The historical fiction novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, features a falsely accused black man on death row in a small Cajun community during the late 1440s. Grant Wiggins, a college educated teacher of the black community, visits Jefferson in prison, an African American convicted of murder. During his trial, he was given a death sentence while referred as a hog. With the love of his godmother, Miss Emma, who sends Grant to teach him in proving himself a man, Jefferson receives the opportunity of representing his community as he dies. Tante Lou, a close friend of Miss Emma and Grant’s aunt, provides the assurance that Grant would prove Jefferson worthy a human. Grant’s girlfriend, Vivian, provides the support he needs to keep him from eluding his problems. Women in this novel play an influential part as a bridge to success in men’s lives, as Tante Lou and Vivian secure Grant 's role in the community, and as Miss Emma encourages Jefferson to die as a man. Even as Jefferson doubts the existing love for him, Miss Emma remains an influence in making him a man by going to many extents. From start to finish, she had always been the strong will who wanted the wellbeing of her godson. Knowing that the fate of her son was execution, she refused to let him die as a hog. She had made Jefferson Gumbo during one of her visits, and although he had refused at first, he gave into Grant 's encouragement in making Miss Emma happy. “I wanted, too to talk about how Jefferson’s
In order to do that, the first thing he does is go to Henri Pichot’s house so that he can get permission to visit Jefferson. When Jefferson arrives at Henri Pichot’s house, he is forced to enter through the back door in the kitchen. It is humiliating for him and makes him remember when he was a kid and had to always use the back door. In the text, it says, "Me and Em-ma can make out all right without you coming through that back door ever again. " I had not come through that back door once since leaving for the university, ten years before.
Eventually Miss Emma wasn 't able to visit Jefferson with Grant because she had fallen ill. However despite Grants contemplation, he continued to go and visit Jefferson. One of the last times that Grant visits Jefferson he notices that Jefferson had been writing in a journal when he sat down to read it he saw that Jefferson had written “If I ain 't nothing but a hog, how come they just don 't knock me in the head like a hog? Stab me like a hog?...
In “A Lesson Before Dying”, there is a tension between how Grant sees himself and how others in his community see him. Grant has gone to a University and is now a teacher in the quarter where he grew up. To his community Grant is the most educated person in the quarter and is constantly being admired by them. Most of the admiration comes from Miss Emma in hopes that Grant can transform Jefferson into a man before he is executed. Miss Emma states, “I want the teacher visit my boy.
The reason why Grant, the main character in one of Mr. Ernest J. Gaines’s best work A Lesson Before Dying, does not attend Jefferson’s execution is because he is afraid of seeing his lack in acting like a man with dignity and more importantly, seeing what all black men around them have become reflecting in Jefferson. In the short 250-paged novel, we come across a few common issues that still linger in today’s society; racism and diffidence, both in which the two main characters -Grant and Jefferson- suffer from. Self-doubt and uncertainty in oneself was frequently detectable, even in the 1930’s; how the white people portrayed the black and how little they made them feel was a big cause of it. Sadly enough, Jefferson shows that he was never
Jefferson does not see himself as a human, he sees himself as a hog. As time passes by and Jefferson’s execution date is coming to a close, Miss Emma is becoming very sick and is unable to visit Jefferson near the end of the novel. Though at the beginning of the novel Grant Wiggins was hesitant to help Jefferson, as the novel continues the reader can see the strong connection that Jefferson and Grant are developing. An example of their bond getting stronger is when Grant overhears two African American men having a conversation about Jefferson. The two men believe that Jefferson should have been killed a while ago.
His worried Aunt, Miss Emma, asks one of the only educated black men around, Grant Wiggins, to visit Jefferson and teach him to be a man again. At first the visits are unsuccessful but when the execution date is set, Jefferson starts to act less animal like. On his next visit, Grant gives Jefferson a radio and a notebook to write down his thoughts. The connection
i was strong” (231). Jefferson is saying how he reassured Miss Emma. This is drastically different from Jefferson's attitude towards his nannan in the beginning of the story. His interaction with his nannan is kind and compassionate compared to how he was passive and uninterested before. This shows Grant's effect on Jefferson's mindset and how he's developed emotionally throughout the
The young prophet, Imam Hussein once said, “death with dignity is better than love with humiliation.” In Ernest Gaines novel A Lesson Before Dying, presents the importance of dignity through the journey of a young black man and his wrongful conviction. The lesson that dignity comes from loving and being loved through the actions and thoughts of Grant Wiggins, Reverend Ambrose, and Jefferson is taught. Who these characters love, who they care for, and how and individuals that love them, define the dignity they feel and experience in their lives.
She uses these traits to make Grant go to jail to visit Jefferson. Tante Lou stubbornly said, “And where you
In the second chapter, when Grant gets home from school, he tries to avoid talking to Miss Emma, but Tante Lou tells him that Miss Emma wanted to speak to him. He knew right away what she wanted him to do and he did not want to do it. He did not want to take on the responsibility of teaching
Jefferson’s lawyer tells the all white jury that Jefferson is nothing more than a ‘hog’, lacking any intelligence or understanding. Grant’s Tante Lou and Miss Emma try to get Grant to meet with Jefferson and teach him to be a man so that he can die with dignity. Grant struggles to get through to Jefferson and questions whether he should even bother trying. Jefferson finally starts to listen to Grant and Grant feels like he is able to reach Jefferson.
“--his godmother became as immobile as a great stone or as one of our oak or cypress stumps.” 3 Grant depicts Jefferson's godmother as “a great stone” and a tree stump using a metaphor. Impacting the text greatly since the narrator suggests that Miss Emma personifies the innate strength necessary to survive in this racist environment. 12. “Nobody is going to die at Christmas,” I said.”
The main conflict of the story is Grant convincing Jefferson that he is truly a man and that there is hope in the world. After Jefferson’s sentence is set, Jefferson doesn’t have hope for the world and thinks that he going to die anyways, so why care. Grant is teaching him that he can help others and that there is hope in the world and in the future. So, Grant is using character motivation to help Jefferson throughout the entire novel. The other literary term, diction, is repetition of a word to show its importance.
As Tante Lou keeps on annoying Grant to visit Jefferson; he gets aggravated. Reaching his boiling point after being vexed by Tante Lou, Grant exclaims, “ He wants me to feel
In the novel A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest J. Gaines Grant finds redemption by helping Jefferson, Standing up for what he believes in and changing his view on life. Grant achieves redemption by helping Jefferson become a man before he dies by helping Jefferson become a man before he dies by asking questions about his wellbeing and overall health. When Grant goes and visits