Native Son Lesson Plan

Discuss the ways in which the Daltons demonstrate inconsistencies in their attitudes towards the black population.

Mr. and Mrs. Dalton are philanthropists who, as we learn from Peggy, gave $5 million to black schools. Peggy also tells Bigger that Mrs. Dalton oversaw their last chauffeur's education, and that he was able to get a government job. Mr. Dalton also informs Bigger that he wants to hire him because he is involved with the NAACP. However, in the same conversation, we learn that Mr. Dalton is in fact Bigger's landlord, and he collects rent from the dismal tenements which we have already seen to be rat-infested, cramped, and poorly heated. They also have a...