The Passing of Grandison

In Chesnutt’s “The Passing of Grandison,” he uses irony to highlight the issues he discusses. The central idea focuses on how a slave master’s son, Dick, attempts to win his fiancé’s heart over. His fiancée was once amazed by a man who took a slave up north to free him. Thinking he could do the same and amaze his lover, Dick takes a slave named Grandison up north. Throughout the entire trip Dick gives Grandison countless opportunities to escape however he refuses to take them after being told he is free in the north. Finally, while in Canada Dick woke up and to his amazement saw that Grandison was gone. He returned home to his fiancé where he was seen as a hero for his kindhearted deed. However, some time after the two wed, an unexpected visitor arrived. It was Grandison. Ironically he never ran away but was kidnapped by abolitionists and beaten. He escaped the men to find his way back home to his master.

"The Passing of Grandison" is a literary piece that tells that is built on irony. It shows how white plantation owners felt about their slaves and thought that they were to dumb to even consider escaping. This story shows that the black slaves were not as dumb as the master's thought. When Grandison returned it was a symbol that slaves were a lot smarter than everyone thought they were. Chesnutt used the innocence of an un-knowing slave to highlight the ignorance of slave owners during this time as the slave inadvertently out-smarted his master.