31 pages • 1 hour read
The Passing of Grandison
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Essay Topics
What ideologies or desires underwrite Dick’s motivation to free Grandison? Is he devoted to abolition as a cause?
What role does loyalty play in the story? Is there a gap between who characters seem loyal to, and who they are actually loyal to? Can loyalties shift, or do they only seem to shift?
How do the narrator and point of view affect the audience’s interpretation of this story? How would this story be different if Grandison were the narrator?
What does “passing” mean in this story? Are there different types of “passing” at play?
Discuss the role of “Canada” in this story. What does Canada symbolize in the text? How do the characters feel about Canada?
Colonel Owens calls Grandison “abolitionist-proof” (64). What does this mean? How does he come to this conclusion, and is it true?
Discuss the role of signification in the text: are systems of signs reliable in this story? What is the effect of the reliability or unreliability of signs?
What role do Colonel Owens’s racism and racial bias play in Grandison’s escape? What does this irony add to the story?
Discuss stability and instability in this story. Are characterizations stable? Are race and identity stable? Given its surprise ending, is the text itself stable? What effect does this (in)stability have on your interpretation of the text?
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By Charles W. Chesnutt
