The Passing of Grandison

Satire is an artistic form in which human folly or vice is ridiculed through exaggeration, often with the intent of bringing about social reform. In “The Passing of Grandison,” the narration, allusions, and instability of assumed identity all contribute to the story’s satirical commentary.

The story’s point of view (a third-person limited narrator) is a key factor in the structure of its satire. Readers immediately understand Dick’s unreliability because they can see the gaps between the (presumably reliable) narrator’s descriptions of events and Dick’s accounts of the same events. Second, because of this unreliability, the twist at the end of the story is concealed from the reader until it happens. Thanks to Charity’s description of his character, it is clear to the reader that Dick is “utterly lazy and good for nothing” (60), and cares primarily about his comfort. As such, he is largely blind to Grandison’s plan. Throughout the story, Dick demonstrates his laziness by attempting to orchestrate passive circumstances in which Grandison flees of his own volition.

He believes himself to be “a keen observer of human nature, in his own indolent way” (64), but Dick conflates the way he believes someone ought to act with how they act in reality.