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A Lesson Before Dying Chapter 8-15 Summary

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Reader Response for Chapters 8-15 In chapters 8-15 in A Lesson Before Dying, Grant has encountered two problems: he is expected to meet with an indifferent Jefferson alone, and his relationship with Vivian is becoming tense. Coupled with his career and his aunt’s insisting, he is put into a very stressful situation. Although disgruntled, Grant continues with his problems while trying to make as less trouble as he can. The former honor versus reason situation is still occurring, but now the other characters are becoming involved. Not only is everyone suffering because of this, but everyone is now suffering from wounded pride. Grant has spent the past few years trying not to be the submissive black man that is expected of his current society. He is proud of his intelligence and his job, as well as his girlfriend. However, considering Jefferson’s situation, he is essentially forced to do exactly that: having to get a white man’s permission to do something, to wait for white men to stop talking, to be stripped in the jail …show more content…

She firmly believes that Grant must speak to Jefferson and thus speak up for their minority. She “does not change her mind for a moment” (Gaines 79). Curiously, although she wants to fight back, she only uses Grant to do so. When Grant confronts her about helping white men humiliate him by pushing him into the problem, she apologizes to him for the first time. However, this is not when Tante Lou’s pride is wounded—she stays rooted in her belief. Tante Lou is instead embarrassed when she cannot control Grant. She does not agree with his decision to date/marry Vivian, but when he brings her over to visit in front of Tante Lou’s friends, she knows she is powerless. The irony is that Tante Lou, who is knowingly ruining Grant’s pride by humiliation, has the tables turned on her, and for once, she cannot stand up to

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134 Words | 1 Pages

Grant Wiggins and Jefferson are protagonists. Their individual survivals depend on their mutual support. It’s Jefferson's story, but it is narrated by Grant. Miss Emma and her friend, Tante Lou, are inseparable. Sometimes they seem too close that it is hard to tell which one is speaking.

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1052 Words | 5 Pages

No matter who a person is or what others think of him or her, that person will always have the opportunity to change for the better; Nobody has the power to tell a person what he or she can or cannot do. In the novel, A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest J. Gaines, the protagonist, Jefferson discovers that he could change as a whole person and finally become a man, even under difficult circumstances. He is constantly discriminated and does not feel welcomed to the society. Throughout the majority of the novel, Jefferson believes he is his own stereotype and takes it to heart when he is being called a hog. Although he knows he will be exiled, Jefferson and his family hopes for a change in his heart.

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1015 Words | 5 Pages

There is an immense change in the way Grant acts from the beginning of the book to the end. In the early part of the book Grant was dreading having to go and talk to Jefferson. He really felt as though Jefferson was already too far gone to be convinced that he was actually a man. For the first few visits Grant was accompanied by Miss Emma to the jail to see Jefferson. Which was really the only reason Grant kept going to see Jefferson.

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813 Words | 4 Pages

In Ernest Gaines’ novel, A Lesson Before Dying, the author uses a third person point of view to assess the issue of racial injustice in the South during the 1940’s. Grant understands that justice is evaluated unfairly and knows that it does not favor the poor and uneducated black man. Due to Grant’s ability to be able to understand others, he successfully learns how to bring justice, while assisting Jefferson. This presents the audience the significance of the novel as a whole, embracing responsibility and facing injustice. Grant feels as if he shouldn’t feel obligated or pressured to help bring justice to Jefferson.

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749 Words | 3 Pages

When Grant is first instructed to visit Jefferson, he is reluctant and resentful. Regardless, Grant does go and visit Jefferson, and over time the two men form a close gunk. Both Grant and Jefferson begin learning from each other, and Grant’s visits become more frequent with time. Jefferson helps Grant realize how good he has it in life, and that he should appreciate where he is and care about how he treats others. Grant vouchsafe Jefferson a radio to help him stay connected to the outside world.

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749 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest J. Gaines Grant finds redemption by helping Jefferson, Standing up for what he believes in and changing his view on life. Grant achieves redemption by helping Jefferson become a man before he dies by helping Jefferson become a man before he dies by asking questions about his wellbeing and overall health. When Grant goes and visits

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700 Words | 3 Pages

Quote 1: “The public defender, trying to get him off, called him a dumb animal,” I told her. “He said it would be like tying a hog down in that chair and executing him-an animal that didn’t know what any of it was all about. The jury, twelve white men good and true still sentenced him to death.” (26) My Response: This quote is significant because it is a representation that times have not changed.

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747 Words | 3 Pages

Grant is a great character he learned that some people are going to be rude and disrespectful. He learned that whites are always going to get it there way. In page 46, Grant states that “I had come through the back door against my will, and it seemed that he and the sheriff were doing everything they could to humiliate me even more by making me wait on them. Well, I had to put up with that because of those quarter, but I damned sure would not add hurt to injury by eating at his kitchen table.” he had to wait for two hours to talk to the sheriff.

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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.

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2126 Words | 9 Pages

This is shown throughout the novel by showing that in the beginning of the novel, Grant wants nothing to do with Jefferson and his situation. As the book continues, he realizes that Jefferson is a human too and that he needs to realize how good he has it compared to some people. In the beginning of A Lesson Before Dying, Grant Wiggins struggles with accepting his responsibilities. This is shown in multiple examples. The two examples used in this paper were when Grant avoids all of his responsibilities and does not want anything to do with Jefferson.

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853 Words | 4 Pages

Grant did his best to teach Jefferson that he had worth and it paid off. “If I ain’t nothing but a hog, how come they just don’t knock me in the head like a hog? Strab me like a hog? More erasing, then: Man walk on two foots; hogs on four hoofs” (220). This quote demonstrates how Grant made a difference in Jefferson’s life and taught him to be a man of self worth.

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515 Words | 3 Pages

In Ernest J. Gaines novel A Lesson Before Dying , the complex relationship between Grant Wiggins and Jefferson and their relationships between those in the black community and facing the oppression by the white citizens. Gaines wants the readers to learn from his novel that people do not have accept the way things are and make a better role for themselves in life even in the hardest circumstances. The relationship between Jefferson and Grant was a negative relationship that slowly transformed into a positive one, on both sides. Both men come from different backgrounds in the same black community and both feel the oppression by the white community.

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1097 Words | 5 Pages

Grant’s girlfriend, Vivian, provides the support he needs to keep him from eluding his problems. Women in this novel play an influential part as a bridge to success in men’s lives, as Tante Lou and Vivian secure Grant 's role in the community, and as Miss Emma encourages Jefferson to die as a man. Even as Jefferson doubts the existing love for him, Miss Emma remains an influence in making him a man by going to many extents. From start to finish, she had always been the strong will who wanted the wellbeing of her godson. Knowing that the fate of her son was execution, she refused to let him die as a hog.

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603 Words | 3 Pages

In the beginning of the novel, Aunt Lou and her best friend Miss Emma, ask Grant to turn Jefferson, her godson, into a man before his execution. Grant is unhappy with his own life, and feels he has nothing to offer Jefferson, so he answers her by saying, “Jefferson’s dead.” Although Grant is a college graduate and teacher, he still lives in the same house with his Aunt Emma, on the same small plantation where she raised him. In addition, he lives day to day, doing the same thing over and over. For example, he teaches all grades in the same one room black church/school he attended.

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1276 Words | 6 Pages

20-21).  Miss Emma constantly refers to Grant saying “you are the teacher” (pg. 13) putting him in a higher position than everyone else. Considering that he is the only educated black man in the quarter, the community hopes that Grant is the person that can make a change for them. Everyone believed Grant was a great teacher, he however, does not believe he is doing anything to help his community. He is full of doubt and disappointment.

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