelling against his social restrictions; he took extra steps to protect the fragility of his white neighbors. Acting like a drunk in public allowed people to excuse his home-life, without damaging their sense of normalcy. It may have robbed him of a certain respect, but it was necessary for what he saw as the good of the whole.
“It ain’t honest but it’s mighty helpful to folks. Secretly, Miss Finch, I’m not much of a drinker, but you see they could never, never understand that I live like I do because that’s the way I want to live.”
A final act of courage can be found in his confession to the Scout and Dill. One may assume that few other than Atticus knew the truth about Mr. Raymond's lifestyle. He told the children his deepest secret, entrusting his double life to two children who might just as easily tell everyone in town. He feels the children will be able to learn something from him, and in order to show Dill he was not alone, puts himself at risk of discovery.
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