A Lesson Before Dying 'And Devil In A Blue Dress'

“What justice would there be to take this life? Justice, gentleman? Why, I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this.” (Gaines 8). In the novel, A Lesson Before Dying, Jefferson’s attorney focuses his entire defense on the basis that Jefferson was too stupid to plan a robbery or murder.

If it weren't for these prejudice thoughts, many people would be together united as one fighting to better one another. As Brent states in “Black Men and Public Space,” “the hatred he feels for blacks makes itself known to him through a variety of avenues - one being his discomfort with that ‘special brand of paranoid touchiness’ to which he says blacks are prone.” (514). Due to this fear of one another, it has brought much tension among many. This discrimination has been going on for many years and is what makes the United States divided.

Dana goes back in time during the slave days where racism was very common, and this piece of evidence shows how rude people of color were treated. Butler draws on that experience to convey the universal theme that racism happened frequently in the past, but it’s still occurring today. Through this novel, Butler speaks to the reader with the message that racism is something that continues, and will keep on continuing for a long time. The words“ job and white” show a negative connotation, and implies that people of color did not have very pleasant lives before. Dana experienced time traveling to the past, which lead to an external conflict of dealing with racism and slavery.

In Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” he uses periodic sentences, syntax, diction, and allusions to write about his beliefs about the immense struggles African Americans experienced to gain their rights, how he views just and unjust laws, the many different influences have in their lives, and the cruel nature of the citizens, which are still prevalent today. First of all, African Americans went through immense struggles to get the rights they have today. African Americans watched their family members be innocently killed, experienced multiple cruel acts of segregation, and often felt strong resentment to the White population. For instance, Dr. King uses a periodic sentence and imagery to express the immense struggles African Americans endured to gain the

People can find their way on their own, but other times they need a push. In the beginning, Cassia makes it very evident that she believes that the Society is as close to perfect as any society could and has gotten. She also feels that here is no need, nor reason to want to stand out, but when her grandfather and Ky express that the society is wrong through illegal objects, Cassia starts to understand. Love causes problems and feelings that you hate, but hate you are willing to feel. As the plot progresses, Cassia realizes that she loves both Xander and Ky, but she loves Xander in a different way then she loves Ky. To want to grow, you have to want the change that comes along with it.

A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest J Gaines, is a story about a wrongfully accused colored man and his teacher, who both learn the lesson of strength in the face of racial discrimination. In A Lesson Before Dying, the author uses the plot to indicate that racial injustice can be a huge social hurdle for people of different racial backgrounds. One way this is seen is when the teacher, Grant, is compelled by his aunt to visit the sheriff and request that they be able to visit Jefferson, the accused, in his cell. After Grant waits for a long time, he sees the sheriff. “’Been waiting long?’

The book Native Son contains many themes relating to the ways many black are mistreated and the injustices they face. In Native Son Bigger is used to represent the everyday stereotypical black male. Bigger is put into many situations that an African American would face and his mentality only adds to the trouble as he tries to cope with his life and his race. The theme I believe is most influential on bigger and the situations he is in is Nature vs. Nurture because society may affect the ways he views himself and what he should do. I also believe that the world only plays a part in some of his life ,but he seems to believe he is not destined for greater which is shown throughout when he results to wrongful actions.

Though it’s often difficult, if not impossible to find, the constant search for justice is an important theme for specific characters in the book, as well as for the entire book itself The power of one person’s influence or a family’s influence happens in the novel. For example, the Wallace family’s racist attitude toward the Logan family and other black families influences many of the other whites in the story to hold racist attitudes. This is because the Wallace family owns a local store in the area that doesn’t allow black patrons. This example illustrates how “Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry” examines the ways in which those who have a little bit of power can exert influence on those who don’t have any.

They are just selfish, idiotic and heinous. What am I saying... no wonder they 're not my friends anymore. I should have never done that, why did I do that?! What I did and said was very malevolent and bitter.

I make decisions that’ll keep me safe and out of trouble because doing otherwise wouldn 't get me where I’m aiming to be later in life. All my parents ask of me is that I end up better than them and it’s only because they care so i 'll do what I have to do to make that happen. Another big part of my culture is respecting your parents, I respect mine. Everything they ask or tell me to do is only to make me a better person and do better

hitler was mean to the jews. he did not care about their feeling and he was rude to them. he also didn 't listen to them and he killed them in a gas chamber. he didn 't feed the jews. he

You are a nobody! An It! You are nonexistent! You are a bastard child! I hate you and I wish you were dead!

A Lesson Before Dying is a story about a young black man, named Jefferson, and a black school teacher, named Grant Wiggins, in Louisiana shortly after World War II. The young man was scheduled to be executed via electric chair for a crime he did not commit, thus making his only incorrect action being standing at the wrong place at the wrong time. The white jury that was a part of his trial did not recognize this because one of the outcomes of the incident was the death of a white man, and this time period was riddled with racial problems. Jefferson’s godmother, Miss Emma, wanted Grant to try to make Jefferson mentally strong before he was put to death, and after lots of doubt and conflict from certain characters in the novel, Grant , along

Two works of literature can convey the same theme, but have completely different story lines. Although they have their similarities, in this case, the message that is conveyed, the difference lies in the role of the characters and how they take the message and roll with it. In the novels, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, they convey multiple similar themes but are very different because of the characters’ attitudes towards the different conflicts. To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel told from a perspective of a grown southern woman, Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, who experiences racism as a young girl and hardly deals with it emotionally. The novel starts out with the fact that Jeremy "Jem" Finch,