ipl-logo

A Lesson Before Dying By Ernest J. Gaines

501 Words3 Pages

A Lesson Before Dying Essay In the novel, A Lesson Before Dying, Ernest J. Gaines recounts the life and struggles of the colored people. He uses memories from his life to give personalities to the characters as well as give an accurate setting. Gaines revisited the south after he moved to California as an attempt to develop a story that related to his people. He used relatives that impacted in his life as models for some of the main characters. Ernest J. Gaines incorporated his life into A Lesson Before Dying through the characters, the setting, and the lifestyle of the colored people. Ernest Gaines used the most important people in his life as inspiration for the major characters. Gaines was raised by his disabled aunt, Augusteen Jefferson. She always took care of Ernest and never let anything bring her down. Gaines said that Augusteen was the most influential person in his life. This aunt provided the inspiration for many of the main characters in A Lesson Before Dying. The character of Jefferson was named after Augusteen Jefferson. Tante Lou and Miss Emma were also based off of Ms. Augusteen. Miss Emma and Tante Lou were both strong, female characters that only wanted the best for others. They took care of Grant and Jefferson even when they were in bad …show more content…

Ernest J. Gaines was the smartest child in his plantation when he was growing up. Gaines was sent to San Francisco to better his education. Grant Wiggins was also sent away for a better education because there were very few opportunities in Bayonne, his hometown. Grant came back to Bayonne to become a teacher, making him one of the smartest people in the plantation. Ernest Gaines would also stage plays when he was growing up (biography). Similar to Gaines, Grant Wiggins staged plays for his school. Along with the characters, Gaines used his history and personal experiences to develop a setting that others could associate

Show More
Related
583 Words | 3 Pages

A Lesson Before Dying written by Ernest J. Gaines has an essential part in the story itself. It is often responsible for what happens in The Lesson Before Dying. The setting is an important role played in the novel A Lesson Before Dying. The setting is what is responsible for shaping what the author’s ideas about the book.

Read More
1250 Words | 5 Pages

In Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson”, readers read through the perspective of a young black girl named Sylvia. She, along with her cousin and a few friends, are taken on educational field trips with an educated African American woman named Ms. Moore. Sylvia believes she just wants to prevent them from having any fun and finds Ms. Moore to be odd person because she makes it clear that she wants an involvement in their lives. It is an involvement that is seen as a total nuisance. Yet as their teacher, she tries to give them an education that is hard for them to achieve due to their families’ financial status and how the color of their skin affects their position in the world.

Read More
1310 Words | 6 Pages

Miss Emma surely is not the biggest and most scariest on the plantation, however she still manages to show she cares and make efforts to help people she loves. After the trial when Miss Emma and Tante Lou get to Mr. Pichot’s house, she asks for a favor and says “ …. I didn’t raise no hog, and I don’t want no hog to go set in that chair. I want a man to go set in that chair” (20). Miss Emma is not only looking out for Jefferson, but in the long run all the black men on the plantation.

Read More
813 Words | 4 Pages

Undoubtedly, Grant registers the unfairness and lack of justice. Even though this is the case, Grant still continues to help Jefferson become the man he

Read More
1008 Words | 5 Pages

A Lesson Before Dying A Lesson Before Dying is a novel based on the real life event of the Willie Francis execution. Grant Wiggins was teaching on a plantation outside of Bayonne, Louisiana, for several years. A man named Jefferson was convicted of murder and was sentenced to death. Jefferson claims he was not guilty of the crime.

Read More
1038 Words | 5 Pages

Grant thought it was a waste of time to try helping him because Jefferson was going to be executed and Jefferson was very stubborn and unwilling to cooperate. The only reason Geant was helping was because his aunt Tante Lou made him help Miss Emma make Jefferson into a man since Jefferson was called a hog by his defence attorney and Miss Emma wanted Jefferson to die a man. Jefferson feels as if he is not in control of his life. . Grant and Jefferson 's relationship evolves over time. At first Jefferson doesn’t speak to anyone while he has visitors, not even Miss Emma.

Read More
747 Words | 3 Pages

In Ernest Gaines’ novel A Lesson Before Dying he uses third person point of views to tackle the issues of racial injustice in the South during the 1940’s. The character Grant Wiggin’s understands that justice was claimed and could not change because of this he successful change Jefferson into a man. About justice showing the audience the significance of the novel as a whole, this novel teaches the reader that in order to make a change in the world they must change themselves or help one another, just like Grant did with Jefferson.        In this novel, Grant claims that he doesn’t care for justice because he knows that it wasn’t going to get severed.

Read More
670 Words | 3 Pages

A Lesson Before Dying: An Analysis of the Definition of Manhood A Lesson Before Dying is a historical novel written by Ernest J. Gaines. The novel is set in the late 1940s on a plantation in Louisiana. A young, black man known as Jefferson is wrongly convicted for murdering two white men. The main character is Grant Wiggins, a teacher at a church school. Grant is being forced by Jefferson’s Godmother, Miss Emma, to convince Jefferson that he is a man.

Read More
1214 Words | 5 Pages

Our children cannot afford to have the truth of the world withheld from them.” Many Americans agree with this statement by Laurie Halse Anderson about censorship. Banning a book is never the right choice when it contains a strong message that is not found in other “safe” books. A Lesson Before Dying include a message about a male, African American living in a white mans society. Although the novel contains different religious views and explicit language, A Lesson Before Dying should not be banned because it shows the

Read More
1335 Words | 6 Pages

A Lesson Before Dying written by Ernest Gaines is set in a small town called Bayonne, Louisiana. Lesson Before Dying was written in the late 1940s around the period when segregation was taking place, where people were treated based on the color of their skin. Jefferson, a poor young black man, was a part of a liquor store shootout where three men were killed; the only one who survived, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Grant Wiggins, a school teacher, has been asked to persuade Jefferson into feeling like a human. Despite the fact that Jefferson’s execution date was set, Grant has to go through many complications to make a hog into a human again.

Read More
819 Words | 4 Pages

Gaines Novel A Lesson Before Dying, is able to control his own destiny because he proceed to get educated and go to an University to help the children in his community who desperately needed to further their education. Grant was able to stand up to racism in his community because the majority of people portrayed a racist attitude towards people of color. He stood up by helping Jefferson with life lessons and how to die with dignity. The members of the community thought that Jefferson was an animal but by giving Jefferson receiving an education helped him demonstrate that he was a man and not a

Read More
1080 Words | 5 Pages

Through the words and actions of Jefferson, Gaines portrays the negative effects of racism and how it can take away the humanity and self-respect of a person. Throughout the novel, African Americans are not only stripped of their humanity, but they are constantly belittled and dehumanized. An example of this is how the white men treat Grant. As Grant talks to his aunt about his experience going to the jail, he says, “‘The humiliation I had to go through, going into that man’s kitchen. The hours I had to wait while they ate, drank, and socialized before they would even see me.

Read More
1179 Words | 5 Pages

African American women play significant roles throughout the storyline in the novel A Lesson Before Dying. Two strong and self-sufficient women, Tante Lou, and Miss Emma, impacted the decision men made despite the woman's position in society. As African American women in 1940’s southern society, they were not afraid to push boundaries and speak up for what they believed in. As an example, Jefferson’s lawyer likened his clients execution to that of a hog.

Read More
280 Words | 2 Pages

It teaches lies can be positive and it can decrease people’s anguish. Gaines brings in an important character after the incident that starts the story off. The character Grant Wiggins, the protagonist of the novel is asked to help the accused. He often criticizes and resents a racist society.

Read More
807 Words | 4 Pages

Ernest J. Gaines as a Storyteller In order to be successful as an author and engage readers effectively, one must incorporate certain elements. Ernest J. Gaines included multiple stylistic elements in his novel, “A Lesson Before Dying”, therefore, he is quite effective as a storyteller. One rhetorical device included in the novel was metaphor. Another device Gaines used in “A Lesson Before Dying” was personification.

Read More

More about A Lesson Before Dying By Ernest J. Gaines

Related Topics

Open Document