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Sacrifice In Ernest J. Gaines A Lesson Before Dying

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Many stories can relate to others, but these in particular show the most. The “A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest J. Gaines displays many things. It also relates to many. But one that relates the most is “From whom the bell trolls” by John Donne. They have a lot in common and relate to many topics. One thing they talk about is sacrifice. Sacrifice is when one gives their needs to someone else, even if it involves one’s life on the line. In “A lesson before dying,” Grant said, “I don’t know when I’m going to die, Jefferson. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, maybe today. That’s why I try to live as well as I can every day and not hurt people. (Chapter 17) This shows how Grant sacrificed himself to keep others well. This also shows it in "From whome …show more content…

Another thing they have in common is responsibility. Responsibilty is a sense of weight and a duty that one has. There are many examples in “A Lesson before dying” and one example is when Grant said “Do I know how a man is supposed to die? I’m still trying to find out how a man should live.” This shows that Grant has the responsibility of showing Jefferson how to be a man even if he does not know himself. This also shows in From whom the bell trolls If a clod is washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. This displays how the clod is responsible for europe and if it washed away europe is less the clod is responsible for making europe more. Another similarity they have is that they talk about death and how it affects everyone. In From whom the bell trolls it says For whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee. This indicates how the bell would sound to someone and shows that death is always around. “There was always news coming back to the quarter about someone who had been killed or sent to prison for killing someone else: Snowball, stabbed to death at a nightclub in Port Allen; Claudee, killed by a woman in New Orleans; Smitty, sent to the state penitentiary at Angola for

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This passage reveals the underlying causes of Grant’s anxiety about teaching Jefferson his final lesson. His own education has been based on mastering the cultural vocabulary of white America, and although he is respected in the quarter for his high level of academic achievement, Grant knows that he is only helping to perpetuate this system. Although he wants to help his students avoid the pitfalls of being black and poor in the deep South, he feels ill-equipped to do this despite his academic pedigree. This is one of Jefferson’s first pieces of dialogue that does not relate to him being a hog.

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He ends up dying for them and he dies a hero. This theme is also displayed in A Lesson Before Dying. Jefferson is accused of murder and robbery. He

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At the beginning of the novel, Grant wonders if he can teach Jefferson how to die when Grant himself doesn’t know how to live. But, through his many visits week after week, most of which were unsuccessful, he finally gets through to Jefferson while realizing something himself. Grants first breakthrough with Jefferson happens when Jefferson asks him for a gallon of ice cream, but instead Grant brings him a radio, which he has to stand up for himself against a white woman to get, after this first breakthrough things begin to run smoothly between Jefferson and Grant. At their next visit Grant takes Jefferson on a walk. As they walk, Grant tells Jefferson that a hero does something other men do not do or cannot do.

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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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In the novel A lesson before dying, by Earnest Gaines, it introduces the conflict (execution) that its main character, Jefferson gets himself into at the young age of 21.The problem leads him and his community to face recognizing injustice and facing responsibility. Through the conflict Jefferson takes on responsibility from the execution, encourage, and realizes that it is nothing he can do but deal with the execution not alone, but with his community as well. Jefferson’s actions toward the execution changed from the beginning of the story to the end of the story. At the beginning of the text Jefferson begun to be very unresponsive towards his counselor/teacher Grant, the two didn’t get alone because of them not being connected. “After a while he raised his head, but he didn’t look at me; he looked at the barred window.”

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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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The main conflict of the story is Grant convincing Jefferson that he is truly a man and that there is hope in the world. After Jefferson’s sentence is set, Jefferson doesn’t have hope for the world and thinks that he going to die anyways, so why care. Grant is teaching him that he can help others and that there is hope in the world and in the future. So, Grant is using character motivation to help Jefferson throughout the entire novel. The other literary term, diction, is repetition of a word to show its importance.

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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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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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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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Salvation is like lightning, it is never the same for any two people, and for some their salvation is only within arms reach for but a second, and then it’s gone. Salvation strikes in the darkest and most violent storms, when it seems like it’s always raining, it was strike and light up the world for someone. No two lightning strikes will look the exact same either, the branching patterns and shapes, for some salvation may look like a person, for some it looks like a book. The only thing that’s always the same is that salvation hits you with electrifying intensity, sending energy through you that you never knew you had, and this is true for real life as well as in ”A Lesson Before Dying”. Salvation for myself, Grant, and Jefferson may look and be different, but it in the end

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462 Words | 2 Pages

“Y’all asking a lot, Mr.Wiggins from a poor old nigger who never nothing”. Jefferson is a colored man and never had anything easy since he was black. Jefferson is giving up on Grant trying to make him a man. “Just a old hog they fattening up to kill for Christmas”. Jefferson knew he was he was going to die he just didn’t know what day.

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1060 Words | 5 Pages

Imagine being in a situation where there are a limited number of options and your life can only go in one direction. Has this ever happened to you? Either way, this is the predicament that the character of Jefferson faces in A Lesson Before Dying, who is sentenced to death for crimes that he did not commit. Although Jefferson has only thirty days left to live, he learns three valuable lessons that he carries with him into his final hours. This includes learning to open up to the people closest to him, showing kindness and love to those who have shown kindness to him, and finding self-worth in the age of Jim-Crow.

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