Tunnel Vision

Throughout Chesnutt's, "The Passing of Grandison," it is interesting to see the consistent conflict between the Colonel's apparent acknowledgement of the slaves' humanity and his desire to continue to keep his slaves as monetary objects. It is said that, "his negroes were the outward and visible sign of his wealth and station, and therefore sacred to him." Built up in this statement are two starkly different connotations. The first is his apparent need to have slaves as a symbol of wealth and power, and the other is the high level of esteem he carries for his slaves denoted by the word "sacred." The Colonel continues on to talk about how he is going to allow Grandison and Betty to get married--indicating that he is completely aware of the humanity with Grandison and the love that he can have for a woman.
When charity speaks of the slaves, it seems that she is more sided with the abolitionists--perhaps only out of apathetic naivety. When a slave-stealer was on trial for "stealing" a slave away, Charity said that, "He dared something for humanity." She also says that she wishes, "that all Sam Brigg's negroes would run away." Perhaps she is only saying this because she was caught up in the moment of Briggs' violence and that was her gut instinct. Later on when Dick is speaking of stealing on of his father's slaves she replies, "What nonsense! You must be losing your wits... what you are talking about is merely absurd." It seems that she only speaks for the moment--what she feels for the then and there.
In contrast with Charity, the Colonel seems to want to keep his slaves happy, at least the ones he likes, but at the same time, keep them well under lock and key. He tries to convince himself that his slaves are genuinely happy being enslaved to him. He even goes as far as to say that, "Just think of their [The abolitionists] locking the poor, faithful nigger up, beating him, kicking him, depriving him of his liberty." The Colonel almost truly believes that his slaves would rather live with him under the yoke of slavery (his “liberty”) than live a life of freedom. It is unquestionable as to whether the Colonel sees humanity in his slaves. When he cares for Grandison after returning from his time of captivity, there is a genuine compassion in his eyes--it almost brings him to tears. This however does not overcome the Colonel’s need to keep the slaves under his tight fist--making sure that he lives up to his outward and visible sign of wealth.