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¶ … Lesson Before Dying
In the novel, 'A lesson before dying', there are many inter-related and intricately woven themes that highlight the predicament of a black man in 1940s Louisiana. Convicted of a crime he never committed, Jefferson is treated like an animal and when the public attorney tries to defend him for being a man without thoughts and feelings, this deeply distresses Jefferson and his mother. The novel then becomes a tale of responsibility towards self and community. A person owes something to his community despite his ill-favored circumstances. Jefferson's psyche is so negatively influenced by the comments made...
The hog label has had a strange impact on him which alters his personality and makes him believe that "Just do the best you can. But it won't matter" (66) because eventually something will happen to "make you the nigger you were born to be" (65). Jefferson's friendship with a schoolteacher Grant Wiggins teaches him about responsibility to community and human dignity as he explains "No matter how bad off we are ... we still owe something'" (p. 139). Wiggins teaches Jefferson about being a hero and feels…
Work Cited:
Ernest J. Gaines, A Lesson Before Dying. New York: Random House, 1994
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Jefferson faces his death with dignity, which he learns in part from his interact with Grant. Critic Beavers notes, "Though Jefferson's death is certain, Grant's task -- which becomes Jefferson's legacy -- is to impart some of himself, to demonstrate to Jefferson a way to improvise upon a negative situation till he discovers dignity and purpose" (Beavers 31). Each man learns something valuable from the other, and that is
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Ernest Gaines - a Lesson Before Dying Ernest J. Gaines is considered by many critics to be a giant in his genre, and although he is not as "militant" or "intense" in his writing as Richard Wright, or James Baldwin, he makes his points about racism, about poverty, and about cultural bias, with a very strong sense of narrative and character development. This paper will address the characters in Gaines' novels,