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A Lesson Before Dying Themes

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May/16/2023 Gareth Richer Essay Assignment Mr. Lee The three books Fredric Douglass, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and A Lesson Before Dying all have problems with race and the search for freedom. This wouldn't be possible if the power of literacy, education, and knowledge wasn't a huge drive for the characters. The three themes gave the characters the ability to expose new ideas when they learn to read and write, the ability to find their sense of humanity and to expose themself to the same reality but with a deeper meaning. The power of literacy is a strong theme throughout not only the three books but also African American history. In the book A lesson before dying the main character Grant Wiggins struggles to come to terms with his …show more content…

This is seen In a Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass An American Slave when Fredrick “...went to live with Mr. and Mrs Auld, she very kindly commenced to teach me the A, B, C. After I had learned this, she assisted me in learning to spell words of three or four letters. Just at this point of my progress, Mr. Auld found out what was going on, and at once forbade Mrs. Auld to instruct me further, telling her, among other things, that it was unlawful, as well as unsafe to teach a slave to become educated.”(Douglass 78) With Fredrick education is seen as a way for slaves to gain knowledge and understanding, which can help them to escape from slavery. This is also seen the same way in A Lesson Before Dying. Education is the resistance against corruption. It's seen to resist the effects of racism through the efforts of Grant Wiggins and teaching him how to read and write brings an understanding of his worth as a human. This is to learn about the struggles of black history and population and to recognize their struggles and achievements. In the book their eyes were watching god education is described as a means of power and to find themselves for the main character Janie. She is forced to learn and value education by Nanny who wants her to marry a man who can provide but instead finds education through her love and her own life experiences. She learns to trust her instincts and desires. For Janie she “saw …show more content…

It is seen as a means of empowerment, and self-discovery. In the book A Lesson Before Dying, the power of knowledge is seen in the character Jefferson in the book, who is transformed from a broken and defeated hog into a racial symbol of hope through the power of knowledge. By reading books and engaging with the world around him Jefferson can rise above his limits of being a hog and become a symbol of hope for the entire plantation and black community. The same aspect is also seen in Fredrick Douglass, where knowledge is portrayed as a powerful tool for freedom and resistance. He shows how important the power of knowledge is despite his troubles with education for slaves. Douglass became aware of the full extent of slavery and the system allowing him to escape. The quote "I have often wished for a beast. I preferred the condition of the meanest reptile to my own. anything, no matter what, to get rid of thinking! it was the everlasting thinking of condition that tormented me,"(Douglass 68) shows the mental tool slavery takes on the enslaved, and the self-awareness and knowledge of the enslavement. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, knowledge is portrayed as a source of empowerment and freedom for the main character, Janie. It is portrayed as a tool for self-discovery and personal

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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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Once Mr. Auld finds that Mrs. Auld is teaching Douglass to read, Mrs. Auld is told that it is “unsafe” when a “slave [learns] to read” (Douglass 20). This experience shows Douglass that if he continues to become more educated, he will be treated more and more inhumanely because owners will think he is a “threat” to them. Even though being a “threat” merely means losing money at most, it is enough for slave owners to choose not to educate their slaves. While Douglass felt evocative of this experience, he realized that the experience showed him “the pathway from slavery” (Douglass 20). From that moment on, Douglass knew that at some point in his life, he would be a free man, no matter what it took.

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Even if Jody was not there waiting for her, the change was bound to do her good” (32). The quote shows how Janie is thinking for herself and starting to release her mentality to always look to someone else. Logan threatened to kill Janie if she left, but her determination to reach her goals let her go past that fear and put her own life on the line to push towards her goals. Also, if she left Logan, Janie would leave her known world to venture off into potential dangers and her safety from their marriage would be gone. Even with all these threats and dangers over her head Janie was determined to reach her dreams for love, so nothing could stop her.

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Instead of being assertive and advocating for her own desires, Janie follows along and covers up her hair simply because of her husband’s jealousy. Janie also learns from Joe to be meek and submissive because He [Joe] wanted her submission and he’d keep on fighting until he felt he had it… So gradually, she pressed her teeth together and learned to hush” (pg). Finally, when Joe dies, Janie finally takes the time to “[look] hard at her skin and features. The young girl was gone, but a handsome woman had taken her place.

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Responsibilities and commitments are key things in a person’s life. Some people struggle with accepting the fact that they have to be committed to something and have responsibilities that they need to take care of. In Ernest J Gaines’ novel, A Lesson Before Dying, Grant Wiggins evolves as the story goes on by learning to accept his responsibilities. In the beginning of A Lesson Before Dying, Grant Wiggins struggles with accepting his responsibilities.

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Slaves obtaining knowledge or an education were then viewed as unmanageable. One can see that through Frederick Douglass’s gain of education; Slavery began to look more than an imprisonment and his mind would not cease to think. With this depressing state of mind, Douglass would begin to plot for ways to obtain his education. Despite living in a country were teaching slaves was unpardonable, Frederick Douglass began to incorporate various ways for his education. He would hide in a separate room and would be suspected by his mistress that he could be reading a book.

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Janie holds anger for her grandma because of the grandmother’s decision, but eventually, after she matures, Janie realizes that Nanny was merely doing it

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When Douglass was given a simple education by Mrs. Auld, Douglass “prized it highly” and believed that he “understood the pathway from slavery to freedom” (Douglass 20). By receiving the gift of education Douglass was ecstatic and this probably

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African-American slaves were forbidden to obtain the knowledge of being able to read or write, stemming from the fear of white masters that educated slaves will overpower them. Douglass managed to learn to read by bribing poor and hungry white boys into teaching him in exchange for bits of bread. Douglass illustrates his thirst for literacy through “[The] bread [he] used to bestow upon the hungry little urchins, who, in return, would give [him] that more valuable bread of knowledge” (pg 23). This reveals how much Douglass valued education and took advantage of all the knowledge he had access to. Today’s youth, especially the ones belonging to a minority

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Doreen Piano uses a number of quotes to demonstrate how education allowed Douglass to comprehend the evils of slavery and take control over his own life. For instance, Douglass once remarked, "The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers" (Douglass 49). This quote reflects how education allowed Douglass to see through the lies and deception that upheld the institution of slavery and to gain a greater understanding of the reality of his situation. However, Douglass's desire for knowledge was not without its dangers. As Douglass notes what Mr. Aulds said, "If you teach that n***** (speaking of myself) how to read, there would be no keeping him.

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Douglass states: “The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers. I could regard them in no other light than a band of successful robbers, who had left their homes, and gone to Africa, and stolen us from our homes, and in a strange land reduced us to slavery” (Douglass 51). Reading and writing opened Frederick Douglass’s eyes to the cause of the abolitionist. He became knowledgeable about a topic that white slave owners tried to keep hidden from their slaves. Literacy would eventually impact his life in more ways than what he could see while he was a young slave under Master Hugh’s

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Because of this, he successfully creates a contrast between what the slave owners think of and treat the slaves and how they are. Douglass says that slave’s minds were “starved by their cruel masters”(Douglass, 48) and that “they had been shut up in mental darkness” (Douglass, 48) and through education, something that they were deprived of, Frederick Douglass is able to open their minds and allow them to flourish into the complex people that they are. By showing a willingness to learn to read and write, the slaves prove that they were much more than what was forced upon them by their masters.

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Human slavery requires ignorance, just as an individual’s freedom, from oppression, requires knowledge attained by education. To maintain order and control over slaves, slavery demands ignorant slaves; thus, keeping slaves ignorant prevents slaves from recognizing the empowering value of education and education’s ability to liberate slaves from the effects of ignorance. Frederick Douglass’s pursuit of education helped him discover the dark, hidden truths of slavery in his article, “How I Learned to Read and Write.” Thus, the pursuit of education inspires a desire for freedom. The desire to learn generates determination and motivation.

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The Slavery of Learning In the novel The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass, the author Frederick Douglass has made numerous points throughout the novel, involving the desire to learn and to expand his knowledge. As the novel continues he has the belief that the knowledge that he has come to gain is a curse. One of the quotes Douglass mentions is “The way to enslave someone is to keep them from all learning.” (Douglass 43)But knowledge is something that one can choose to accept and decline, and knowledge comes throughout life whether it is from a book or experience.

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Him comparing other slaves, men, to wild beasts shows how the slaves were horribly treated and demoralized. Douglass also shows how even a slave's mind can be corrupted into believing they are less than human and how he feels that African Americans are not equal to Whites and how they are seen more like animals than humans. Douglass’s use of similes could persuade a reader to join the abolition movement, if they come to understand the conditions that Douglass is comparing. Frederick Douglass’s narrative consists of figurative language. His figurative language is intended to catch the eye and an emotional response of the reader.

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