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A Lesson Before Dying And To Kill A Mocking Bird Comparison Essay

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What do A Lesson Before Dying and To Kill A Mockingbird have in common? Both books take place in the prejudiced south, an African-American character is killed, and both books show the reader how justice was handled when a person of color was brought to court. A Lesson Before Dying is similar to To Kill A Mockingbird because both books have a similar theme of injustice, the convicted characters are truly innocent, and both books end with a tragic death.

In the first chapter of A Lesson Before Dying, the reader is introduced to Jefferson, a young black male who is convicted of murdering a white shopkeeper and robbing his store. However, even though Jefferson's lawyer claims that Jefferson is innocent, he begins using Jefferson's lack of knowledge …show more content…

"Why, I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this" (Gaines, 8). Through the book, we watch as Jefferson transforms from an angry and hateful character to a courageous and thankful man. "Good by mr wigin tell them im strong tell them im a man..." (Gains, 234). In To Kill A Mockingbird, Tom Robinson is revealed to have been killed in prison after trying to escape. Atticus explains that Tom was shot multiple times in the back when he had reached the fence. Tom's death is different from Jefferson's because Tom could not wait any longer for Atticus to get him out of prison. Jefferson, on the other hand, was ready to die. He knew there was no escaping and felt that he had accomplished as much as he could with the help of Grant. All in all, To Kill A Mockingbird and A Lesson Before Dying are two powerful books that show the reader how life was in the prejudiced south, especially how cases involving African-Americans were handled in court.From both books having similar themes, to innocent characters, and tragic outcomes,To Kill A Mockingbird and A Lesson Before Dying are similar in

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At the beginning of A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines, Grant and Jefferson who are two black men who have drastically different views on life, they started out as bitter and angry people. Towards the end , these men evolved into caring and brave characters due to the influence of motherly-like women. At first Jefferson didn’t want to listen to Grant because he believed that life was near the end, and he thought that teaching kids wasn’t going to get them anywhere since they will eventually become the people who unload wood. Miss Emma and Tante Lou instructed Grant to visit Jefferson and see him stand up for his rights and so did Vivian, Mr.Wiggin’s girlfriend. In A Lesson Before Dying, women helped foster the development of Grant and Jefferson as characters

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Grant is hopeful to change Jefferson by giving him a notebook and having him write down all his feelings. Grant even dreamed that, “There was a lot of erasing, then he wrote: If I ain’t nothing but a hog, how come they just don’t knock me in the head like a hog? Starb me like a hog? More erasing, then: Man walk on two foots; hogs on four hoofs,” (Gaines 220). Eventually, Jefferson did manage to write down all of his thoughts and get his anger out of him.

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