Work cited
Gaines, Ernest J. A Lesson Before Dying. New York: Vintage Books, 1993.
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The hog comment really got to Jefferson and his behavior changed a lot at the jail. Jefferson started to act like an actual hog to prove to grant that he was in fact a hog and what the attorney said was actually true. In the jail during their first visit Jefferson is distant, when asked if he wanted food by Miss Emma he declines and says that nothing matters anymore. Being there in jail under his circumstances he wanted to give up and he even considered eating unimportant. The next few trips were as uneventful as the first but on the fourth trip Miss Emma faked being sick so Grant would go alone from then on. When Grant got there he asked Jefferson if he wanted any of the food Grant brought he answered but not in a way anyone would expect. He asked Grant is he brought any corn, Grant said no and then asked why. Then Jefferson replied it was what hogs eat and got on all fours and ate from the bag of food as a hog would. Jefferson was convinced he meant no more than a hog to anyone. The racism in the book affected Jefferson’s head dramatically.…
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Lastly, in the movie it only takes Grant a couple of visits to convince Jefferson to open up. But in the book it took many sessions in order for Jefferson to open up to Grant. Soon after Jefferson was comfortable around…
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Chapters twenty-six through thirty-one were very emotional chapters. After visiting Jefferson at the jail, Grants goes to the Rainbow Club to wait on Vivian. He was happy because he was finally getting somewhere with helping Jefferson. He wanted to share his happiness with his love, until he began to hear three men talking bad about Jefferson. Grant wanted to let it go and walk away but he couldn’t hold it in anymore. He confronted them and told them to be quiet but they end up fighting. Grant loses control and ends up getting knocked out.…
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The novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J Gaines depicts the life of a young African American who was just in the wrong time and place. Jefferson's race and culture has an important role to the following series of events being found guilty, losing hope, losing dignity, and sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit. Jefferson undergoes a journey along with Grant in the little time he has to redeem himself from the loss of his dignity and hope from his what his culture has caused him. Moreover, in the novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J Gaines, Jefferson is deprived of his dignity from the harshful remarks and comparisons that were made against him by his defense attorney. In the first chapter of the book Jefferson is…
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Grant Wiggins improved as a person greatly in A Lesson Before Dying, and for the most part this lead to improving his relationships with other people. At the beginning of the book, it seemed as Wiggins almost hated Jefferson and he had no sympathy for him or for the situation itself. After a few visits with Jefferson,…
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Grant’s reluctance stems from his inability to confront his own fears and insecurities. Initially he tells Tante Lou that he cannot help Jefferson, implying that Jefferson is beyond hope. When Grant visits Jefferson and Jefferson behaves aggressively, Grant tells his aunt that he does not wish to proceed because he refuses to let Jefferson make him feel guilty. Although Grant is convinced that Jefferson is trying to make him feel guilty, Jefferson seems to bear no malice toward Grant in particular. Grant’s unnecessary self-defense points to his subconscious conviction that he does bear a certain amount of the blame for Jefferson’s situation, or at least for refusing to try to help Jefferson live with dignity.…
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He sent letters to the warden’s office and never received a reply. Another one of Gaines colleges helped him by letting him visit an ex-sheriff of a small town. There he asked the question he had proposed to the warden’s office. “The sheriff told me it would be left entirely to the discretion of the sheriff of the jail, who was totally in charge and made all the decisions.” (Gaines, “Writing, 772) This played a huge role because this now let Grant visit Jefferson and try to work with him in jail. It also set up the idea of Grant having to ask whites for rights and being belittled. Through just the colleges around Gaines he researched with the interviews and established valuable info the story couldn’t be…
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Grant was taught to love someone other than himself, that he could make a difference in someone's life, and also that he could make a difference in the community he was living in. At the beginning of the novel, nothing mattered to Grant other than himself. He had many feelings about how the community was but never make any moves to change the community in any way. By the end of the novel, Grant learns a lot from Vivian and Jefferson. Grant learns to love others, other than himself. He learns that other people actually need help and that he could actually give help to someone even when he thought that he couldn’t. Grant also realizes that he could strive for a…
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Miss Emma, who was Jefferson’s godmother and close friends with Grants auntie, Tante Lou, requested that he visit Jefferson in prison to teach him to be a man before he was electrocuted so he would not die the “hog” that his attorney had labeled him as. Miss Emma, a former help for the Pichot family that owned…
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Gaines exemplifies attitude by using literary devices such as hyperboles and verbal irony. During an interview, Gaines stated that there were not many writers of his own culture and background (Bridges n.p.). Gaines did not enjoy the books, as they did not have the cultural integrity as he would have liked to see. Throughout A Lesson before Dying, Gaines shows the attitude of the characters to portray the cultural variations seen throughout society. Gaines depicts Grant Wiggins as an educated school teacher that does not like his own culture. Grant wants to run away from his current being; however his culture and race will always be the same. Tante Lou forces Grant to help Jefferson become a man and not die as a "hog". Grant resists helping at first, but he later on does what his aunt asks of him. Miss Emma repeatedly tells Grant and Tante Lou that Grant does not have to help her or Jefferson. For example, Grant sarcastically says, "Miss Emma repeated the old refrain I had heard about a hundred times the day before" (Gaines 44). Gaines writes this hyperbole to show the attitude and the difference between Miss Emma and Grant 's education. Grant is not the average African American in the society, and his cultural values are different than what Miss Emma under terms like faith. In another instance, attitude is shown by saying, " 'Quiet, ' the deputy said. 'Yes, sir, ' Miss Emma said. The deputy grinned. 'Jefferson 's been quiet, ' " (Gaines 69-70). In conclusion, Gaines believes oral language is necessary to show the attitude of his…
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