A Lesson Before Dying Themes

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. In the second chapter, when Grant gets home from school, he tries to avoid talking to Miss Emma, but Tante Lou tells him that Miss Emma wanted to speak to him. He knew right away what she wanted him to do and he did not want to do it. He did not want to take on the responsibility of teaching

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. The other example is when Grant goes to Bayonne and continues to ask Vivian over and over again if she wants to leave. As the story continues, Grant begins to accept his responsibilities a little bit, but not completely yet. The two examples used to support this argument were when Grant visits Jefferson in the jail and tells Jefferson that he is going to lie to Miss Emma by telling her that he ate the food even though he didn’t. The other example is when Grant asks Paul how Jefferson is doing. This shows that he cares but not completely. As the story approaches its ending, Grant begins to fully accept and take on his responsibilities. The two examples used to support this argument are when Grant visits Jefferson toward the end when he is nearing his death. The other example to support this argument is when Paul comes to tell him that everything went