In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, on what page can the following passage be found: Secretly, Miss Finch, I'm not much of a drinker, but you...

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, the speech in question is spoken by Mr. Dolphus Raymond, a wealthy white man in Maycomb who is ostracized by society for living with and bearing children with a black woman. He is reputed to be a town drunk because he's always seen drinking from a paper sack assumed to contain a Coca-Cola bottle filled with whiskey. In Chapter 20, Scout and Dill have a conversation with Mr. Raymond in which he explains his behavior.

In Chapter 20, Dill has become so upset by Tom Robinson's cross-examination that it moves him to sobbing tears. Mr. Raymond approaches Dill to help him calm down, offering him a sip of whatever is in his paper sack. It turns out to be only Coca-Cola, which astonishes Scout, inciting her to ask, "Why do you do like you do?" Mr. Raymond responds by explaining that, since he knows people do not like his inter-racial behavior, he has decided he can give them an excuse for his behavior, the excuse being that he is a mad drunk who can't help himself, as we see in Mr. Raymond's following speech to Scout:

Wh--oh yes, you mean why do I pretend? Well, it's very simple ... Some folks don't--like the way I live. Now I could say the hell with 'em, I don't care if they don't like it. I do say I don't care if they don't like it, right enough--but I don't say the hell with 'em, see? (Ch. 20)

He further explains his reasons for acting like a drunk in the following speech to both Scout and Dill:

I try to give 'em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason [for his inter-racial behavior]. (Ch. 20)

When Scout protests that he is being dishonest, Mr. Raymond responds with the comments in question, saying that, while it is not honest, "it's mighty helpful to folks" since "they could never, never understand" that he lives the way he does because he wants to, not because he is afflicted.

Mr. Raymond's speeches serve as a very unique approach to developing the theme of respecting others. Though Mr. Raymond doesn't approve of others' judgements of him and views on racism, he still wants to show those sorts of people respect; therefore, he gives them a false reason to judge him, which helps to bridge the social barrier between Mr. Raymond and the racists who misjudge him.

It is difficult to state an exact page number as to where this passage can be found because different publications of the book will have different page numbers. However, the passage is found around the end of the first or second page of Chapter 20, approximately page 204, depending on one's publication.