Lesson Before Dying Theme

Almost everyone knows the right things to do. When a bully is picking on a victim, people around them know the right thing to do – stand up for the victim. However, knowing the right thing to do and doing the right thing are two very different things – the difference is courage. This is shown clearly in Ernest Gaines’ novel, A Lesson Before Dying, in Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, and a quote from the movie Hidden Figures. Courage is shown through Grant, Nora, and that “there’s no bathroom for me here” (0:31) from Hidden Figures respectively.

A Lesson Before Dying is set in rural Louisiana in the 1940’s. The setting is ripe for the racism displayed in the novel. Ernest J. Gaines weaves an intricate web of human connections, using the character growth of Grant Wiggins and Jefferson to subtly expose the effect people have on one another (Poston A1). Each and every character along the way shows some inkling of being a racist. However, Paul is an exception. He treats everyone as if he or she is equal to him whether the person is black or white. In A Lesson Before Dying, author Ernest J. Gaines displays the different levels of racism during the 1940’s through his use of characterization.

The Jim Crow Era was peak time for segregation causing Jefferson’s journey in the novel, A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines to open up the eyes of many, no matter what one’s skin color is, by showing what it means to die as a hero even when seen as the villain. Grant is to make Jefferson a man before he dies by showing him the truths about religion, race, and the United States justice system. Jefferson also teaches Grant a few things about life, creating a unique bond between the two.

There were many themes in the novel, “A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest Gaines, such as racism, alcoholism, dignity, etc. The theme that best fits the novel is, that one man can make a difference in the lives of many. In this novel, the man is Jefferson, who was sent to prison without a fair trial because of racial prejudice. The theme, one man can make a difference in the lives of many, fits the book best because not only did Jefferson’s trial opened the eyes of the community to the racial prejudice that occurred, it also affected individual lives of Paul, the children in Bayonne, and Grant.

I agree with the statement, “At the end of A Lesson Before Dying, desolation prevails over consolation,” because the last chapters of A Lesson Before Dying had a negative and depressing tone. According to Sidney deRogers, “He didn’t pay any close attention to the black truck with the gray tarpaulin cover, but he would tell the people at the Rainbow Club that he did feel a cold chill when the truck went by.” Basically, Sidney is saying that he felt that something was awry, or that something wrong or evil was in that truck. The whole town knew what was happening that day and everyone had an opinion, whether that opinion was indifferent, uneasy, or disgusted/sickened by what was going to happen on that day. Grant says that “It was a nice day. Blue sky. Not a cloud,” but there was an overlying notion of sorrow and fear that laid over everyone in the quarter. One could argue that the end of A Lesson Before Dying prevailed with consolation rather than desolation since according to Paul, “He was the strongest man in that crowded room, Grant Wiggins.” Paul’s point is that Jefferson died a man as a result of Grant. Despite what someone might say, I still consider this argument to be wrong considering that Grant is still upset because Jefferson did not have a “Jury of his peers;” everyone on that jury was white and had no concern for Jefferson’s life. At the end, it seems to me that Grant feels alone since he has spent much of the past six months with Jefferson. He developed a strong

“You don’t get to choose how you’re going to die and when, you can only decide how you are going to live”. (Joan Baez). In the novel A Lesson Before Dying, written by Ernest J. Gaines, Jefferson doesn’t get to choose how and when he’s going to die, but he learns valuable lessons from Grant about how to live the rest of his life. This novel takes place in Bayonne, Louisiana, in the late 1940s. Jefferson is a twenty-one-year-old uneducated black man, who is accused of a robbery and murder that he did not commit. Unfortunately, the conviction led to his death by execution. While he is in jail, Jefferson’s grandmother wants him to die a hero, so she turns to Grant Wiggins, a black teacher at the local plantation school. During his time in

Given the title, A Lesson Before Dying, we can infer and predict that a character in the book will die. Also, we can predict that before they die, they will learn something, probably a valuable lesson

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

In every story you read there are always people who develop a bond amongst each other. Whether that bond is formed from relatives, friends, associates, or complete strangers, that bond will never be broken. In the book A Lesson Before Dying a young man by the name of Jefferson never knew what was awaiting for him. He is accused of committing a crime that he did not commit and is then sentenced to death. While in jail a man by the name of Grant Wiggins is sent to the jail to talk to him and make him become a man. What neither of them knew was that they would create a relationship amongst each other.

“The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara is a short story set in the part of New York City. In this story, the plot takes a journey from the place like a ghetto to F.A.O. Schwartz, an expensive upscale toy store. The children live in an African-American neighborhood, in Harlem, NY. They travel to upscale stores, on Fifth Avenue in midtown, which is a much more expensive part of New York City. The story is narrated by a young girl named Sylvia, as she explains an afternoon she spent with an educated neighbor named Miss Moore. Miss Moore wants to teach the neighborhood children about the world outside of ghetto and around them “the lesson she wants to impart is the economic inequality that exists in the

The Right to Be Free In the novel A Lesson Before Dying, although Grant is an educated black man in the era of a racist society he has struggles greater than most men of his decent. I feel sorry for him because of his limitations, even though I view him as a coward. He cannot break free of his background and family. The three main female characters in the novel, Tante Lou, Miss Emma, and Vivian, restrict and limit Grant's choices. Grant realizes that freedom means leaving his small town and creating a new life, yet each woman holds a chain that keeps him from his destiny and the right to be free. First, Tante Lou, his aunt holds Grant from his dreams by refusing to let him go his own way. Tante Lou wants Grant to stay

There are, in fact, numerous lessons learnt throughout the novel A Lesson Before Dying and they are learnt by a multitude of different characters. A significant number of characters throughout the book gradually evolve whilst story unfolds with this gradient of change emphasised in Jefferson, Grant Wiggins and the deputy, Paul. The lessons substantiate themselves in the words and actions of all the characters throughout the novel; however, it is Grant who learns perhaps the most. Through his interactions with Jefferson and his direct community, Grant, even unintentionally, develops his understanding of life beyond the grasp

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.

Grant Wiggins is the narrator of the novel. He was born in the plantation just outside of Bayonne, Louisiana. He lived there until he went away to college, and when he went back home, he was detached from the people in the town because of his education and different religious beliefs. He is easily angered and often very selfish. This is seen in the way that he acts towards Vivian. He consistently does not give her the attention or respect that she deserves. He refers to her children as simply, “the babies,” and only cares about the names of his and Vivian’s future children. Grant goes from shallow and selfish at the beginning of the story, to caring and loving at the end.

The theme is an very well known term that it is also known as the “Life Lessons” in different stories. But when theme comes into play the author of the book wants you to think about what the life lesson for the story could possible be or about the many events that are happening in the story that may intertwine with the theme of the story. For the “Scarlet Letter” Nathaniel Hawthorne is trying to teach us the lessons, one of them is to not commit adultery because it is a sin and it only affects the two people that have committed it, but there is another part that can be intertwined with adultery and it is when you need to be true. The meaning of “To be true” is to be honest with oneself by being honest and telling the secret you are holding