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What is the lesson learned in a lesson before dying
An essay on life lessons
A scene in a lesson before dying that shows racism
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Life is a constant test, and it is up to you whether you find the answers and learn from your choices. The lesson that is most important to learn before you die is to never give up on yourself or others and to fight for yourself throughout tough times. In Ernest J. Gaines’ novel “A Lesson Before Dying” this important lesson is expressed through the characters of Grant, Miss Emma, and Jefferson. Grant, one of the main characters in the novel shows us how we cannot give up on others or ourselves. In the beginning of the novel it is shown how Grant does not seem to keen on helping Jefferson. “Tante Lou, Miss Emma, Jefferson is dead. It is only a matter of weeks, maybe a couple of months—but he’s already dead. The past twenty-one years, we’ve …show more content…
done all we could for Jefferson. 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—but he’s gone from us. There’s nothing I can do anymore, nothing any of us can do anymore.” (Gaines 30) When Miss Emma and his Tante Lou mentioned the fact of him going to see Jefferson, Grant did not like the idea. But he pushed through and fought conflict with himself to go see him as it was something that he knew was right and he wanted to do it for is aunt and Miss Emma. When Grant started to visit Jefferson you could tell the Grant was unsure of what he was supposed to do. Grant was an elementary school teacher; he didn’t know how to teach someone how to be a man. He had to believe in himself so he could successfully help Jefferson. Grant did not give up on Jefferson, which led to Jefferson dying a man and not a “hog”. Grant had to push through tough times in the community with the racist comments and the comments about Jefferson. But no matter what Grant heard about Jefferson or what people said about Jefferson, Grant never gave up on him. The major struggle that Grant had to face with Jefferson was helping Jefferson overcome being called a “hog” in the courtroom. This struggle continued throughout the book but Grant persevered and was finally able to connect and get through to Jefferson. In the end it was obvious how Grant faced some personal battles as well as conflict with people in the community, but Grant never gave up on himself or Jefferson. Miss Emma is an example of never giving up on others.
Miss Emma is the godmother of Jefferson. “’They called my boy a hog, Mr. Henri,” Miss Emma said. “I didn’t raise no hog, and I don’t want no hog to go set in that chair. I want a man to go set in that chair, Mr. Henri.’” Miss Emma became obsessed with making sure that Jefferson dies “like a man” after hearing Jefferson’s lawyer call him a “hog”. She wanted the best for Jefferson and ensured that he would die “like a man” therefore bringing Grant to teach him how to be a man. Emma put Jefferson before herself and made sure that he would die properly. Constantly throughout the beginning of the novel Miss Emma expresses how she “…don’t want them to kill no hog” (Gaines 26). She stands up for Jefferson to Mr. Henri about how Jefferson is not a “hog”, by doing this she is trying to send a message to the community how he is not a “hog” as well. Unfortunately the community believes that Jefferson will die a “hog” but Miss Emma along with Tante Lou pushes Grant to help Jefferson. Even when she knew that Jefferson would die she still wanted to help him. Whether she believed the accusation or not she still stood by Jefferson and helped him any way possible. She always wanted the best for Jefferson and never gave up on him. Relating this book to the present time, Miss. Emma shows how she does not give up on family. This reminded me of the popular lyric from the song “See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa. The lyric says “How can we not talk about family when family’s all that we got?” I believe this quote shows what Miss Emma is doing for Jefferson. Jefferson is her family, and it is obvious that she will not give up on
him. In the novel, the character Jefferson is an example of fighting for yourself through tough times. Jefferson is the character in the novel that the plot surrounds. He is a young African-American man who lives on a cotton plantation and is thought of differently because of his skin colour. This leads to him being doubted by the community and put into jail under false charges and subsequently getting killed because of these false charges. During his hearing in court he is referred to as a hog. At first Jefferson lets this define him, but once Grant Wiggins began coming to see him Jefferson soon realized that he needs to start standing up for himself. When Jefferson learns the day of his execution he does not let this destroy him. He instead let go of being called a hog and wanted to try to live a little in his last while by having a radio and discussing his last meal of a gallon of ice cream. The lesson of fighting for yourself is shown the best when Grant has a talk with Jefferson that brings them both to tears because Grant tells Jefferson how all the men are expecting the word “hog” to define him and how he can walk to his death as a man instead of a hog. Grant explains how if Jefferson is able to let go being called a “hog” and is able to die a man he will prove all the men wrong and will be standing up for not only himself but the racism in the community. Finally, Jefferson writes all his thoughts in a journal, he wrote “I been shakin an shakin but im gon stay strong” (Gaines 233), this quote shows how Jefferson is fighting for himself and will not give up on himself. In conclusion, Jefferson is a prime example of how you need to fight for yourself to get through tough times so you can come out stronger and on top. This is the most important lesson to learn before dying. Throughout the novel the main characters, Grant, Miss. Emma, and Jefferson continually show how you cannot give up on yourself or others. You have to fight for yourself and fight for the ones you care about. This is truly the most important lesson to learn before dying. If you know and understand this lesson than you can grasp life in the proper manner and conquer any challenges in life that you
According to his biography, Ernest J. Gaines grew up in Oscar, Louisiana on a plantation in the 1930s. He worked picking potatoes for 50 cents a day, and in turn used his experiences to write six books, including A Lesson Before Dying. While the novel is fictional, it is based on the hardships faced by blacks in a post Civil War South, under Jim Crow and 'de jure' segregation. In A Lesson Before Dying, the main story line is a sad tale in which a young black man named Jefferson, is wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death. Grant Wiggins, a teacher, is persuaded by Jefferson's grandmother Miss Emma to help Jefferson become a man before his execution. The struggle for Grant to get Jefferson to cooperate, and Grant's own internal development are the main plot-points; however, the background commentary on systems of racism is the main theme.
Grant Wiggins from A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines and Dee Johnson from Everyday Use by Alice Walker are two similar individuals who both steer away from their families’ traditional way of life, but are different in some aspects. Both characters are unique due to their personality, their education, and their appearance. Dee is a college student in rural Georgia who comes back to visit her mother and sister with her new boyfriend. Dee contradicts herself in trying to reclaim her heritage, but actually steers away from it. Grant is a plantation teacher who is recruited by Ms. Emma to help Jefferson die like a man. He feels that cannot help his family with their present issue because he is not a man himself, therefore he tries to detach himself from the problem.
The author of the article “A Call to Service in Ernest Gaines’ A Lesson Before Dying” is Beatrice McKinsey. In McKinsey’s introduction, she stated her thesis statement: “whatever one’s social class, race, or education maybe, we have a purpose or a call to service. Ernest Gaines uses the main characters, Grant and Jefferson, to demonstrate how men can achieve manliness through service” (McKinsey 77). By stating this thesis statement, McKinsey shows her audience that she will be discussing the main characters, as well as their journey to becoming manly. Overall, this is seen as the purpose for her article.
In A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, Grant Wiggins is asked to turn Jefferson, a young man on death row, into an honorable man before his execution. Grant faces many difficulties when Jefferson is unresponsive and refuses to comply with Grant and Aunt Emma’s request. Throughout the story, Grant struggles to find motivation to keep working with Jefferson as he faces the difficulty of racism and prejudice. The author of the novel, Ernest J. Gaines, uses characterization to prove the theme that a lack of compassion in individuals can prevent people from uniting to form a better society, because they do not try to understand one another. In the beginning of the novel, Miss Emma and Tante Lou are threatening Grant into going to visit Mr.
African-American life in pre-Civil War America and life in pre-African-American Civil Rights Movement have many comparisons and also many differences. Some comparisons are the ideas of racism and segregation and some of the differences include the education during these two times and freedoms. These comparisons and differences are related to the novels Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass which is written by himself and A Lesson Before Dying written by Ernest Gaines. These two texts will compare and contrast how life was being an African American during these different periods of time.
The most important conflict in the story A Lesson Before Dying, written by Ernest J. Gaines is the person vs society conflict . This conflict is essential for the story’s themes of racism, ignorance and inequality. As well as the black man vs a racist society conflict is the entire reason for the events in the story to take place, and ties into many of the other conflicts in the book. A quote that demonstrates this type of conflict is this quote said by Professor Antoine : “Don't be a damned fool. I am superior to you. I am superior to any man blacker than me” (Gaines 65).
Jefferson died with dignity and Grant returned to Bayonne believing he could make a difference. It is not clear that religion, a belief in God, made the difference for either of them. It is clear that as they struggled with the issue of a higher power, they did discover that the meaning of their lives was not attached to the white man’s beliefs and myths, but rather came from inside themselves. To the end, they both struggled with whether or not there was a God. As they end their journey together, Jefferson is at peace and becomes a hero in his community. Though Grant cannot be a hero, he does find his place and returns to the schoolhouse with new hope and a vision for making a difference, if not for himself, for his students. He doubts himself at times, but he gains determination for his students. "Yet they must believe. They must believe, if only to free the mind, if not the body. Only when the mind is free has the body a chance to be free. Yes, they must believe. They must believe. Because I know what it means to be a slave. I am a slave" (Gaines 251)
The lesson I appreciated the most is that one should not give up on something they believe in, just
Conflicts are the backbone of any novel, without conflict stories would not be nearly as interesting! Conflicts can be caused by many things, in this novel the main problem is racism. A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines is a novel based off of many internal conflicts between the characters, causing the characters to make different decisions and actions; this is important because the story is circled around racism causing many conflicts.
In the novel A Lesson Before Dying, Grant and Jefferson are black men in the era of a racist society; but they have struggles with a greater dilemma, obligation and commitment. They have obligations to their families and to the town they are part of. They lived in a town were everybody knew everybody else and took care of each other. "Living and teaching on a plantation, you got to know the occupants of every house, and you knew who was home and who was not.... I could look at the smoke rising from each chimney or I could look at the rusted tin roof of each house, and I could tell the lives that went on in each one of them." [pp. 37-38] Just by Grant’s words you can tell that that is a community that is very devoted to each other.
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
One thing is clear: initially both Jefferson and Grant struggle to find freedom in a discriminatory society because they cannot understand what they need to become free, but ultimately only Jefferson is able to create change and overcome obstacles to achieve freedom.
Life is short and it is up to you to make the most out of it. The most important lesson that everyone should follow and apply to everyday life is “never give up”. In the novel, “A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest J. Gaines, the important lesson can be shown in the characters Jefferson, Miss Emma and Grant Wiggins.
Emma's personality is largely shaped by the nature of her upbringing. Emma had no motherly figure guiding her as she grew up, due to the fact that her mother passed away at a young age, and her governess, Miss Taylor, became her best friend instead of an authority over her. At the start of the novel Miss Taylor gets married to Mr. Weston, leaving Emma with her despondent and hypochondriac father, Mr. Woodhouse. Although Mr. Woodhouse often confines Emma to the house because of his paranoia of her being harmed, he gives her little guidance. Emma becomes accustomed to being the "princess" of her house, and she applies this role to all of her social interactions, as she develops the ability to manipulate people and control them to advance her own goals. Emma views herself with the highest regard, and feels competition and annoyance with those who threaten her position. Emma has much resentment toward Mrs. Elton, as Mrs. Elton becomes a parody for Emma's mistakes and interactions. Mrs. Elton's attachment to Jane Fairfax is much like Emma's attachment to Harriet Smith; both Mrs. Elton and Emma attach themselves to young women and try to raise their...
Emma Woodhouse: Emma is the main character of the novel. She is a beautiful, smart, and wealthy 21-year-old woman. Because of her admired qualities, Emma is a little conceited. She is the daughter of Henry Woodhouse. Since her mother has died, Emma has taken the role of taking care of her father, who is old and often sick. Because she feels she is obligated to stay by his side, Emma decides not to marry. Emma believes that she is a good matchmaker, and tries to put together several couples throughout the novel. Emma believes that social classes are very important and refuses to see anyone cross over to marry someone lesser than themselves In chapter 8-page 52, Emma is talking about Harriet’s situation with the farmer with Mr. Knightley. She says, “Mr. Martin is a very respectable young man, but I cannot admit him to be Harriet’s equal. As the novel progresses, Emma becomes more mature, and realizes how silly she had been in the past. In the end, she finally stops matchmaking others and marries Mr. Knightley, who was perfect for her all along.