Dill, still upset about the trial, accepts a drink from Dolphus Raymond, who, it turns out, hasn't been drinking whiskey at all but rather Coca-Cola. He explains that he does this to make it easier for the people of Maycomb, who can write off his behavior (like having children with an African American woman) to the fact that he's a drunk. In reality, he doesn't like to drink much, but it just makes things easier if people think he does. He tells Scout and Dill this because he saw how Dill got upset at the trial and knows they'll understand because they're not racist. They do, however, want to see the rest of the trial, so they leave Dolphus Raymond behind and head back inside.

When they sit down again, Atticus is giving his closing argument. He argues that there is no real case against Tom, that there's no medical evidence to suggest that r*pe actually happened and that Mayella has accused Tom of r*pe simply because she's afraid of what will happen if people think that she came onto him and not the other way around. It's taboo for a white woman to be at all attracted to a Black person, so to save herself any embarrassment, she covers up what she did with a lie. Tom, on the other hand, hasn't lied to the court once, and as Link Deas said, he is and always has been a good, hard-working, and respectable person. He wouldn't hurt Mayella, and he didn't. She lied.

Atticus concludes by quoting the old phrase "all men are created equal," which was first used by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence. If all men are created equal, he says, then surely Tom deserves better than he has gotten in court. The chapter ends with Calpurnia walking into the courtroom, looking for Atticus.

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