Theme Of Justice In Ernest Gaines A Lesson Before Dying

In the book A Lesson Before Dying, there are multiple hints, clues and symbolism between Jefferson and Jesus. The author, Ernest Gaines, draws a line between Jefferson and Jesus, but yet he creates his character to be similar to Jesus in multiple ways. Some ways that Jefferson and Jesus are alike is that they both die around Easter, but not by their choice. Both Jefferson and Jesus were unjustly convicted and were not killed out of their own will. The deaths of these two men were both symbolic in many ways and in some ways seem to be seen as a defeat to society and humanity.

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,

      "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. Yet six months later they come and unlock your cage and tell you, We, us, white folks all, have decided it’s time for you to die, because this is the convenient date and time" (158). Ernest J. Gaines shows the internal conflicts going through the mind of Mr. Wiggins in his novel A Lesson Before Dying (1933). Mr. Wiggins is struggling through life and can’t find his way until he is called upon against his own will to help an innocent man, Jefferson. The help is not that of freeing him at all.

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.

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.

Throughout history and in literature, Black has always been portrayed as evil, whereas White has represented purity and light. These oversimplified stereotypes of something so abstract as skin color has plagued our culture with prejudice and hatred. Ernest E. Gaines, author of A Lesson Before Dying, tells the story of a young black boy named Jefferson who is set to die for essentially being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and a schoolteacher who is faced with the task of making him a “man”. The novel takes place in Bayonne, Louisiana in the 1940’s, a time when racism prospered. At this time in history people faced extreme prejudice based on the color of their skin. Though slavery had been abolished almost eighty years

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

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

“I tried to decide just how I should respond to them. Whether I should act like the teacher that I was, or like the nigger that I was supposed to be” (Gaines 47).

Based in the late 1940s in Louisiana, Ernest Gaines’ A Lesson Before Dying is an intriguingly complex novel that explores numerous themes of immense historical value. However, it is undeniable that the novel’s back-bone is structured by one, all-pervasive theme: racism is a detriment to society. It is also successful at conveying that in an ignorant society where racism thrives, the demoralization against coloured people runs rampant. Gaines’ effective use of setting highly develops the theme for the reader and ultimately makes this novel an extremely powerful thought-provoking piece of social justice literature.

You see, the significance behind this is that Jefferson was able to outline the ideal life we all will live. The one we deserve. Jefferson gave us the life we were intended to have in the first place, because God knows we weren’t put on this earth the become a factionless soul. As a human being, there are certain things you and I were not given, but came along with. All men alike yelled these beliefs on rooftops until their faces turned blue. But unfortunately, that wasn’t enough. This is where Jefferson steps in. By writing a novel concept, such as this, onto a piece of legal documentation that shall last for an eternity, Jefferson unknowingly became responsible for the success of our lives.

In “To Kill A Mockingbird” the theme Justice and Judgement relates to how Atticus tries to help a coloured man in court. Also how people tried Atticus for defending a black man. For example is how Atticus didn’t have to defend a black man but he did it because he believes in justice for everyone. Not everyone likes that thought most people treat Atticus poorly because he is defending a negro and in their time that was a bad thing to do, but not ad bad as trying attempted rape.

Racism is immoral and has no place in modern society. However, that was not the case in the United States during the Jim Crow era. At the time African Americans were treated as second-class citizens; it was made near-impossible for them to vote, and they were discriminated in many ways, including in education, socially. It was a time in which segregation and racism perforated the laws and society, a time in which African Americans were “separate but equal ”. Blacks were not seen as equal as they were seen as lesser than Whites. They were oppressed in many ways one is being restricted to vote, such regulations included literacy tests, poll taxes. The novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines is about a young, college-educated man and a wrongly convicted man, Grant Wiggins and Jefferson. Grant is asked to make a man out of Jefferson, who is convicted of killing a White man during a robbery in, which he was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. Grant is asked by Emma Lou, who is Jefferson Godmom to make a man out of Jefferson, so if anything, Jefferson can die a man and not a”Hog”. The term his own attorney used to describe him. While, trying to get through to Jefferson, Grant struggles because he is so far and separated from his own community. He holds resentment toward the White man and wants to get away from his town, which he thinks is an ongoing vicious cycle of misery. The novel depicts the social and racial injustices faced by African Americans in the

In Ernest Gaines’ A Lesson Before Dying we are introduced to an uneducated, simple black man named Jefferson who has spent most his life working on a plantation. In Jefferson’s society, black Americans have little to no chance of progression due to racism. Jefferson happened to witness a shootout between three men in a store. All three men died and Jefferson was left alone at the crime scene confused and frightened. As Jefferson was leaving the store two white men stopped him and accused him of the murder. During his trial, his attorney’s only defense was that he was a mindless hog incapable of coming up with such a plot. Most blacks are uneducated and are treated like animals because they believe their illiteracy makes them less civilized than whites. Jefferson is put in jail and is sentenced to the death penalty. While in jail, Jefferson believes his attorney’s words that he is a hog and a mindless creature. Reverend Ambrose and Grant Wiggins are asked to teach Jefferson that he is a man before he dies. Although the reverend and Grant have different beliefs which leads to conflicting views.