The Relationship Between Jefferson And Grant In Ernest Gaines A Lesson Before Dying

Awakenings and discoveries are fundamental to storylines. They help push the plot along, and really get across the point to the reader. Without these, there would be very little happening in the novel, especially in A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines. Both Jefferson and Grant have a major change in their demeanor, and that is primarily what the story follows. Without Jefferson and Grant showing their change in thought, the story would lack purpose and would be very mundane. Jefferson shows a great deal of change in the novel, and it may have taken awhile, but his awakening really set the story, and gave the book its reason to hold its title. When reading his journal, it is very easy to see that Jefferson really has progressed as

Gaines wanted to show the audience that Jefferson really had been influenced by Grant and did that by letting them get a little insite on to what Jefferson was really thinking. Grant said that the reason to give Jefferson the journal was for them to talk about things, and for Jefferson to get his thoughts out on paper, and with the audience getting a glance at what Jefferson wrote, it really shows the vast change in Jefferson’s persona. Jefferson even writes at the end of his journal, “good by mr wigin tell them im strong tell them im a man,” (Gaines 234). This just shows the colossal change that Jefferson has experienced. He thought he was a hog, and was convinced that he was going to the chair as one, but Grant was able to pull it off and have Jefferson know he is a man. The excitement from this event is huge, because it was the climax of the novel. Now knowing that Jefferson thought he was a man, shows that everything Grant had done worked, and all of this was shown through an internal perspective and an internal transition. Jefferson also shows more emotions in chapter 29 and that shows a great transformation as well. Jefferson states in his journal, “i cry cause you been so good to me mr wigin an nobody

He was the catalyst for Jefferson’s change, but at the end of the book, we are able to see that Grant has been influenced by all of these events as well. Grant’s change happened very slowly, and then all at once it was presented to the audience when Gaines writes, “I turned from him and went into the church. Irene Cole told the class to rise, with their shoulders back. I went up to the desk and turned to face them. I was crying,” (256). This passage shows how Grant was affected by these events. Grant had just recieved the news of Jefferson’s death, and if Grant had shown very little emotional connection to Jefferson thus far, and now with the word of his death, Grant is crying, showing an internal transition, to caring for Jefferson. Knowing that Jefferson’s situation was common to happen to people in the quarter growing up during this time, and that he was only teaching Jefferson to be a man because he had been asked to do so by Miss Emma, Grant had little reason to show emotions up till this point. This discovery of Grant’s true feelings for Jefferson is exciting to the reader, because it is now known that Grant is capable of having emotions for something he has been numb to for a while, because it has happened before to people in the quarter. The majority of the story, excluding chapter 29, is told from Grant’s perspective, and this allows us to really see how Grant is feeling. He shows glimpses of hope