A Lesson Before Dying By Ernest J. Gaines

In the novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, racism and prejudice are clearly evident and talked about throughout the novel. The novel expresses the oppression of the blacks under a white-ruled society through the narrator, Grant. Grant is a well-educated black man who struggles to free himself from the oppression he has felt from the white community. Despite the fact that he is educated and a teacher, he initially lacks the vigor needed to take the first step against black discrimination. He has all this intellect, but does not realize until later on that it is not only intelligence he needs to overcome the oppression, but self-assertion, too. Education does not prove your intellectual worth in society; rather, it is what you do during difficult times that define your intelligence and strong character not just to yourself, but to the world.

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,

Grant don’t want to do this, he is very reluctant to do this at first. However, over time Grant and Jefferson build a friendship and help each other out. One day when Grant goes to visit Jefferson is not acting normal. Finally he says that he’s just a hog and why should he even act like a person if that’s how people see him (Gaines 82-84).

Jefferson gets one great thing out of his relationship with Grant, the courage to go to the electric chair standing up: “He was the strongest man in that crowded room, Grant Wiggins... When Vincent asked him [Jefferson] if he had any last words, he looked at the preacher and said, ‘Tell Nannan I walked’” (253-4). Grant accomplished Miss Emma’s goal of having Jefferson be proud when he went to the chair. We can see that Jefferson understood the impact that he could leave behind.

Instead, his only real goal was to get off the plantation as quickly as possible, never to look back. However, this all begins to change once Tante Lou and Miss Emma urge Grant to start visiting Jefferson in hopes of inspiring and changing him before his anticipated execution date. The many things Grant can do for Jefferson such as buying the radio and a notebook and pencil for Jefferson to write down his own thoughts/reflections and stories signify how deeply Grant begins to care for Jefferson and that he can in fact be considered a good moral leader. Meanwhile, the character that is the best example of an antagonist to Grant is Reverend Ambrose, who is entirely driven by his faith and is a very passionate and self-righteous person. He holds the belief that finding faith in God will free Jefferson from punishment, and he strongly opposes Grant’s disbelief in God and

Grant isn’t like other people in the town so he understand why Jefferson is the way he is but still works with him. In the beginning of the book when Jefferson is at trial he was called a hog, Miss Emma wanted Grant to help Jefferson die a man and not a hog. Grant thinks that giving Jefferson a role model for him to look up to will be important and help him have a better understand making him a man in the electrocution chair. “Easter was when they nailed him to the cross. And he never said a mumbling word” (139). Jefferson used Jesus as his Role Model, Jefferson learns over the time in the jail like Jesus was that Death itself is a part of a young mans life and that its a symbol of innocence and moral purity. While Grant walks around the Day room Jefferson says

My first claim is that Grant sacrifices time and dignity for others. On page 47 and 48 in the book, Grant is trying to visit Jefferson in prison and is talking with

Grant holds grudges against multiple people, but having to teach someone a lesson before they die is a great way to cause change. “Do you know what happened today, honey?” Grant tells Vivian about his time with Jefferson after the bar fight, this question helps show his change towards betterness (207). Grant had no intention of telling people what occurred during his day at the beginning of the book, but he became more open and kinder from his change. Grant’s change starts, not from his first visits, but his latter visits where Jefferson started to actually talk to Grant. Jefferson’s views on life made Grant take a larger look at the world and to start to accept people for who they are and how they act. Before Grant saw the world as a completely cruel world, that was always out to get him and his people, but with Jefferson, he realized that people were still kind to him as well. Grant has swung in his mood emphasizing how temperamental he is, but these mood swings only signal the large chain of his change towards a more caring person. He shows more displays of expression and is more open about himself. Grants change from Jefferson truly starts from his meetings and his displays of

Wiggins true character is revealed. In saying, " ‘Are you trying to hurt me, Jefferson? Are you trying to make me feel guilty for your being here? You want me to come back here anymore?’ " (84). He is trying to figure out if there is anyway possible to get out of the situation brought to him. Grant believes if he can get Jefferson’s consent he will no longer have to do something he doesn’t what to do. The only problem is that Grant need Jefferson more than he knows. This is brought out when he starts to talk about leaving the farm in which he grew up. On page 94, the author has a series of quotes of Mr. Wiggins and Vivian that say, " ‘I wish I could just run away from this place.’ Vivian shook her head.

For the majority of the novel, Grant denies that he can help Jefferson in any way at all. When his aunt and Miss Emma request that Grant go talk to Jefferson to teach him that he is a man, Grant explains, "It is only a matter of weeks, maybe a couple of months – but he's already dead…All I can do is try to keep the others from ending up like this…There's nothing I can do anymore, nothing any of us can do anymore" (14). Before receiving extreme pressure from his aunt to comply, Grant goes so far as to refuse to even attempt to help Jefferson. With this attitude that "There's nothing [he] can do anymore," Grant can, in fact, do nothing. Even though Grant correctly recognizes the fact that Jefferson will die in a short while, he fails to acknowledge the possibility of working through the injustices to make a difference. Grant, himself, feels stuck in his environment – he is "just running in place" there – yet he feels a sort of responsibility for his people and an attraction to the town, and cannot bring himself to leave (15). In order to "try to keep the others from ending up like" Jefferson, Grant wants to help his students, but he fails to respect them (14). If Grant has a bad day, he takes out his anger on his students, slapping them on the back of the head for playing with an insect, or sending them to the corner for an hour

Since both Grant’s aunt and Jefferson’s godmother asked Grant to turn Jefferson into a man before he dies in the electric chair, he feels obligated to do this task as he would feel guilty if he was just going to leave everyone but his girlfriend behind. He also came back to the plantation to teach children for he loves them dearly. If he doesn’t accomplish these tasks, he would feel depressed for the rest of his life, regretting his decision. In regards to his inner battles, he believes that there is no way he would be able to help Jefferson. “This prejudice he makes towards Jefferson and his ignorance helps reveal the meaning of the work that his conflict elucidates. The common meaning of the work is prejudice and racism affects everyone. Aside from the obvious, the jury, the police, and the majority of other white characters in the story that are constantly prejudice, Grants inner conflict plays a large role in the work’s theme.” (MegaEssays a Lesson Before Dying 1). While Grant has the constant battle within himself, as he doesn’t feel like he is capable to turn Jefferson into a man, for Grant doesn’t feel like a man either. Grant also has to deal with the women in his life which have quite different goals, ideals and beliefs than him. “He feels that they are all bending to the will of the whites and seems very frustrated that so few of them do not

At the beginning of the book, Grant more than anyone else hated Jefferson and refused to teach Jefferson how to become a man, but after a few visits to the cell Grant became Jefferson’s friend. Grant became one of the few he could trust and share his thoughts with. Jefferson opened up to grant and took his advice for granted. At that point, Grant completely transformed from an angry man to a loving and caring person. Grant realized what it was to actually be a man and how a man becomes a hero! A

“What do you want me to do? What can I do? You the teacher… Yes, I’m the teacher, I said. And I teach what the white folks around here tell me to teach—reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic. They never told me how to keep a black boy out of a liquor store” (Gaines 13). Seen from this line, Grant does not want to help Jefferson, he thinks that Jefferson is not his problem and that it’s not his fault that Jefferson is going to be executed. This accurately depicts Grant’s selfishness, while in the end only helping him to please his aunt and Jefferson’s godmother. This is a turning point in Grant’s development as a character. This marks the point where he learns to accept and no longer wants to fear. And when he finally decides to take a chance, and not be afraid of the outcome. Grant has a swift change in thinking as the novel progresses. Seeing things differently and looking deeper into the little things in his life. “They sentence you to death because you were at the wrong place at the wrong time, with no proof that you had anything at all to do with the crime other than being there when it happened” (Gaines 158). Based on this line, there is an obvious change in Grants perception. He is understanding that the sooner he realizes what has been laid out to him, the better off he will be. That there is no point in holding on to the past because there is ultimately nothing he can do to change what has been done. As the novel

Through Grant’s actions it is easy to see he is not comfortable with his life. He lives in a small, racially discriminated and prejudiced town, and is a college educated man treated like a man who hasn’t finished elementary school. Adding Jefferson’s situation on top of all that, it is easy to see how Grant desires to simply give up and run away with the love of his life, Vivian. But Grant realizes that the issues at hand are bigger than just him; the way Jefferson dies will have a lasting impact, much like Christ’s crucifixion, on the local community. He understands that the dignity Jefferson shows in

In the novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines there are many themes and motifs to be taught. A reader could acquire so much knowledge from reading this book but if anything they will learn the most important lesson to learn before dying. The most important lesson to learn before dying is that everybody can make a difference in life. Three characters that learned this lesson includes Vivian, when she helped Grant when he was having hard times, Grant Wiggins, when he knew that he accomplished his goal which was helping Jefferson regain his humanity and Jefferson, when he realizes himself that he has much more potential than a hog.