Analysis Of A Lesson Before Dying By Ernest J. Gaines

In A Lesson Before Dying by author Ernest J Gaines, Grant is the protagonist who is trying to do the right thing for his people. Grant is in a very turbulent situation, having to make Jefferson into a “man” by the time he is executed. This is the central plot of the story, but not the main themes and ideas of it. Grant is struggling to help Jefferson because he sees generations of injustice through him. “’We got our first load of wood last week,’ [Grant] told him. ‘Nothing changes,’ he said.” (Gaines, 53). The response Grant’s teacher gives him has a deeper meaning: he as Grants’ teacher failed to change the injustice and racism and Grant is in the same situation. “Nothing changes”, but Grant does not give up for the sake of Jefferson, his people, and most importantly, himself. At one point, Grant actually reveals that “it is too heavy a burden because of all the others who have run away and left their burdens behind. So, he,

Throughout this book, the decisions Jefferson make dictate what happens to him. He had a choice in the beginning of the book whether he could get a ride with the two white men or continue walking as he planned to from the start of the day. There was no one there telling him what to do “He was on his way to the White Rabbit Bar and Lounge when Brother and Bear drove up beside him and offered him a ride”(4) he should have known something was up when two white men drove up and offered him a ride because there was still segregation and most whites believed they were better than the blacks. He had the choice to make and decided that he would go in the car with Brother and Bear so there is no outside force telling him to get in the car only his own mind.

With this in mind, each lawyers at the beginning of their arguments approached the jury formally, by addressing them as gentlemen. As they went further into their speeches, they both pick up on the topic of racism. Atticus stated, “the evil assumption—that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immortal beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted.” This was a way in telling the jury to ignore racism, and give the defendants a fair trial. Not to mention, both lawyers also touched upon the defendant’s family and religion. In order to make the jury feel guilty if they did not make the right decision. Lastly, an interesting thing each lawyer did was pause a lot during long thoughts. It was meant to show emphasis on the words just spoken. With all this mind, the two lawyers did, in fact, differ a lot with their diction. Atticus at one point uttered, “She has committed no crime, she has merely broken a rigid and time-honored code of our society, a code so severe that whoever breaks it is hounded from our midst as unfit to live with.” This was supposed to anger them and prove that it is not all Tom Robinson’s fault. Another thing Atticus did was go from very lengthy sentences in the beginning to short sentences by the end. On the other hand, in “A Lesson Before dying” the lawyer at the end thanks the jury saying, “I, thank you, gentlemen from the bottom of my heart, for your

Had Jefferson been white, it is possible people would be more open to hearing his side of the story, and he could have been given a punishment that was not as

The setting in a book can affect how the reader views and understands the novel. The setting is a very important part of a book, whether it is important the setting stays the same in the book, or if the storyline is flexible enough that the setting can change. In the book “A Lesson Before Dying”, the setting is very important to the storyline. In this case, the storyline is not flexible enough to be set at any other time, than the 1940’s. It is very important it is set during this time because the views and understanding of race back then, makes a huge contribution to the understanding of the novel. The fact that Jefferson is treated differently and looked at differently

The outcome of a trial between a white and a black person will always favor towards the white. No matter what logic and reason the black person pulls, he will always lose the trial. During a trial, a decision should be made base on laws. However, Atticus has come to the realization that judgements are made by the color of one’s skin as oppose to the law.

Aanya Gupta Mr. Nguyen English 10 HN 10 May, 2024 A Lesson Before Dying Essay Ernest J. Gaines's 'A Lesson Before Dying' opens with a chilling statement from a defense attorney: 'Why, I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this.” This analogy sets the tone for a story that explores the intricacies of racial injustice and the possibility of reparation in the face of social rejection. Set in the 1940s Louisiana, Gaines's words paint a vivid image of how a society steeped in prejudice and discrimination. Against this setting, the story of Jefferson, a young black man wrongly convicted of murder, unfolds as a powerful exploration of the human capacity for resilience and transformation. Through symbolism and character development,

After the Civil War ended, many blacks and whites, especially in the South, continued living as if nothing had changed with regards to the oppression and poor treatment of African Americans. Narrator Grant Wiggins, of Ernest J. Gaines' A Lesson Before Dying, possesses a similar attitude toward race relations. Through his experiences with a young man wrongly accused of murder, Grant transforms from a pessimistic, hopeless, and insensitive man into a more selfless and compassionate human being who can see the possibility of change in relations between whites and blacks.

A Lesson before Dying, one of Ernest J. Gaines later works, was written in 1993. Some of his earlier works include A Gathering of Old Men and In My Father’s House. The novel covers a time period when blacks were still treated unfairly and looked down upon. Jefferson, a main character, has been wrongly accused of a crime and awaits his execution in jail. Grant, the story’s main protagonist must find it within himself to help Jefferson see that he is a man, which will allow him to walk bravely to his fate that lies in the execution chair. A Lesson before Dying captures the tale of a young teacher, who by helping another mistakenly finds his own soul. This paper explains the literary background of Gaines, facts about the novel, literary

After the civil war ended many blacks and whites especially in the south, continued living as if nothing had changed with regards to the oppressions and poor treatment of African Americans. Narrator Grant Wiggins, of the novel A Lesson Before Dying, By Ernest Gaines, finds himself in a similar situation towards racism. Through his experience Grant is forced to transform Jefferson who was wrongly accused of a murder from a “HOG” into a man. Although Grant was forced to make jefferson a man, he himself became more of one as a result. Grant transformed from an ignorant pessimistic person into a sensitive and compassionate human being.

In past years, as well as, in the twenty-first century, African Americans are being oppressed and judged based on the color of their skin. In, A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, this is the primary conflict that plagues Jefferson’s as well as Grant’s everyday life. By pleading guilty to a murder that he did not commit, Jefferson has to choose to die just as he is, a hog in the white’s eyes, or die a man. On the other hand, Grant, who is his teacher, is faced with being looked down upon by his community all because of his race and status. He is graced with the challenge of turning Jefferson into a man before his execution date. It is only a matter of time before they both realize that they cannot change the past and they have

In Ernest J. Gaines novel A Lesson Before Dying, a young African-American, Jefferson, is caught in the middle of a liquor shootout, and as the only survivor is convicted of murder and sentenced to death. During Jefferson’s trial, his attorney calls him a hog in an effort to persuade the jury that he could not have possibly planned a crime like this. Having heard this, Jefferson’s godmother, Miss Emma, calls on the local school teacher, Grant Wiggins, to visit Jefferson in prison and help prove to the community, more importantly the white people, that Jefferson is indeed a man, not a hog. Throughout the book, Grant often contemplates why he is helping Miss Emma; he debates within himself whether he should stay and help Miss Emma and

Jefferson is a peculiar character in that the story is centred on his existence and, although his thoughts and opinions are seldom expressed, the lessons he learnt are completely unambiguous. As the tragic story goes, he is a very young black man unjustly condemned to death for a crime he did not commit. Furthermore, he is dehumanized in his defence when he is called a “hog” and this detrimentally affects his self esteem throughout a significant portion of the novel. However, this melancholic situation he is thrust into and his initial reaction to it is contrasted against his final moment which unashamedly reveals just how much he has learnt in his incarceration period. Jefferson, through the guidance of Grant, learns about the notion of dignity, a peculiarity that drives people towards the pinnacle of human

December 18, 1865, marked the end of African-American slavery in America, where-by black people gained more freedom in the land. However, a power imbalance between the black and white is still present. A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines gives readers insight to the immense abuse and hatred towards black people in the 1940s of America and furthers the reader's knowledge of black segregation and how the black people never gave up for their freedom and rights. The novel’s main plot follows Grant Wiggins, a young black man who was given the responsibility to make Jefferson, a black man who was unjustifiably accused of murder and sentenced to death by electrocution become truly a man and not a “hog” which is what the lawyer labeled Jefferson as. Throughout the novel, readers can recognize the great bond created as Grant encourages and aids Jefferson in becoming a man before his “judgment day”. Nevertheless, the novel was not only about Jefferson’s lesson before his death, but it was a lesson for many other characters in the novel. The most important lesson to learn before dying is the lesson of never give up, which can be seen through the actions of Jefferson, Miss Emma, and Grant.

In the novel “A Lesson before Dying” we receive a glimpse of what life was like for African Americans living in Bayonne Louisiana during the time in American history before civil rights. This time was commonly referred to as the “Jim Crowe Era”. The conflict in this novel first arises when our protagonist Jefferson is at a court case in which he is the defendant against charges of robbery, and first degree murder. We soon find out that this boy is innocent as well as slow, and uneducated. His attorney pleads the boy’s innocence by insulting his intelligence, and referring to him as a “hog”. He later goes on to say “Gentleman of the jury, look at him-look at him-look at this. Do you see a man sitting here? I ask you, I implore look carefully-do you see a man sitting here?...Do you see anyone who could plan a murder, a robbery, can plan-can plan-can plan anything?” (Gaines 7). The attorney thinks he is helping Jefferson’s case by playing him off as mentally incapable, but only delays the inevitable, and sets precedent for the conflict to come.