Ernest J. Gaines's A Lesson Before Dying

Words: 306
Pages: 2
Open Document
Summary In Ernest J Gaines’s A Lesson Before Dying, even though you have a black man being accused of a crime that he did not commit, the plot focuses more on the problem of segregation. During Jefferson’s trial, the way it is said in the book is basically like the white people have no type of respect for Jefferson and he is trying to not only trying to gain his pride back, but also his dignity. Jefferson’s own lawyer did not even refer to him as even a person. The lawyer compared Jefferson to a hog, “it”, and a “thing”. Yes, during the court trial all of the evidence placed Jefferson at the time of the murder of the grocery store owner, Alcee Grope, but as the flashbacks occur in the story, it is being realized that he did
Show More

Related Documents: Ernest J. Gaines's A Lesson Before Dying

Lesson Before Dying Themes

Can you teach a boy to be a man before a deadline? Well Jefferson, does and he succeeds.Throughout Ernest J. Gaines's fiction novel, A Lesson Before Dying has used the chair as an symbol that plays an important role in the overall theme. A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, a fiction novel that is placed in Bayonne, Louisiana in the 1940s, that consists of two young African American male characters Jefferson, and Grant Wiggins. Jefferson who is a young African American who’s not educated and…

Words 138 - Pages 1

A Lesson Before Dying Analysis

Ernest J. Gaines’s A Lesson Before Dying follows a schoolteacher named Grant Wiggins who has been asked to meet with a man, Jefferson, on Death Row. Jefferson, a black man, has been called a “hog” by the white court, so his mother wishes for Grant to educate her son. While the clear racial text is evident from the summary, the story also tells a conflict between reason and honor. The story takes place in Louisiana during the ‘60s. This is during a time when African-Americans still suffered oppression…

Words 575 - Pages 3

Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

choice to persevere. In the face of violence, hatred, and hardship, the characters we read about continue on, time and time again. Specifically, we explored themes of helplessness versus choice in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, Ernest J. Gaines’s A Lesson Before Dying, and Albert Camus’s “The Myth of Sisyphus.” In each of these pieces, the characters…

Words 1609 - Pages 7