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. 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. Grant encounters many examples of discrimination when ...
Jefferson is trapped in a racist and ignorant place, this is shown countless times throughout the book, for example when Jefferson's defendant said ”A cornered animal to strike quickly in fear a trait inherited by his ancestors in the deepest jungles of blackest Africa...What you see here is a thing that acts on command. A thing to hold the handle of a plow, a thing to load your bales of cotton”(Gaines 7) .
In Ernest J. Gaines novel A Lesson Before Dying, a young African-American man named 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, the defense attorney had called him an uneducated hog as an effort to have him released, but the jury ignored this and sentenced him to death by electrocution anyways. Appalled by this, Jefferson’s godmother, Miss Emma, asks the sheriff if visitations by her and the local school teacher, Grant Wiggins, would be possible to help Jefferson become a man before he dies. The sheriff agrees, and Miss Emma and Mr. Wiggins begin visiting Jefferson in his jail cell. Throughout the book, Jefferson has two seemingly opposite choices in front of him; become a man, and make his godmother and other relatives proud by dying with dignity, or, remain in the state of a hog with the mentality that nothing matters because he will die regardless of his actions. The choices Jefferson is faced with, and the choice he makes, highlights the book’s idea of having dignity ...
After the Civil War ended, many blacks and whites, especially in the South, continued living as if nothing had changed with regards to the oppression and poor treatment of African Americans. Narrator Grant Wiggins, of Ernest J. Gaines' A Lesson Before Dying, possesses a similar attitude toward race relations. Through his experiences with a young man wrongly accused of murder, Grant transforms from a pessimistic, hopeless, and insensitive man into a more selfless and compassionate human being who can see the possibility of change in relations between whites and blacks. Grant Wiggins, one of the few black men of the time to have a college education, lives with his aunt on a plantation just outside Bayonne, Louisiana. In 1948, he taught at the all-black school held at the all-black plantation church.
Gaines’ novel is centered on a massive injustice, which is a young man who is falsely convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death by electrocution. When Jefferson was brought into a trial for the murders of the three white men in the bar, most of the jury quickly assumed that he was guilty due to his skin color, because, at that time, the assumption of innocence does not
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.
Racism is not only a crime against humanity, but a daily burden that weighs down many shoulders. Racism has haunted America ever since the founding of the United States, and has eerily followed us to this very day. As an intimidating looking black man living in a country composed of mostly white people, Brent Staples is a classic victim of prejudice. The typical effect of racism on an African American man such as Staples, is a growing feeling of alienation and inferiority; the typical effect of racism on a white person is fear and a feeling of superiority. While Brent Staples could be seen as a victim of prejudice because of the discrimination he suffers, he claims that the victim and the perpetrator are both harmed in the vicious cycle that is racism. Staples employs his reader to recognize the value of his thesis through his stylistic use of anecdotes, repetition and the contrast of his characterization.
Grant Wiggins and Jefferson, two main protagonists, were in journey to show pride, dignity, and freedom they should have as African American toward white society. Although they started on the different level of education, they both were heading for the same goal until the end as common black man who is searching for the true meaning of their life. The background of this novel was in 1940’s in little town of Bayonne, Louisiana. Even though blacks were legally freed, there was still prejudice, supremacy going on in this town. They may be physically freed, but some people were mentally slaves in their society.
America has always been a country with different cultures, races, and people. Only, not everyone has been accepting of different kinds of people. A persons thoughts on another person can differ depending on a person's race, gender, or age. In Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird, racial equality is nonexistent. The African Americans were treated like they weren’t people, and were totally isolated from the Maycomb, Alabama society. America will never achieve true racial and social equality because people are ignorant, have a history of being prejudiced, and are unjust.
Jefferson’s self-perception is affected by the racist atmosphere. In chapter One, Jefferson’s defense attorney tries to win the jury by claiming that Jefferson has diminished capacity to reason. He tries to reach the jury’s heart and mind by implying it would be a cruel act to kill a man whose intelligence and moral are no greater than those of a hog. The attorney expresses the ugly belief, held by many Southern whites, that blacks are somewhat beneath whites. Jefferson becomes disturbed by the idea and begins acting like a hog, angrily refusing to talk and going through his food like a hog. Miss Emma realizes the impact the attorney’s words have on Jefferson and makes it her goal to ensure Jefferson dies like a man not like an animal. When Jefferson decides to die with dignity, he shakes off the spiteful stereotypes placed on him by whites. “Gentlemen of the jury, look at this----this----this boy. I almost said a man, but I can’t say man. Oh sure, he has reached the age of twenty-one, when we, civilized men, consider the male species has reached manhood, but would you call this---this---this a man? No, not I”,(Gaines, 7). This quote reveals how even Jefferson’s defense attorney from the start had a stereotype opinion held by many Southern whites, a negative opinion that blacks are inferior to whites. From that point on Grant’s mission in the book is to show Jefferson’s hope, dignity, and self-respect, and to prove to whites and blacks are alike, that i...
Jefferson decided to react wrongfully during the situation which in the long run modified the result of his future by getting a capital punishment. The setting of this novel takes place during the post civil war and pre civil rights era which shows how hard it is to escape history and tradition before then. Prejudice was still everywhere and blacks had practically zero rights or equity. Very much aware of his circumstances Jefferson knew what was best for him to do yet he choose to do the complete opposite. If he had got out of harm’s way by leaving the crime scene he would not have to face death for a murder he did not commit. Since Jefferson decided to utilize his freewill negatively his outcome was reflected from it. The subject of unrestrained choice is basically an issue of organization, of who is in control as many experience life settling on a wide range of
Discrimination is “the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things.” On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks was ordered to give up her bus seat to a white passenger and refused. This act of opposition defied all normalities for the average black woman. The treatment of a woman who was black compared to the treatment of a white woman in that age was completely discriminatory. Rosa Park’s strength to influence justice against racial segregation has slowly influenced justice against all discrimination. “The Help,” a 2009 novel written by American author, Kathryn Stockett, is a story about African-American maids working for white households in Jackson, Mississippi set in the early 1960’s. “The Help” depicts these women as individuals similar to Rosa Parks, who want to influence change and equality. Through “The Help,” the reader can relate the thoughts and views of the characters to our society today, particularly on the grounds of race, class and gender.
Ernest Gaines was born during the middle of the Great Depression on January 15, 1933. He was the oldest of twelve children. At the age of nine Gaines worked as an errand boy on the River Lake Plantation, the same plantation his book A Lesson Before Dying was set in. Gaines was raised by his Aunt Augusteen Jefferson, much like Grant, the protagonist in the novel, was raised by his Aunt Tante Lou. At the age of fifteen Gaines rejoined his immediate family in Vallejo, California because there were no high schools for him to attend in Louisiana. Gaines also wanted to enter a public library which was illegal for people of color to use. At this time in U.S. History, books about colored people were scarce and so Gaines decided to try and write his own novel. The desire to write led him to San Francisco State and Stanford University where he took creative writing courses. His first book, Catherine Carmier, was published in 1964. He finished his most famous novel, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, in 1971. The success of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman prompted Gaines to write more about the black communities of southern Louisiana. The most successful book dealing with the colored people of southern Louisiana, A Lesson Before Dying, was penned in 1993 (“About Ernest Gaines” 1).
The story starts off by Jefferson being accused of a crime that he did not commit, he was forced into being with the criminals and was the only person in the store who was not shot and killed. Jefferson, being an African American, was discriminated against by the jury and was sent to jail. “The judge commended the twelve white men for reaching a quick and just verdict”(Gaines 8). This is one of the first events to take place in the novel revealing quickly that the story is taking place in a time of racism. Jefferson was sentenced to death by electrocution, not only causing depression in Jefferson and his family, but also causing many internal conflicts in Jefferson and Grant.
Although Jefferson was stripped of his freedom by the whites in his town, he ultimately found purpose in his life by understanding how to achieve the freedom that he has been longing for. Jefferson initially believes freedom is an inherent characteristic that he is unable to achieve, but ultimately he learns freedom can be achieved by anyone no matter their race or status. During Jefferson’s trial, his defense lawyer argued that he was nothing but a “hog”. For Jefferson this hog reference highlighted that most believed he has no purpose in life and showed that he had internalized the hatred that the white community spewed at him during the trial. When Jefferson remarks, “You brought some corn? That’s
“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.