Examples Of Search For Justice In Mrs. Emma

Search for Justice
In a novel by William Styron, a father tells his son that life “ is a search for justice.” In Earnest J. Gaines novel Mrs. Emma, the godmother of Jefferson a black man convicted of murder in a crime he unwittingly took a part in, response to Jefferson’s conviction and death sentence by working outside of the legal system to find his redemption. In her own way she used the connections she had to make him see that he was more than a crime that he had committed, and more than the color of his skin. She was a motor throughout the story silently pushing people to do what she needed them to so that she could show others in the community she loved their own potential through Jefferson’s final moments, by making him accept that

Emma is described as someone “of average height, five four,five five, but weighs nearly two hundred pounds.”(p.1). She is depicted as immovable in her faith in God and in the people in her life. This is shown by her blind faith in the justice system that fails Jefferson and herself and also by her faith that Grant will come through and teach Jefferson humanity. She used her connections to Mr. Pichot, her former employer, to get in contact with Sheriff Guidry, the brother-in-law of Mr. Pichot, who she hoped would do the right thing by her even though she had no way of guaranteeing it. Her strength and love was a catalyst for the only justice that happened to the black people in their Louisiana community during the novel, Jefferson walking to death like a man. His final words were in fact “ Tell Nannan I walked.” This final moment was the only justice she needed. She needed to know that she would see her godson again, that he knew his that he was a man, and that he knew she loved him, which she showed by bringing him her own homemade food, and giving him her unwavering faith throughout his

“ What justice would it be to take this life? Justice, gentlemen? Why, I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this.” This began Jefferson’s spiral in jail, acting like a hog, eating food that was made for him by Ms. Emma, on the floor without using his hands, tactlessly ignoring his own family and friends. The idea of making Jefferson walk to death like a man, came from a desire to change the status of black Americans in their town and in the legal system in general, Ms. Emma drives this change by in the same way that she drives the rest of the story, by using the relationships that she had with other people to further her own agenda, and the advancement of African Americans. In her own way she takes over as a Rosa Parks figure, not standing up for the white man, or the predominantly white legal system, that controlled the journey of her