He wants to give the townspeople a reason to "latch onto" regarding his choice of lifestyle, so he pretends that he is an alcoholic: "When I come to town...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." Scout admits that she probably should not be listening to "this sinful man who had mixed children and didn't care who knew it." However, she finds Dolphus Raymond fascinating. She tells the reader, "I had never encountered a being who deliberately perpetrated fraud against himself."