Grant Wiggins and Jefferson are the novel 's dual protagonists. Their individual survivals depend on their mutual support. Although it is Jefferson 's story, it is narrated by Grant, with the exception of Chapter 29, in which Jefferson is finally able to tell his story in his own voice, through his diary. And although Grant has taken on the monumental task of making Jefferson a man, as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that Grant 's fate is inextricably bound to Jefferson 's. In order to help Jefferson "stand," Grant must first come to terms with his own inner demons, which threaten to make him an emotional cripple like his predecessor, Matthew Antoine. In short, the two men must support each other, for neither is able to stand alone. Unlike …show more content…
Consequently, he is much more likely than Jefferson to strike out at the oppressive white community determined to keep him in his place. We can surmise that one of the reasons why Grant is reluctant to become involved with Jefferson is that he recognizes the thin barrier that separates him from Jefferson, a fellow black male who has experienced the same type of racism and discrimination. Given Grant 's pent-up frustrations, he is much more likely than Jefferson to end up in jail, as illustrated by his fight with the mulatto bricklayers at the Rainbow Club. Note that without the intercession of Joe Claiborne and Vivian, Grant would likely have been arrested for assault or murder. In a 1998 interview, Gaines notes that, according to Booker T. Washington, the newly freed slaves did three things: They left the plantation (at least temporarily), changed their names (assuming new identities), and learned to read and write. Grant has gone through all three stages, but despite his new identity as "professor" and "teacher," he remains mentally enslaved. It is only by acknowledging his kinship with Jefferson and re-establishing his relationship with the black community that he finally achieves his …show more content…
He is insensitive and inconsiderate, as Vivian points out (he doesn 't consider the impact of his actions on others), and he is immature (he doesn 't stop to think of the pain that his actions could cause). He is not prepared for the responsibilities of leadership. He wants freedom without responsibility. Although he sets out to teach Jefferson to "be a man," he has doubts about his own humanity. His feelings towards Jefferson reflect Matthew Antoine 's feelings about blacks. While Antoine feels superior because of his lighter skin color, Grant feels superior because of his education, which, he thinks, puts him in a higher social class. Jefferson exemplifies the young black male who has internalized into self-hatred the hatred shown him by white racists. Because of his court-appointed attorney 's racist remark, he sees himself as a beast — not worthy of the dignity and respect due all human beings. His lack of self-worth and self-esteem is a major factor in his apathy and defeatist attitude. In order to reach him, Grant must first break through the barrier of his self-hate. In effect, Jefferson feels that he was not condemned to die like a man, but to be destroyed like a beast. Worse, he believes that he is no better than a dumb animal and that he deserves to die, since he sees his life as
power and status that he has established over the years. This demonstrates that an evil person
Using his personal experience, persuasive arguments and a polite but firm tone, Banneker was able to offer Jefferson and unique and powerful perspective on the plight of the African Americans living both in captivity and freedom. By using Jefferson’s own words, he heightened the impact of his argument and could more easily point out his hypocrisy. By maintaining his tone throughout, he created the opening to continued discourse on this important subject matter. He knew he had to walk a fine line in his communication with someone in a position to make changes in this brand new
For Jefferson, racial injustice is present in court. Because of the color of his skin, Jefferson was automatically found guilty by those 12 men. “12 white men say a black man must die, and another white man sets the date and time without consulting one black person, Justice?” (157) The jury that decided his sentence was made up of 12 white men. Jefferson’s trial was unfair because the verdict was made by all white men. Jefferson was really just at the wrong place at the wrong time, but the biased jury saw him as guilty before finding any real evidence. This scene from court is an example of how Jefferson is treated unfairly because of the way he is viewed by others.
Furthermore, both Grant and Dee have received an advanced education than others in their family. Both character’s education gives them an arrogant attitude towards others. Grant is well respected by the community, but feels superior to other African Americans because he was far more educated than them. Yet despite his education, white people still consider him inferior. Grant uses
Along with his arguments of mental inferiority, Jefferson argues that blacks concede their inferiority through their submissiveness to the slave owners. This argument is met by Walkers’ appeal to the people for action. He states that, “unless we try to refute Mr. Jefferson’s arguments respecting us, we will only establish them” (Walker 18). It is an urgent call for action that urges not only blacks but other abolitionist, to stand up and fight against the stereotypes. He calls for black people to stop being submissive and to stand up for their rights. He also calls on blacks to not allow their oppression to hinder them from attaining as much knowledge as is reachable given their circumstances. He uses Jefferson’s demeaning statements to incite black people to rise up against the injustices being done to them. Through his derogatory statements towards black people, Jefferson, the champion of equality, is inadvertently giving Walker a means to inflame the fight in black people.
One's identity is a very valuable part of their life, it affects the Day to day treatment others give them which can lead to how the individual feels emotionally. Atticus, defending Tom Robinson, who is an african american man from the plaintiff of the case, Mayella Ewell, who is a caucasian woman, accusing that Tom raped her is supposivly a lob sided case. During the great depression, any court session that contained a person of color against a caucasian would always contain the “white” individual winning the case. The cause of the bias outcome comes from the lawyer of the african american does not try to defend or the jury goes against the person of color simply because their black, this shows the effect of racism to anyone’s identity in the courtroom for a case simply because of race. Atticus, deciding to take Tom Robinson’s case seriously sacrifices his identity as the noble man he is, to being called many names for this action, such as “nigger lover”. He is questioned by
...ootan are attracted to black women, Jefferson may offense some readers. As a result, using insulting language can anger and offense readers that they may stop reading Jefferson’s work.
The struggles of Grant and Jefferson share a common theme, man’s search for meaning. Grant has the advantage of a college education, and while that may have provided some enlightenment, he remains in the same crossroads as Jefferson. Grant sees that regardless of what he does, the black students he teaches continue in the same jobs, the same poverty and same slave-like positions as their ancestors. Grant has no hope of making a difference and sees his life as meaningless. Though Jefferson’s conflict is more primal, it is the same as Grant’s struggle. Jefferson is searching for the most basic identity, whether he is man or animal. It is this conflict of meaning and identity that bring Grant and Jefferson together.
It also deals with the emotions that this black boy faces because he has been treated unfairly by the white people. Major Characters: Jefferson, black boy who is accused of a crime and sentenced to death; Grant Wiggons, teacher sent to help Jefferson. After he went and obtained a college degree, Grant Wiggins went back to live with his grandmother. Being that he is a very educated person, Grant was elected by his grandmother to try and get Jefferson to realize that he was a man and not an animal like the white people had led him to believe. Throughout the entire novel, Grant is battling this idea in his head because he doesn’t feel that even he knows what it is to be a man.
It was a little bit harder for Jefferson to remember his commitment to his nannan and to the town. He had been charged with a crime he did not commit and didn’t know how to deal with it. They were asking a lot from a man who knew he was going to die soon."Me, Mr. Wiggins. Me. Me to take the cross. Your cross, nannan's cross, my own cross. Me, Mr. Wiggins. This old stumbling nigger. Y'all axe a lot, Mr. Wiggins." [p. 224] It takes a strong man to forget about yourself and do something for someone else when your in the position that Jefferson is in. It took a while; but Jefferson did what had to be done, in the end.
While trying to help make life easier for African Americans in the south, Washington also tried to ease the fears of the whites on blacks wanting to integrate socially. Even though Du Bois understood the importance of the speech, he felt Washington was asking’s blacks to give up pushing and wanting equality in education for their youth and civil rights, which he felt were the exact things that they needed to be trying to
At an early age these children are sent to school to work, they’re not expected to graduate but to work hard labor and die poor. ”I can’t tell you anything about life,’ he said. ‘What do I know about life? I stayed here. There’s nothing but ignorance here. You want to know about life? Well, it’s too late. Forget it. Just go on and be the nigger you were born to be, but forget about life.” (Page 65) Grant is a teacher who was told to teach Jefferson how to become a man before his execution. Grant hated teaching, he knew that half of these children he was teaching wasn’t going to be successful many haven’t used any of them would end up like their parents, poor working hard labor or dead. The novel shows how money is a big necessity for these students in order to survive, without them it 's hard to support and take care of the necessary things for during these
...kes a negative attitude throughout the article. He simply states the facts, supports them, and moves on to his next point. Jefferson never appears to be angry and does not point out anything that distracts the reader from the message that he is trying to convey. He keeps a serious tone throughout that keeps the reader drawn into what he is saying the entire time. The reader feels a sense that Jefferson is serious about what he is saying and he is not to be taken lightly at all.
Firstly, Jefferson is an example of a person who never gave up. He is young black man that is sent to jail under the false charges of murdering. During the court session, he was referred to as a hog. This made him believe that the word “hog” defines him as a person. However, after a few long talks with Grant Wiggins he started to stand up for himself as a proud black person. We begin to see this happen when Jefferson did not refer
The second characteristic that shows society does not defeat Jefferson is Jefferson’s remaining strong compassion for everyone around him. This shows that through defeat, Jefferson remains a strong person by not holding any grudges against his incarcerators. A selection from his diary reads, “This was the firs time I cry when they lok that door bahind me the very firs time…I was cryin cause of the bok an the marble he giv me and cause o the people that com to see me” (231). Jefferson displays tenderness, which is an obvious sign that Jefferson has not let his imprisonment destroy him.