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Book Report On A Lesson Before Dying

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Ricardo Omar Eng 088-007 Professor MacGregor 11/28/14 A Lesson Before Dying The Novel A Lesson before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines takes place in the late 1940s on a former plantation in Louisiana. The main characters are Grant Wiggins and Jefferson, along with supporting characters Tante Lou, Paul, Miss Emma and Reverend Ambrose. The novel starts off with Grant telling what happened on the day Jefferson got accused of murder. Jefferson was walking to White Rabbit Bar and Lounge when two younger black men offered him a ride and got into a shootout, because Alice Grope the storeowner wouldn’t give them store credit. The outcome of this tragic event was everyone dying except Jefferson. When the cops came Jefferson had stolen from the cash register …show more content…

After the trial, Jefferson was going to prison and Miss Emma made a pledge to make Jefferson die a man. When they visit Jefferson in jail they find out he took the lawyers words to heart and thinks he’s a hog. It takes a handful visits for Jefferson to eat and talk to everyone. In jail he gets a journal and a radio, both of them become his favorite passion he’s ever had. A day before his execution a handful of people came to visit him, Grants girlfriend Vivian comes and Jefferson is speechless because of her beauty. The day of his execution a covered truck comes with the execution chair (Gruesome Guidry).After the execution, Paul the Deputy brings Grant the journal and tells Grant that Jefferson had walked like a man. Jefferson is the most dynamic character in A Lesson Before Dying and …show more content…

“Tell nannan I walked,” (Gaines 254) this quote is at the end of the book; this quote shows the change Jefferson has been going through. Jefferson said it to the Preacher. After saying this quote Jefferson walked straight to the chair. This quote is important because the whole story everyone was trying to make him think he was a man and not a “hog.” Him walking straight shows that he is a man and will die as a man, by doing this people might classify him as a hometown hero like Jackie Robinson and Joe

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In the novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J Gaines, Grant is a main character that has a lot of influence over the people in his community. Some might even consider him a hero. I believe that Grant is a hero because he helps Jefferson become a man, changes himself for the better, and wants to continue changing the community. Over the course of the novel, Grant helps Jefferson become the man that he needs to be in order to walk to his death with honor. When Grant first begrudgingly went to visit Jefferson in prison Jefferson was in a really low state.

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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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The title A Lesson before Dying carries a great significance throughout the entirety of the book, and focuses on a teacher named Grant and an inmate named Jefferson. Grant’s goal in this book is to teach Jefferson one final lesson before Jefferson dies, but not before Grant learns it himself. This all started when Jefferson got arrested, and his court appointed attorney said “What justice would there be to take this life? Justice, gentlemen?

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The historical fiction novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, features a falsely accused black man on death row in a small Cajun community during the late 1440s. Grant Wiggins, a college educated teacher of the black community, visits Jefferson in prison, an African American convicted of murder. During his trial, he was given a death sentence while referred as a hog. With the love of his godmother, Miss Emma, who sends Grant to teach him in proving himself a man, Jefferson receives the opportunity of representing his community as he dies. Tante Lou, a close friend of Miss Emma and Grant’s aunt, provides the assurance that Grant would prove Jefferson worthy a human.

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