Mr. Dolphus Raymond gave Dill a drink of Coca-Cola to settle his stomach. However, he led others to believe that he was drinking alcohol, when in fact it was only Coca-Cola in a bottle.
Mr. Dolphus Raymond
In Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird," Dill finds out that Dolphus Raymond's bottle actually contains Coca-Cola, not whiskey as people assume. Dolphus pretends to be a drunk to give people a reason for his unconventional behavior, when in reality he just prefers the company of African Americans over white people.
Dolphus makes fun of Dill for being a crybaby that pees himself.
Dolphus Raymond explains his crying as a way to deceive the townspeople into thinking he is just a drunken man rather than face the prejudice and judgment he would experience if they knew the truth about his personal life. He uses this facade to protect himself and his family from social ostracism.
Dill assumed that Dolphus Raymond was poor white trash because he saw him drinking out of a bottle wrapped in a paper bag, which was uncommon behavior for wealthy white people in Maycomb. Dolphus Raymond intentionally perpetuated this image to provide an explanation for his unconventional lifestyle choices and to protect himself from the judgment of others.
Dolphus Raymond understands that Dill is crying because Mr. Gilmer is being so condescending to Tom. While Dolphus does all he can to comfort Dill, he tells Dill that he (Dill) had better get used to it, because this is the way that whites treat blacks (and white who chose to associate with blacks). Dolphus doesn't have the optimistic outlook that Atticus and Miss Maudie seem to possess--that life and society can get better if people just learn that blacks are humans with feelings and rights just like whites.
Dolphus Raymond implies that as Dill gets older, he will understand the hypocrisy and cruelty of the adult world, and may choose to cope with it by pretending to be something he is not, like pretending to be drunk all the time. He hints that this is a way of coping with the harsh realities of society.
The children meet Mr. Dolphus Raymond outside the courtroom after Dill feels sick. He is a wealthy white man who pretends to be a drunk so he can openly associate with African Americans. He sympathizes with the children and offers Dill a drink to calm his stomach.
Miss Rachel Haverford gives Dill a sip of coke in "To Kill a Mockingbird."
He allows everyone to believe he is a drunk because he is in love with a black woman and living with blacks. The only way society can accept this is if they use his drinking to explain this "unacceptable behavior".
Scout and Dill discover that Dolphus Raymond is actually drinking Coca-Cola from the bottle he carries in a paper bag, not alcohol as they initially thought. He pretends to be drunk to give the town something to gossip about and to avoid judgment for his lifestyle choices.