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Character Analysis: A Lesson Before Dying By Ernest J. Gaines

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Life is filled with mistakes and errors and it is up to that person to change it by learning from it. In the novel, A Lesson before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, the most important lesson to learn before dying is to accept things that are right and change things that are wrong , to live the best possible life you have. The lesson in the transformation can be seen in the transformation of the three main characters, Jefferson, Grant and Tante Lou throughout the novel. Firstly, the lesson to accept things and try to change things, so you can live the best and possible life, can be demonstrated through Jefferson’s life in the novel. In the beginning of the novel Jefferson witnesses a robbery and is convicted of murder and sentenced …show more content…

Tante Lou is Grant’s aunt and she is a religious woman. Tante Lou disapproves Grant’s beliefs and does not like the troubled and racist system in her community. When she finds out about Jefferson, she wants Grant to help Jefferson and also this will help Grant realize things. After having a conversation with Tante Lou, Grant says, “I stood back from the table and looked at the both of them. I clamped my jaws so tight the veins in my neck felt as if they would burst. I wanted to scream at my aunt; I was screaming inside. I had told her many, many times how much I hated this place and all I wanted to do was get away. I had told her I was no teacher, I hated teaching, and I was just running in place here. But she had not heard me before, and I knew that no matter how loud I screamed, she would not hear me now” (Gaines 14). This quotation tells us that Tante Lou has forced Grant to go and talk to Jefferson. Even though she dislikes the life she lives, she wants to change things for the community, especially for Jefferson and Grant. As the story progresses, Tante Lou was able to accept the way some things were and started to change other things. She was able to change Grant to talk to Jefferson and also change Grant’s perspective on certain things. Grant realizes, “There was no one thing that changed my faith. I suppose it was a combination of many things, but mostly it was just plain studying. I did not have time for anything else. Many times I would not come home on weekends, and when I did, I found that I cared less and less about the church. Of course, it pained my aunt to see this change in me, and it saddened me to see the pain I was causing her. I thought many times about leaving, as Professor Antoine had advised me to do. My mother and father also told me that if I was not happy in Louisiana, I should

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In the book, “A lesson before dying”, by Ernest J. Gaines tells a story that is set during late 1940’s. The story is focused on the interaction between Jefferson, a young and barley literate African American man, who is sentenced to death for an unjust crime, and Grant Wiggins, a teacher that wants to help Jefferson, but doesn’t know how. The story is told through the eyes of Wiggins. The main focus in this book was Grant and Jefferson’s relationship to transform each man throughout the story and teach each a lesson about human dignity. The most important character is Jefferson’s defense attorney, he was the reason that let Jefferson lose his dignity and self respect.

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“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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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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During one of his visits, he asks Jefferson to be a friend to Miss Emma. Grant explains to Jefferson that a friend will do anything to make another friend feel happy and make their lives better. Grant is ultimately asking Jefferson to be a hero for Miss Emma and his community by becoming a friend. It shows that he is able to maintain human interactions, thus proving to the white community that he is capable of more than just being an animal. Grant states that a hero “does something that other men don’t and can’t do.

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Throughout A Lesson before Dying, Ernest J. Gaines writes of Grant Wiggins’s two intertwined struggles to escape different powers in his life. Once Grant Wiggins accepts the power of his responsibilities, a larger power looms over him; racism. The book opens with Grant Wiggins recalling a trial, where a young black man, Jefferson, was wrongfully accused of murder. In an attempt to free his client, Jefferson’s lawyer refers to Jefferson as a mindless hog, who could not have known what he was doing. The case was lost, and Jefferson was sentenced to death by the judge.

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In this quote, Jefferson may know that his aunt was the one who forced him to get educated and go to college but now he feels as though his aunt is turning into the whites who, in fact, only oppress him. He feels this as she makes him go through the backdoor in his former plantation rather than the front symbolizing minority and going to jail to teach Jefferson. The narration given by Grant gives us a view of his true thoughts towards his own people. Through his arrogant and grumpy approach to things, he exclaims his desperation to run away and his dreams numerous times through his thoughts and moods.

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The novel A Lesson Before Dying was written by author Ernest J. Gaines and was published in 1993. The book outlines the segregation faced by the black community in the time of the 1940’s in Louisiana. Throughout the book Jefferson a slow witted young man is convicted of a crime he did not commit and is sentenced to death in court. While in court Jefferson’s lawyer calls him a hog by stating “What justice would there be to take this life? Justice, gentlemen?

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While talking to Miss Emma and Tante Lou, Grant says, “He’s dead now. And I can’t raise the dead. All I can do is try to keep the others from ending up like this…”(Gaines, 14). Grand did not want to help Jefferson out in his moment of need where he believed he was not a human being but a hog. He also didn’t want to teach in general as he did not like his job and position in the society he was in.

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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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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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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

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•“She was not even listening. She had gotten tired of listening. She knew, as we all knew, what the outcome would be. A white man had been killed during a robbery, and thought two of the robbers had been killed on the spot, one had been captured, and he, too, would have to die” (4). This quote is important because it allows me to understand that Jefferson has to die because he was the only person in the liquor store and was a black man.

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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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Grant has gone to a University and is now a teacher in the quarter where he grew up. To his community, Grant is the most educated person in the quarter and is constantly being admired by them. Most of the admiration comes from Miss Emma in hopes that Grant can transform Jefferson into a man before he is executed. Miss Emma states, “I want the teacher visit my boy. I want the teacher make him know he’s not a hog, he’s a man” (pg.

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