A lesson before dying
Title: A Lesson Before Dying, New York, Vintage Contemporaries, 1993.
Scene: A small Cajun community outside of Bayonne Louisiana one
hundred years after Emancipation. It is the story of a teacher
and a prisoner who have to work together and find what it is to be a man.
Theme: Recognizing Injustice and Facing Responsibility
Key Persons: Jefferson, a poor man who was convicted of a crime, and sentenced to death. He rediscovers his self-worth and prepares to face his execution with dignity and purpose
Grant Wiggins, a teacher who was forced to go and help Jefferson before his execution. Vivian, Grant's girlfriend and also a teacher, she is trying to divorce her husband. Miss Emma, Jefferson's grandmother, who raised him and wants Grant to teach him to walk like a man before he is put to death. Tante Lou, Grant's aunt who raised him and who he lives with, Miss Emma's best friend. Reverend Ambrose, the community’s self-proclaimed preacher, wants to help Jefferson find God before he is put to death.
Key Incidents:
1. Jefferson is convicted of murder and sentenced to death by electrocution. Miss Emma
is distraught, and has Grant drive her and Tante Lou to Mr. Pichot's house.
2. Grant finds out that he has to go and visit Jefferson and try to make him a man.
3. Grant goes to visit Jefferson but he will not even recognize his being there.
4. Grant tells Vivian that he does not want to go back. That he just wants them to run ...
For Jefferson, racial injustice is present in court. Because of the color of his skin, Jefferson was automatically found guilty by those 12 men. “12 white men say a black man must die, and another white man sets the date and time without consulting one black person, Justice?” (157) The jury that decided his sentence was made up of 12 white men. Jefferson’s trial was unfair because the verdict was made by all white men. Jefferson was really just at the wrong place at the wrong time, but the biased jury saw him as guilty before finding any real evidence. This scene from court is an example of how Jefferson is treated unfairly because of the way he is viewed by others.
Through the quotations he deploys, imagery he enacts and authoritative tone he embodies, Spies very deliberately takes control of the Courtroom showcasing that no matter the circumstances the collective will prevail. Spies recognizes that the trial is his condemnation so subsequently he seizes the opportunity to condemn the State of their fate as a result of their injustices. Through his willingness to sacrifice his own life to propel his convictions Spies not only makes a statement to the Court but further strengthens the concept of class-consciousness within the masses. Furthermore, signifying that there indeed “will be a time when our [their] silence will be more powerful than the voices you [the State]strangle today.”
Ganes, Earnest J. A Lesson Before Dying? New York: Vintage Books, 1993. Genre: Novel. 256 pages Setting: The story is set in a small Cajun Louisiana town in the 1940’s. The setting in this story is significant because, the whole story is about how a young black boy is treated unfairly and sentenced to death because of something he did not do.
In the novel A Lesson Before Dying, Grant and Jefferson are black men in the era of a racist society; but they have struggles with a greater dilemma, obligation and commitment. They have obligations to their families and to the town they are part of. They lived in a town were everybody knew everybody else and took care of each other. "Living and teaching on a plantation, you got to know the occupants of every house, and you knew who was home and who was not.... I could look at the smoke rising from each chimney or I could look at the rusted tin roof of each house, and I could tell the lives that went on in each one of them." [pp. 37-38] Just by Grant’s words you can tell that that is a community that is very devoted to each other.
...At first, Grant was not very concerned about Jefferson. He just wanted to pass the time he had to spend with him. Before long, he began to think of what it would feel like to be a dead man, and what he could do to make the time Jefferson had left be the best it could for him. This was the greatest achievement Grant accomplished in the entire book. After the point in which he discussed the ice cream and the radio with Jefferson and Jefferson admitted for the first time that he was more than a hog, Grant truly cared. Grant developed greatly during the course of this story, along with other characters featured in the story. Vivian met new people and increased the quality of her relationship with Grant, Miss Emma finally got to see someone stand for her, Tante Lou learned that she had a decent nephew after all, and Jefferson got off of his four legs and stood.
Life is short and it is up to you to make the most out of it. The most important lesson that everyone should follow and apply to everyday life is “never give up”. In the novel, “A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest J. Gaines, the important lesson can be shown in the characters Jefferson, Miss Emma and Grant Wiggins.
Vancil initiates the criticism of A lesson Before Dying in an old-fashioned, excessive religious genre of attitudes. He claims that Grant Wiggins is reluctant to atonement for guilt to uphold the Christian faith belief system within the Quarters, the small community of Wiggins’ residence. Wiggins has just evolved into the Diaspora of African-American people whose adapted a new way of thought and forever changing lifestyle alterations ranging from the southern to western regions in America. It may not be in complete agreement and acceptance by the matriarchs and patriarchs of the community but it progresses into a unique character identification tool for oneself. Black Americans were unwillingly detached from the true African tribal culture and therefore must attempt to gain a bountiful knowledge on one’s own heritage, current, and future life expectancies for the average home grown man or woman.
Throughout the hundreds of years, individuals have pondered the impact of heavenly or insidious force, environment, hereditary qualities, even excitement, as deciding how free any individual is in settling on good decisions. Fate, a result of the past, is often described as the advancement of occasions out of man 's control, dictated by an extraordinary force. In any case that someone may utilize their freewill can reflect upon their outcomes, decided upon a supreme force, whether they are positive or negative. In the novels “A Lesson Before Dying,” Ernest Gaines and “The Grapes of Wrath,” John Steinbeck, the authors explore the trials and tribulations of self influenced fate controlled by an higher force.
To further complicate matters, John decides not to reveal to the court that Abigail has admitted to him in private that they were just sporting in the woods. Abigail spreads additional accusations and false rumors about her neighbors. These accusations have no basis in truth and their only purpose is for Abigail’s own benefit. Furthermore, Abigail is jealous of John’s wife, Elizabeth, and she schemes to get rid of her in order to take her place. Abigail’s plot is to accuse Elizabeth of witchcraft.
Grant is a character introduced as Jefferson’s old teacher. His aunt Tante Lou is friends with Jefferson’s godmother Miss Emma. Miss Emma asks Grant to go and visit and talk to Jefferson. Miss Emma knows that Jefferson must be going through hard times, being depressed knowing that he is simply waiting for the day of his death. Grant agrees to help and talk to Jefferson so that he dies a man; however deep down inside him Grant questions whether he can actually help Jefferson. Grant is not a happy person; he questions what he really wants in life. However Grant continues to visit Jefferson and attempts to help him, it seems...
Francis Albert Sinatra most famously just known as Frank Sinatra was a jazz icon and famous actor. Frank Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915 he was raised by two Italian immigrants, his father Anthony Sinatra and his mother Natalie Garavanta. Frank Sinatra grew up on the rough streets of Hoboken, New Jersey and had the mentality to work hard and never give up. Frank Sinatra also dropped out of his school in his senior year so he could pursue his career in music. Frank Sinatra first started out as a saloon singer and then later got to be a band singer for the group ‘the Hoboken four’. Soon Sinatra’s public image was seen as a street thug who was saved by his first wife Nancy Barbato, all of this was just a public stunt planned by his agent George Evans. In 1942 he started his solo career and became known as king of the bobbysoxers. A “Bobby soxer” was what Sinatra called his fans that were girls. Frank Sinatra even wanted to join the armed services after the Pearl Harbor but was denied because he was unfit for service. At about this time Sinatra also started his acting career by appearing in a few small films and really became well known once he got the lead role in the movie Anchors Weigh which came out in 1945. It was even nominated for Best Picture at the academy awards in 1946. Later he cheated on his wife with a lady named Ava Gardner which lead to him and his wife Nancy Barbato to get a divorce. Sinatra’s love life was also a very interesting thing because he had 4 wives and all of them had some sort of drama to them. Sadly on may 14, 1998 Frank Sinatra had a heart attack and died at the age of 82.
In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, the main character Abigail Williams is to blame for the 1692 witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Abigail is a mean and vindictive person who always wants her way, no matter who she hurts. Through out the play her accusations and lies cause many people pain and suffering, but she seemed to never care for any of them except John Proctor, whom she had an affair with seven months prior to the beginning of the play. John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth used to employ Abigail, until Elizabeth found out the affair and threw Abigail out. Although John told Abigail that the affair was over and he would never touch her again, she tried desperately to rekindle their romance. "Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I'll ever reach for you again." (Page 23) She claimed that she loved John and that he loved her. Before the play began, Abigail tried to kill Elizabeth with a curse. She thought that if Elizabeth were dead John would marry her. Further into the play, Abigail accused Elizabeth of witchcraft. She saw Marry Warren, the Proctor's servant, making a poppet. Mary put a needle into the doll, and Abigail used that for her accusation. She stabbed herself with a needle and claimed that Elizabeth's soul had done it. Although Abigail claimed she loved John, she may have just loved the care and attention he gave her. John cared for her like no one else had. In a way he could be described as somewhat of a father figure to her. When Abigail was just a child, she witnessed her parents' brutal murders. "I saw Indians smash my dear parent's heads on the pillow next to mine..." (page 20) After her traumatic experience, she was raised by her uncle, Reverend Parris, who is somewhat of a villain. In the play it was written, "He (Parris) was a widower with no interest in children, or talent with them." (Page 3) Parris regarded children as young adults who should be "thankful for being permitted to walk straight, eyes slightly lowered, arms at the sides, and mouths shut until bidden to speak." (Page 4) Therefore, it is obvious to see that Abigail grew up without any love or nurturing.
Grant and Jefferson are on a journey. Though they have vastly different educational backgrounds, their commonality of being black men who have lost hope brings them together in the search for the meaning of their lives. In the 1940’s small Cajun town of Bayonne, Louisiana, blacks may have legally been emancipated, but they were still enslaved by the antebellum myth of the place of black people in society. Customs established during the years of slavery negated the laws meant to give black people equal rights and the chains of tradition prevailed leaving both Grant and Jefferson trapped in mental slavery in their communities.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others.”-MLK Jr. In the book A Lesson Before Dying, Ernest J. Gaines explores the relationship between a student and a teacher in Bayonne, Louisiana, in the 1940s, and how their actions affect the society they are living in. Jefferson, a young black man, is accused of a murder, and is sentenced to death because of his race. Miss Emma, Jefferson’s godmother, wants Grant Wiggins, an educated black teacher to “make him a man” before Jefferson dies. Even though Grant was reluctant that it would amount to anything, but he gave his word that he would try, and soon after a couple of visits to the jail, Grant starts to develop a bond with Jefferson. As the book progresses, Jefferson learns that you need to take responsibility for your own actions, you should always be humble, one should never submit their dignity no matter the circumstances, and always remember that even heroes are not perfect.
In conclusion I ask this again: how can a girl who condemned seventy two to a death sentence and drank a charm to kill a man’s wife, a man she slept with on more than one occasion, be the victim? Abigail is truly a victim just as much as one of those she condemned to death, because of Salem’s judgemental, self-concerned and oppressive views and beliefs led her to it.