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...
He asked me a thousand and one questions about the faith but he became a Baha'i on his own. It was his decision. He said he felt reborn, renewed. 'Before that he used to drink. He was a social drinker, not an alcoholic. He explained how the British go for a pint, but he ...