Analysis Of The Hog In Ernest J. Gaines A Lesson Before Dying
During slavery, African Americans were treated as possessions in the same way that livestock were regarded as possessions. The hog symbolizes the awful, dehumanizing thinking behind slavery. In Jefferson’s trial, his defense attorney refers to him as a hog, “Gentlemen of jury...put a hog in the electric chair” (Gaines 15-16). A hog symbolizes how the whites in the community treated the blacks and how they think about them socially. A hog is a filthy animal, which in the time period of the 1940’s is how most whites viewed blacks, and believed that blacks were good for nothing but to work for the whites. In A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest J. Gaines, the author employs Jefferson as a hog to contribute to the themes and characters by dehumanizing a person far beyond what is morally acceptable. …show more content…
The trial scene shows Jefferson’s defense attorney using unorthodox reasoning to prove his innocence. He says, “I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair...”(Gaines 8). This sentence has a profound effect on Jefferson’s behavior, as seen later when Grant visits him in jail. The defense attorney also says, “...did not mean to insult your intelligence by saying man...”(Gaines 8). He insults the intelligence of a grown man and portrays him as less than such. This scene shows the theme of racism throughout the judicial system in the South during the 1940’s because the only way to prove an African American’s innocence is to prove he is too stupid to commit a
Thomas Jefferson Quotes And Analysis
853 Words | 4 PagesGrant did his best to teach Jefferson that he had worth and it paid off. “If I ain’t nothing but a hog, how come they just don’t knock me in the head like a hog? Strab me like a hog? More erasing, then: Man walk on two foots; hogs on four hoofs” (220). This quote demonstrates how Grant made a difference in Jefferson’s life and taught him to be a man of self worth.
Rhetorical Analysis Of Benjamin Banneker
351 Words | 2 PagesBenjamin Banneker hopes to bring the horrors of slavery to Thomas Jefferson’s attention and potentially end slavery. He accomplishes this with his logical organization of his essay, appeals to pathos and ethos, comparisons, flattery, positive and negative diction, allusions, examples, parallelism, and a call-to-action. Banneker respectfully reminds Thomas Jefferson of how horrible it was under Great Britain’s “tyranny” and compares this to slavery. By comparing the suffering in slavery to the suffering the U.S. endured under Great Britain. Banneker addresses Thomas Jefferson as “sir” and compliments him, building him up.
Analysis Of Ernest J. Gaines A Lesson Before Dying
608 Words | 3 PagesWhen a hog dies no one cares because it is not a man. In A lesson before dying by Ernest J. Gaines a young man named Jefferson is convicted of murdering a white man in the 1940s. His defense attorney even called him a “quote”. He gets sentenced to execution by electrocution. The book is not told in Jefferson's point of view, it is told in Grant’s.
Slavery Dbq Questions And Answers
1048 Words | 5 PagesTobacco and Slaves: Exam 1 In colonial America, slaves were definitely not seen as equal humans to the Englishmen but they were not treated horribly, by English accounts at first. Englishmen left accounts that showed they cared about the treatment of their slaves, but only in a manner of the African American slaves being property while the better treatment of them would in-turn make the Englishman a better plantation owner therefore producing more crops like tobacco. The African American slaves in the colonial Virginia were in a sense seen as merely property to their owners.
Book Report On A Lesson Before Dying
1218 Words | 5 Pages(Brown 345) Jefferson is later on convicted of the crime and is sentenced to death by electrocution of the chair, which leaves his family stunned by amazement. “What justice would there be to take this life? Justice, gentlemen? Why, I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this. ”(Gaines
Ernest J. Gaines A Lesson Before Dying
794 Words | 4 PagesFirst, Jefferson learns that he is no less human than other people. Jefferson admits that he is strong and that he is a man, not the hog the white men say he is, “good by mr wigin tell them im strong and tell them im a man good by mr wigin im gon
A Lesson Before Dying Character Analysis
1015 Words | 5 PagesHis attorney had just called him a hog, told the judge that Jefferson was not competent enough to be able to plan this theft and murder, and that Jefferson was only someone 's property.
How Does Tom Robinson Present The Injustices In To Kill A Mockingbird
397 Words | 2 Pages“Judge Taylor was polling the jury: “Guilty…guilty..guilty…guilty…” (Lee 211). This quote shows how the injustice of a black man was shown in the town of Maycomb, Alabama. They showed the injustice of the town through the perspectives of the ignorant white people of Maycomb.
Rhetorical Analysis Of Slave Diets
995 Words | 4 PagesOn the 8th of this month, I attended a lecture in the UA Poetry Center presented by Dr. Jerome Dotson (an instructor in Africana Studies). The speaker, who obtained a MA in African American Studies and a PhD in History, presented information for this particular lecture on the diets of slaves, and specifically within that, the connotation of pork in their meals. Dr. Dotson began the talk with a brief discussion of ‘roots’ and played a video of Kunta Kinte’s visual explanation of the meaning of food in a slave’s life. The video highlighted what slaves ate, which consisted mostly of grits, roughly ground corn, and pork. Kinte’s video also presented yet another tragedy behind slavery—the nature of chronic underfeeding and hunger.
Obligation In Ernest J. Gaines's A Lesson Before Dying
682 Words | 3 PagesThis novel talks about how the jury wrongfully accused Jefferson of murdering Old Grope and the Bear Brother and later the jury assigns Jefferson a death penalty with the electric chair. Jefferson’s attorney has called Jefferson a hog and those words has haunted Jefferson in his mind. Miss Emma, Jefferson’s godmother, asks an educated teacher named Grant to help Jefferson to die like a man instead of a hog. Throughout this novel, Grant deals with a lot of responsibilities that’s being thrown at him such as helping Jefferson. A Lesson Before Dying has a universal theme of obligation because it is seen throughout the novel as it relates to Grant being forced to do things for the sake of others.
African American Women In A Lesson Before Dying
1179 Words | 5 PagesMiss Emma and Tante Lou want Jefferson to die not like a hog but like a man. They persuade Grant, a teacher, to use his influence to convince Jefferson that he is indeed a man, and his life is more valuable than that of a hog. During an exchange with Grant in the kitchen, Miss Emma and Tante Lou confront Grant about what they want. The author illustrates the blunt approach the two women take as they discuss the matter with Grant:
Frederick Douglass Hypocrisy Essay
1049 Words | 5 PagesGroup Essay on Frederick Douglass “That this little book may do something toward throwing light on the American slave system”, and that Frederick Douglass does in his eponymous autobiography. Douglass throws light by dispelling the myths of the slave system, which received support from all parts of society. To dispel these myths Douglass begins to construct an argument composed around a series of rhetorical appeals and devices. Douglass illustrates that slavery is dehumanizing, corrupting, and promotes Christian hypocrisy. Using telling details, Douglass describes the dehumanizing effects of the slave system which condones the treatment of human beings as property.
Barn Burning Foreshadowing
441 Words | 2 PagesIn William Faulkner’s short story “Barn Burning,” Sartoris Snopes’s father, Abner, burns the property of people he works for as a means of vengeance for being wronged. At the commencement of the story, Abner is on trial for supposedly burning Mr. Harris’s barn following a dispute over a pig. To begin his argument, Mr. Harris mentions to the judge that Abner’s hog had repeatedly gotten loose and into his corn crop. Mr. Harris returned the hog back to Abner twice before keeping it, even being so nice as to give him the proper wiring to fix his pig pen. Following Mr. Harris’s keeping of the pig until a one-dollar fee was paid, a black man representing Abner came over with the dollar, leaving with the foreboding words “‘Wood and hay kin burn’”
Examples Of Biases In To Kill A Mockingbird
748 Words | 3 PagesIn the 1930s, if a black man was on trial there was a ample chance he would be convicted even if evidence proved he was innocent. Throughout history humans being prejudice and bias have affected the lives of thousands of people; some ending with favorable outcomes while others weren’t so fortunate. Within the book To Kill a Mockingbird the readers learn that prejudice and bias people outnumber the understanding and kind. One decision or in this case twelve decisions decide the fate for an unfortunate man. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee reveals that people often follow their biases and prejudices rather than the truth.
Racial Injustice In Ernest Gaines A Lesson Before Dying
813 Words | 4 PagesIn Ernest Gaines’ novel, A Lesson Before Dying, the author uses a third person point of view to assess the issue of racial injustice in the South during the 1940’s. Grant understands that justice is evaluated unfairly and knows that it does not favor the poor and uneducated black man. Due to Grant’s ability to be able to understand others, he successfully learns how to bring justice, while assisting Jefferson. This presents the audience the significance of the novel as a whole, embracing responsibility and facing injustice. Grant feels as if he shouldn’t feel obligated or pressured to help bring justice to Jefferson.
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