The Passing of Grandison Lesson Plan

Why might the narrator have made such a point to explain the laziness of Dick Owens?

The narrator likely explains Dick Owens's legendary laziness to give the reader a sense for the kind of life the son of a slaveowner leads. For Dick, everything is provided for him by the exploitation of his father's slaves and he does not have any motivation to make anything of himself because he "[doesn't] have to." This also helps explain why he is so flippant with Grandison's life. For Dick, Grandison exists as a method for Dick to prove himself, not as a human being. Dick believes this because his entire existence is predicated on the exploitation of people like Grandison.

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