Setting In Ernest J. Gaines A Lesson Before Dying

Many people say that a book can take you to places. The setting is the element that makes you feel like you are somewhere else perhaps in a Jungle or under the sea. A time and location are important in making a story. It gives any reader an idea of the storyline or the plot. The setting in the novel A Lesson Before Dying written by Ernest J. Gaines has an essential part in the story itself. It is often responsible for what happens in The Lesson Before Dying. The setting is an important role played in the novel A Lesson Before Dying.
The setting is what is responsible for shaping what the author’s ideas about the book. “No, I did not go to the trial, I did not hear the verdict because I knew all the time what it would be.”(Gaines, 3) The anxiousness of Grant is vividly illustrated when he has not even been to the trial but can predict the outcome. He gives us a setting in his head even though he was never there with a total inevitable result. This imagery of an environment forces us to make assumptions of what had happened. “My gray ‘46 Ford was parked in front of the house.”(Gaines, 16) The description of the car gives us an idea of the

“My classroom was the church my classes ranged from primer to sixth grade.”(Gaines, 34) This description paints us a picture of Grant’s class as a poor, humble and underprivileged. The statement that also states that Grant’s students had a high age range which indicates that they are not very educated themselves. These details give us an idea of what Grant’s jobs are. Vivian who is Grant’s love interest teaches in a private school in Bayonne who is also in the middle of a divorce with her husband. From the detail she works at a private school we can assume she is given better resources than Grant. It is also plausible to think that she is stigmatized and avoids making her situation visible. Settings can often give readers impressions of