Character Analysis: A Lesson Before Dying By Ernest J. Gaines

Life is filled with mistakes and errors and it is up to that person to change it by learning from it. In the novel, A Lesson before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, the most important lesson to learn before dying is to accept things that are right and change things that are wrong , to live the best possible life you have. The lesson in the transformation can be seen in the transformation of the three main characters, Jefferson, Grant and Tante Lou throughout the novel. Firstly, the lesson to accept things and try to change things, so you can live the best and possible life, can be demonstrated through Jefferson’s life in the novel. In the beginning of the novel Jefferson witnesses a robbery and is convicted of murder and sentenced

Tante Lou is Grant’s aunt and she is a religious woman. Tante Lou disapproves Grant’s beliefs and does not like the troubled and racist system in her community. When she finds out about Jefferson, she wants Grant to help Jefferson and also this will help Grant realize things. After having a conversation with Tante Lou, Grant says, “I stood back from the table and looked at the both of them. I clamped my jaws so tight the veins in my neck felt as if they would burst. I wanted to scream at my aunt; I was screaming inside. I had told her many, many times how much I hated this place and all I wanted to do was get away. I had told her I was no teacher, I hated teaching, and I was just running in place here. But she had not heard me before, and I knew that no matter how loud I screamed, she would not hear me now” (Gaines 14). This quotation tells us that Tante Lou has forced Grant to go and talk to Jefferson. Even though she dislikes the life she lives, she wants to change things for the community, especially for Jefferson and Grant. As the story progresses, Tante Lou was able to accept the way some things were and started to change other things. She was able to change Grant to talk to Jefferson and also change Grant’s perspective on certain things. Grant realizes, “There was no one thing that changed my faith. I suppose it was a combination of many things, but mostly it was just plain studying. I did not have time for anything else. Many times I would not come home on weekends, and when I did, I found that I cared less and less about the church. Of course, it pained my aunt to see this change in me, and it saddened me to see the pain I was causing her. I thought many times about leaving, as Professor Antoine had advised me to do. My mother and father also told me that if I was not happy in Louisiana, I should