Real-life heroes these days are firemen, police officers, emergency room medics. However, there are many stories of everyday people who end up hailed as heroes. In the novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, the main characters do not follow any of the typical ‘hero’ professions. In a small American community, Jefferson, a young black man, has just been sentenced to death for a crime he never committed by an all-white jury. His former schoolteacher Grant Wiggins is forced to visit him by his aunt Tante Lou, who hopes that Grant can teach Jefferson some dignity before he faces the electric chair. Through the actions of Jefferson and Grant we can determine whether or not they are heroes to the African-American community which, after years of suppression and apartheid, is so in need of strong idols to look up to. One of the times Grant visits Jefferson in jail, he holds a speech about what a hero is. According to Grant, “[a] hero is someone who does something for other people. He does something that other men don’t and can’t do. He is different from other men. He is above other men. No matter who those other men are, the hero, no matter who he is, is above them. […] He would do anything for the people he loves, because he knows it would make their lives better,” (Gaines 191). Grant’s definition of a hero is someone selfless who cares about others and doesn’t let the prejudice and condescension of white people affect him. He tells Jefferson, “White people believe they’re better than anyone else on earth[.] The last thing they ever want to see is a black man stand[.] It would destroy their myth. […] As long as none of us stand, they’re safe. […] I don’t want them to feel safe with you anymore,” (Gaines 192). Grant believes a ... ... middle of paper ... ...for it. These actions show that Grant does not possess or display the characteristics that make someone a hero. It is important to note that it is impossible to see Jefferson as completely heroic and Grant Wiggins as completely unheroic. Jefferson doesn’t want to help anyone at first, and makes his godmother cry by pretending to be a hog. Grant defends Jefferson in a bar fight. For this reason it is wrong to write them off as simply one or the other. In Grant Wiggin’s speech about heroes, Jefferson displays many of the qualities that, according to Grant, a hero must possess. Grant himself, for all the good he does Jefferson, is not a hero, following his own formula. However, we cannot simply say that one is a hero and the other is not. In comics and fairy tales, the divisions between heroes and average people might be clear, but in real life, the lines are blurred.
This quote exemplifies Grant’s relationship change between him and Jefferson. Throughout the trial Grant didn’t care for the case, seeing Jefferson as almost a lost cause. Now that a date for Jefferson’s death has been set, he preaches that no man has the right to kill another, specifically white people deciding the fate black people. I thought this quote was very strong as it shows how, at the time, many people were getting upset over this case and almost made Jefferson out to be sort of a hero. The fact that he died with courage was extremely strong.
Have you ever experienced conflicting feelings that pulled you in multiple directions making life seem like an impossible and stressful task? Grant Wiggins, one of the dual protagonists in the novel “A Lesson Before Dying”, experiences many conflicting feelings throughout the entire novel which pull him in every which way, and make him wish to just leave it all behind and start a new life somewhere else. Most, if not all, of these feelings are a result of the other protagonist Jefferson, a young black man, who is facing execution as a result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. These feelings experienced by Grant are influenced by four main things, his own desires, ambitions, obligations and influences by those around him.
Grant does something that other blacks can not do he goes to college. Most blacks do not get the opportunity to go to college, but Grant went as soon as he was old enough. When he returned he was a well-educated man, but he was still treated the same way as he was before he went to college. Grant is able to teach Jefferson how to be a man, and Jefferson learns that he is somebody. " ... I cry cause you been so good to me mr wigin an nobody aint never been that good to me an make me think im somebody"(Gaines 232) No one else is qualified to help Jefferson they all depend on Grant to teach him, and Jefferson appreciates it so much it brings him to tears.
The word "hero" is so often used to describe people who overcome great difficulties and rise to the challenge that is set before them without even considering the overwhelming odds they are up against. In our culture, heroes are glorified in literature and in the media in various shapes and forms. However, I believe that many of the greatest heroes in our society never receive the credit that they deserve, much less fame or publicity. I believe that a hero is simply someone who stands up for what he/she believes in. A person does not have to rush into a burning building and save someone's life to be a hero. Someone who is a true friend can be a hero. A hero is someone who makes a difference in the lives of others simply by his/her presence. In Tim O'Brien's novel, The Things They Carried, the true heroes stand out in my mind as those who were true friends and fought for what they believed in. These men and women faced the atrocities of war on a daily basis, as explained by critic David R. Jarraway's essay, "'Excremental Assault' in Tim O'Brien: Trauma and Recovery in Vietnam War Literature" and by Vietnam Veteran Jim Carter. Yet these characters became heroes not by going to drastic measures to do something that would draw attention to themselves, but by being true to their own beliefs and by making a difference to the people around them.
A Lesson Before Dying explains the tale of the wrongful conviction of Jefferson, an ignorant colored man who was an accessory to a liquor store shooting where a white man was killed. At Jefferson’s trial a lawyer calls him a hog. At the end of the trial, Jefferson is sentenced to death by electrocution.
Without compassion, everyone would remain separated and divided which would only keep people from uniting to make the world a better place. Grant’s lack of compassion keeps him from developing a better relationship with Miss Emma as well as keeping him from helping Jefferson. Miss Emma is family to Grant and it would be in his best interest to help her, so his refusal to help Jefferson creates a barrier in their relationship. Later on in the story, Grant speaks to Jefferson in one of their meetings at the courthouse that lead up to Jefferson’s execution. Jefferson has been lost in thought as he has lost any and all motivation to reason with Grant. In an attempt to encourage Jefferson to try and better his relationship with Miss Emma, Grant states, “A hero does for others. He would do anything for people he loves, because he knows it would make their lives better. I am not that kind of person…You could give them something that I never could” (Gaines 191). In this excerpt, Grant tries to motivate Jefferson to be a better person than Grant by helping those he loves and putting their well-being above his
In this world one does not often encounter a hero. A true hero dedicated his life to putting others before himself. Through his actions as a hero, Atticus plants the seeds of morality in his community and watches them grow.
Summary: This story is about racism in the south and how it affects the people it concerns. It starts out with Jefferson being sentenced to death for a crime that he did not commit. He was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and because he was black, they assumed he did it. Grant Wiggins is told to go up to the jail and convince Jefferson that he is a man. At first he doesn’t know how to make Jefferson see that he is a man, but through visiting Jefferson, talking to Vivian and witnessing things around the community, he is able to reach Jefferson, convince him that he was a man.
While Grant taught Jefferson to feel like a man, Jefferson gave Grant hope as well, both in black men and Jefferson himself. Grant didn't even go to Jefferson's trial at the beginning of the book because he knew that Jefferson will be convicted, despite being innocent. Grant told himself, "I did not go to the trial, I did not want to hear the verdict, because I knew what it would be" (3). As time passed and the two grew closer through Grant's trips to the jail, both of them learned. Jefferson learned self-respect and self-worth, and that he could have an impact on the black community. Grant learned to put his trust in Jefferson because he would follow through. Grant came to understand that death isn't the end for Jefferson, and that his memory and impact would carry on long after his death. He even told Jefferson this at the end, saying, "You have the chance of being bigger than anyone who has ever lived on this plantation or come from this little town" (193). Grant accepted his death better this way, knowing that he helped Jefferson to make a difference in the lives of the people he interacted
The ending of A Lesson Before Dying gives the reader a sense of despair and then portrays a sense of optimism. Gaines’ writing is unique because the reader feels this hope for the future and optimism without Gaines having to say it. Instead, he wrote about the execution and the hope was picked up from the “little things.” At the reader feels disappointed because Jefferson has died. The optimism comes into play through Grant and the fact that he has learned his lesson(s) from Jefferson. It is also uplifting because Jefferson has died with dignity on the day meant for him. I think that Gaines also throws a curve in at the end through the character of Paul whose purpose seems to stress the hope for the future of Blacks in a white society.
The struggles of Grant and Jefferson share a common theme, man’s search for meaning. Grant has the advantage of a college education, and while that may have provided some enlightenment, he remains in the same crossroads as Jefferson. Grant sees that regardless of what he does, the black students he teaches continue in the same jobs, the same poverty and same slave-like positions as their ancestors. Grant has no hope of making a difference and sees his life as meaningless. Though Jefferson’s conflict is more primal, it is the same as Grant’s struggle. Jefferson is searching for the most basic identity, whether he is man or animal. It is this conflict of meaning and identity that bring Grant and Jefferson together.
Grant Wiggins is a highly intelligent person. He is the person who helped Jefferson in becoming a man even though he thought it was hopeless. The first example is when Grant visited Jefferson; he put on a hog act which discourages Grant in helping him. Grant still kept going even though he did not want to. He made his first breakthrough to Jefferson. Grant was a happy that he went through to him. The second example is when he decided to spend 20 dollars on a radio for Jefferson. He borrowed money for Jefferson’s radio even though he could not even pay for his own food. He did this because he felt that if he did not get something, Jefferson will assume that he gave up on him. The last example of Grant is that he decided to buy a pen and a notepad for Jefferson. Consequently, Grant made Miss Emma, his aunt, and the minister wait for him but he did not want to give up on Jefferson because he knew if he gives up now, Jefferson will never become a true man.
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines takes place in Louisiana in the 1940’s. When a young African American man named Jefferson is unfairly sentenced to death, school teacher Grant Wiggins is sent to try to make Jefferson a man before he dies. Throughout the novel, racial injustice is shown in both Jefferson and Grant’s lives in the way other people view them.
Jefferson, a black man condemned to die by the electric chair in the novel, A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest J. Gaines, is perhaps the strongest character in African-American literature. Jefferson is a courageous young black man that a jury of all white men convicts of a murder he has not committed ; yet he still does not let this defeat destroy his personal character. Ernest Gaines portrays Jefferson this way to illustrate the fundamental belief that mankind’s defeats do not necessarily lead to his destruction. The author uses such actions as Jefferson still enjoying outside comforts, showing compassion towards others, and trying to better himself before dying. These behaviors clearly show that although society may cast Jefferson out as a black murderer, he can still triumph somewhat knowing that he retains the qualities of a good human being.
You also don’t have to kill anyone, conquer foreign land, or risk your life to be a hero. Anyone who influences anyone else by saving or helping save his or her lives is a hero. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. changed the lives of millions of people by bringing justice to minorities. Mahatma Gandhi, one of the greatest heroes, led a nonviolent revolution to free his country.