entire family escape from the plantation.

Secondly, Colonel Owens does not have a trusting relationship with his son, Dick. When Dick wants to have Tom accompany him on the trip, Colonel Owens steps in to replace Grandison for Tom. If Colonel Owens trusted his son, he would have respected his decision to take Tom. If Dick respected his father, he would not try to facilitate a slave’s escape. The decision of Colonel Owens to step in here ultimately causes him to lose more slaves in the long run.

Colonel Owen's identity as a father rests somewhat on the way that he treats his slaves. He sees himself as a paternal figure who takes care of them. He believes that he gives them such a good life that they want to stay with him—at least for the most part. This is why he's confident enough to send Grandison north with Dick. He doesn't understand that all the permissions in the world don't equate to freedom.

The Colonel seems distant from Dick. He hasn't instilled a sense of maturity or a work ethic in him because he doesn't relate to him. Since the Colonel grew up poor and became rich, he treats Dick with some of the deference that he would have afforded the wealthy when he was young. He has a paternal affection from him, but this does keep them a bit separate. He gives his son everything, and therefore his son doesn't learn responsibility.

Ultimately, the Colonel is unable to see things as they are. He believes that offering Grandison the opportunity to marry the woman he loves once he returns to the plantation is enough enticement to be sure he doesn't run away. It doesn't work out that way, as Grandison escapes with his entire family soon after he returns. This shocks and angers him, partially because it affects and changes how he sees himself.

Grandison's name certainly has thematic and symbolic ramifications, given that it is essentially a respelling of the word "grandson," hinting at a familial relationship between slave owner and slave, a connection which reflects Colonel Owens's paternalistic attitudes toward his slaves and toward Grandison himself. Owens himself frames the master-slave coexistence in terms of being a feudal relationship, where the slave can only thrive when under the master's protection, and in this sense he conveniently casts himself in the role of benefactor rather than oppressor. It is a viewpoint that allows him to see himself in a positive light, even as it is founded in a fundamental disdain and infantilization of the slaves as human beings.

Where Charity Lomax's words are concerned, it's clear that Grandison is the more worthy of the two. Jack had no principles or convictions, and he was not running any real risks when he decided to take one of his father's slaves to freedom: he was only trying to impress Charity. Grandison, on the other hand, willingly sacrificed a known opportunity to secure his own freedom, continued to pull the wool over Jack and the colonel's eyes, and ultimately succeeded in securing freedom for his family and himself.