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Mr. Dalton
Mrs. Dalton, like her husband Henry, believes that the Dalton family is helping African Americans in Chicago by offering them jobs and by donating to charities in the Black Belt. Mrs. Dalton’s physical blindness—she has been blind for ten years—is a counterpart to what Bigger and Max consider to be her metaphorical “blindness” toward the plight of African Americans in Chicago.
Mrs. Dalton Quotes in Native Son
The Native Son quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Dalton or refer to Mrs. Dalton. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Book 2 Quotes
Listen, I just felt around in Mary’s room. Something’s wrong. She didn’t finish packing her trunk. At least half of her things are still there. She said she was planning to go to some dances in Detroit and she didn’t take the new things she bought.
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Mrs. Dalton realizes that Mary couldn't have gone to Detroit after all, even though Bigger has tried to make it seem that nothing changed in Mary's plans. Mrs. Dalton knows her daughter, and knows that her desire to live well, and to live fashionably, would trump her desire to escape from the family in the middle of the night. In other words, Mary's possible disappearance after her lecture at the University of Chicago simply does not fit in with the remainder of her behavior. It is something she would not do unless she had no choice.The Dalton family naturally distrusts Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Ac
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Mrs. Dalton Character Timeline in Native Son
The timeline below shows where the character Mrs. Dalton appears in Native Son. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 1
...prepared by Ma, and Ma reminds Bigger that he has an appointment with a Mr. Dalton that evening at 5:30, about a job. Ma reminds Bigger that this job would provide...
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...reminds Bigger, once again, that it is very important Bigger take the job with Mr. Dalton, as the family needs the money. Bigger curses Vera under his breath as Vera walks...
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...news reel, depicting a Chicago heiress in Florida and her young lover—the heiress is Mary Dalton, daughter of Mr. Dalton, the man with whom Bigger is to interview later that day;...
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...to grow dark outside; she says it is time for him to walk to the Daltons’ house in Hyde Park, near Bigger’s “Black Belt” neighborhood, but in the “white” section of...
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Bigger walks up to the Daltons’ house and, not knowing where the “service” or back entrance is located, decides, nervously, to...
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...to sit and make himself comfortable, but Bigger is nervous around Henry, calling him “Mr. Dalton, sir”; Bigger’s nervousness, additionally, frustrates Bigger, as he is not sure why he is so...
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...apartment owned by the South Side Real Estate Company—a company owned, in turn, by the Daltons. Bigger will sleep in a small room in the Daltons’ home; his meals will be...
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Peggy tells Bigger more about the Dalton family as he eats bacon and eggs in the kitchen, after Henry has left—Bigger has...
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Bigger lies on his new bed in the Dalton house for a moment, and thinks about the things, including a gold watch, he’ll be...
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...a Loop train back to his apartment, and Bigger and Mary drive back to the Daltons’ house. When they arrive, Bigger parks the Buick in front of, but not inside, the...
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Bigger hears a sound as he lies atop Mary in Mary’s bedroom—it is Mrs. Dalton, who has heard the commotion on the stairs and who has come to Mary’s room...
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Mrs. Dalton walks over to Mary, smells the rum on her body, and, remarking that she’s “drunk,”...
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...is to blame the murder on Jan, whom he can say came back to the Daltons’ house (instead of being dropped off, as he was, downtown near the park); Bigger can...
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Book 2
...and stuffed her body in a furnace; the events of the previous night, at the Dalton house, were real. He quickly realizes that, although the rest of his family is still...
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Walking back to the Daltons’, Bigger stops off in a drugstore, where he finds G.H. at the soda counter. Bigger...
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On the tram-ride to the Daltons’, Bigger thinks about the possibility, however improbable it might seem, of a large group of...
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Bigger’s musings are cut short by the end of his tram-ride; he arrives at the Dalton house, and, entering, is wished good morning by Peggy, who tells Bigger that he ought...
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...day; Bigger says that he has not, and Peggy, not knowing how Mr. and Mrs. Dalton will react when they wake up, tells Bigger to take Mary’s trunk down to the...
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When he returns to the Daltons’ house, Bigger is asked by Peggy if he’d like any breakfast; he has no appetite,...
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Bigger, in his room, hears Mrs. Dalton and Peggy talking in the hall; he goes into a closet in his bedroom, from...
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But Mrs. Dalton responds that Mary was in her room at two a.m. the night before—when Mrs. Dalton...
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Some time passes, which Bigger spends dozing in his room. Mrs. Dalton has Peggy ring for Bigger; Bigger hears it on the third ring, and Mrs. Dalton...
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...the idea that he might have pretended to kidnap Mary to extort more from the Daltons.
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...from Mary’s purse, making it seem like the money was given to him by the Daltons; he promises to be sweet to Bessie from now on, and says that she can...
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...tells her he’ll meet with her the following night. On his walk back to the Daltons’ house, Bigger thinks on the “blindness” he has seen, from Bessie to his mother to...
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...he, Bigger, can see, makes Bigger feel proud of his own strength. He reaches the Daltons’ house, and runs into Peggy, who tells Bigger that Mrs. Dalton wants him to pick...
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Mr. and Mrs. Dalton come down to the kitchen to speak with Bigger before he leaves to pick up...
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Bigger goes to the train station, picks up the trunk, and returns to the Dalton house. He thinks, en route, that he will have to “fasten” his story straight in...
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...the time to go into more detail with his story, in order to convince the Daltons and the authorities that Jan is responsible for Mary’s disappearance. Bigger tells the story of...
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...only following orders the previous night, the first night of his new job at the Daltons’ house. Henry seems convinced by Bigger’s innocence—by the idea that Bigger is as scared of...
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Bigger goes back up to his room and hears Mr. Dalton and Britten talking in the kitchen. Dalton defends Bigger, in his typically paternalistic way, saying...
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...being called from below. When he arises, he answers the door to find Jan, Mr. Dalton, and Britten wanting to speak with him. The three come into Bigger’s room. Britten asks...
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...although he gave Bigger some Communist literature, he, Jan, did not come back to the Daltons’, nor did he tell Bigger to do anything with Mary’s trunk. Jan wonders, genuinely, who...
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...the house, Jan runs into Bigger, who has gone down the staircase (Britten and Mr. Dalton have already left Bigger’s room to discuss matters further); Jan asks Bigger, again, why Bigger...
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...an envelope, then rides the tram-car to Bessie’s apartment, remarking along the way that Mr. Dalton’s company owns the apartment house in which Bigger was raised, and probably the one where...
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...scout locations for an abandoned apartment, wherein Bessie can wait, the following night, for the Dalton family’s drop-off of the ten thousand dollars.
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...he will see her soon. Bigger walks through the snowy, cold night back to the Daltons’ house, where he goes up to the front door furtively and drops the ransom note,...
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...and set it on the table in the kitchen—Bigger eyes the envelope nervously, until Mr. Dalton comes in and takes it away. While Peggy tells Bigger that he should be up...
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Mr. Dalton comes downstairs, however, and announces that he would like to make a statement after all...
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The reporters ask if the Daltons plan on paying the ransom, and Henry replies that he will, and will follow the...
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...to Bigger. Bigger tells the reporters that he really can’t say anything more than Mr. Dalton has just told them, and during their conversation, another reporter, who has gone upstairs to...
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...will happen to him if he’s free to walk around; other reporters, however, believe Mr. Dalton’s hunch, that Jan has nothing to do with the kidnapping. Some of the reporters ask...
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...that the reporters found her body in the furnace; that he ran away from the Dalton house and will be hunted by the police; that he only has 90 dollars left,...
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Book 3
...is led by police to the Cook County Morgue, where he spots Mr. and Mrs. Dalton and Jan, though Bigger cannot speak to them—he is nearly in a daze, and has...
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At this, Mr. and Mrs. Dalton enter the cell, too. Buckley goes to them and wishes them his condolences for their...
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...prays loudly for Bigger’s soul. On their way out of the cell, Ma asks Mrs. Dalton, who has been standing in the corner with her husband, not to have the authorities...
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...hearing in which “facts regarding the case” are established. This will require members of the Dalton family to testify; Bigger looks on as Mrs. Dalton is sworn in and handed a...
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...questions being asked; Jan is told to sit down, and the deputy coroner calls Henry Dalton to testify.
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The deputy coroner quickly asks Mr. Dalton a few questions about the nature of his charitable work in the African American community...
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...him a “black ape.” Bigger is then taken quickly by the authorities back to the Dalton house, where the police ask him, once he is taken out of the car, to...
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On his way out of the Dalton house, once again led by police with weapons drawn, Bigger is spat on by a...
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...Bigger’s gang. A small girl even climbs inside a mock-up of the furnace in the Dalton home, to show to the jury that Bigger could indeed have fit and burned Mary’s...
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