Essay On A Lesson Before Dying

Literary Essay.

In a story the setting can play a key role in inciting emotion or allow the reader to connect with the important ideas the story is trying to convey. In the novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines the novel is set in the 1940s in the small town of Bayonne, Louisiana. This setting is extremely important to the central theme because it allows the readers to understand the relationships within the community, the historical significance of this time period, and the way racism was accepted into everyday society during the story. Without the setting the reader would have a harder time relating and understanding the theme of the story.

Setting is crucially important to the theme of A Lesson Before Dying. In the novel the

setting allows the reader to understand the community that our main characters are living within. The story is set in a small town is the south of the United States, which automatically gives the reader an impression of the town. In a small town rumors, gossip, and general information tend to spread quickly, which we see happen on several occasion in the novel. As well the south is known for being an area the harbours racist ideologies. One example of this is when Jefferson is charged with murder, rumors spread like wildfire through town and hatred for him grows just because of his race. Grant doesn’t go to Jefferson’s trial in the story however he knows all the detail because of the gossip that has spread throughout town. These ideas that the setting creates for the reader propels the theme of racism that the characters experience in the novel. Overall the setting allows the reader to understand the community the characters are living in and helps to propel the theme of racism.
The historical significance within the setting of the novel is overtly important to the main theme in the story. Throughout the story Jefferson struggles to deal with the lack of dignity he feels due to the false accusations he faced and that he is now being sentenced to death. He is also upset by the fact that others do nothing to help him prove his innocents. These ideas of dehumanization, racisms, and injustice only make logical sense to the reader because of the historical setting of 1940’s Louisiana. Without the historical setting the reader would struggle to understand why Jefferson is facing the injustice that he is and why no one will stand up for him. The setting allows the reader to further understand the lack of dignity Jefferson has due to the racism and the way he was dehumanized by the whites within his society. Jefferson’s feelings are made evident when he continuously refers to himself as a hog and even pretends to eat like one. This historical setting allows the reader to understand the depth of racism that the community is plagued with and how each character responds differently to it. In this case without the historical setting of the novel the reader might not be able to understand the main theme of racism and how the actions of the characters are affected by this theme. To conclude the historically setting of the novel is key to the central theme of racism because without the setting there would be no context behind a characters actions and the reader would not be able to fully understand the theme.
The setting also helps the reader to understand the way racism was accepted and not questioned throughout the novel.

In the 1940’s in Louisiana people of color were subjected to racism on a daily basis and were seen as less human than whites and therefore were given fewer rights and freedoms. As well at that time in the southern United States racism and segregation were still a part of everyday life. Because this was considered the norm in the 1940’s it helps to explain why Jefferson was still charged despite being innocent. Jefferson’s family rather than fight the false charges, which they know is not socially accepted because of their skin color, have to divert to an alternative option to help Jefferson. They try to help him gain some dignity before he dies because they know that as colored people in the 1940’s they cannot help Jefferson any other way. This shows how the racism within the community was accepted by everyone, despite the fact the Jefferson was innocent colored people knew they could not fight a racist system and white people didn’t care because all they saw was the color of his skin. Overall the setting allows the reader to understand how racism was acceptable within this society.

To conclude the setting in the novel A Lesson Before Dying is extremely important to the central theme of racism because it allows the readers to understand the relationships within the community, the historical significance of this time period, and the way racism was accepted into

everyday society. In this story the setting is what truly allows the theme to be understood by the reader.