Grant Wiggins A Lesson Before Dying

A Lesson Before Dying

Thesis: Grant Wiggins’ decision to move back to the quarter after living in California is the single event that had the heaviest impact on his identity.

Body: Grant’s personal and professional relationships influence him in a unique aspect. With every relationship Grant learns something new about himself. When putting this into perspective, the influencers surrounding Grant allows for new developments and depth within the evolution of his personal identity. His neighbor to the left may teach him the importance of belief in a higher power, while a classroom of students may teach him patience. Jefferson impacts Grant’s life in a magnitude he could not even comprehend by transforming the unfortunate situation at hand

into a pivotal point in society standards. In chapter twenty-four, Grant admits to himself and Jefferson that the time they spend together is changing both of their lives, declaring, “I need you”, I told him.

“I need you much more than you could ever need me. You-you can be bigger than anyone you have ever met” (Gaines 193). Here, Grant proclaims to Jefferson that despite how worthless he may feel as days go by in his cell, Jefferson is the one man that is revolutionizing the community and is in the position to break the vicious cycle. Along with Jefferson, Grant’s identity is transformed by his girlfriend, Vivian Baptiste. Vivian is the only person in Grant’s life that can convince him to persevere through his struggles when constantly tempted with urges to drop everything and run away. She is Grant’s support system that provides constant encouragement when he is trapped in a problematic situation. She instills confidence in him and confirms that he is making a difference in the lives of his students, Jefferson, and the overall community. During a conversation shared between Grant and Vivian, Grant is at a low and vents his feelings to Vivian; crying, “I'm not doing any good up there, Vivian,” I said. “Nothing's changing”. “Something is,” she said (Gaines 141). If Grant did not have Vivian, he may have not learned the importance of persistence and dedication needed within

himself in order to transform his life and mindset. Grant’s individual relationship with Jefferson and Vivian demonstrate the special impact a single person can bring into one’s life.
Grant’s profession has impacted his identity on an incomparable scale. As one of few teachers in the quarter, Grants role as a teacher goes far beyond curriculum. Through teaching children, Grant has learned the impact a leader can have on the impressionable youth. By speaking to Professor Antoine, Grant discovers that the future of the next generation lies in his hands. The words he preaches today can influence eternity, he will never be able to tell where his influence ends. When reflecting back to his days in school, Grant cannot surpass the fact that his classmates and himself were involved in the same things that his students are in the current day. Picturing this scenario, Grant thinks to himself, “It was he, Matthew Antoine, as a teacher then, who stood by the fence while we chopped the wood. He had told us then that most of us would die violently, and those who did not would be brought down to the level of beasts.Told us that there was no other choice but to run and run” (Gaines 62). Decades, years, and months past and yet Grant can vividly recollect the words of bashing discouragement that came from his own teacher. By reliving his past, Grant comes to the realization that children have a very naive and influential mind. Through the disheartening speech of Professor Antoine, Grant makes note that if he is to not watch his words, his students will be able to recite his words from a moment of infuriation decades after it took place. Not only is Grant’s position as a teacher an influence to the children in the classroom but also to Jefferson. Everyone in town including Grant himself doubted he would be able to bring confidence and dignity to heal Jefferson's fragile soul. Over the course of a few months, Grant achieved the unachievable. The quarter was in awe with the unprecedented men Jefferson and Grant built each other to be. After the execution had come to a close, Paul Bonin approached Grant with comfort after his loss of a partner; preaching, “I saw the transformation, Grant Wiggins”. “I didn't do it.” “Who then?” “Maybe he did it himself.” “He could have never done that. I saw the transformation. I’m a witness to that” (Gaines 254). With the initial intention of Grant guiding Jefferson to poise, Grant ended up learning just as much if not more than Jefferson through the journey they embarked together.
Grant’s battle against racism within the society has influenced and developed his integrity.

As a black man himself, Grant endures the cruel yet ignored societal standard on the daily. Grant and the community have been brainwashed to believe in racist acts as an acceptable behavior. He learns from racist behaviors early in the beginning of the novel when the injustices are displayed at Jefferson's trial. The prosecutor in the trial spoke with a ruthless, inhumane tone with intentions to humiliate and dehumanize Jefferson. In attempt to make a case, the prosecutor asks the jury if they truly see a man that is capable of planning when looking at Jefferson and carries on with, “No, gentlemen, this skull here holds no plans. What you see here is a thing that acts on command. A thing to hold the handle of a plow, a thing to load your bales of cotton, a thing to dig your ditches, to chop your wood, to pull your corn. That is what you see here, but you do not see anything capable of planning a robbery or a murder. He does not even know the size of his clothes or his shoes” (Gaines 8). As the prosecutor refers to Jefferson as a “thing”, it is clear that respecting the colored people is of his least concern. As a colored man alike Jefferson, this makes Grant feel as worthless and inconsequential as the prosecutor is describes Jefferson to be. The merciless terms used by white people speaking of the colored are loosely thrown around so the black people learn to accept the labels

they receive and believe them to be true. Grant has not only experienced this degrading behavior demonstrated onto the blacks in the courtroom, but also his classroom. The superintendent of schools, Doctor Joseph Morgan, made his annual visit to inspect Grant’s classroom. He entered the room with a sour attitude to clearly imply that a trip to the colored school is a waste of time and an inconvenience to him. While the job of a superintendent is to oversee the functionality of the class and ensure Grant is doing his job as the teacher, Doctor Joseph went about his visit in a manner that related more to the inspection of livestock when examining the students. When scanning the children's mouths, he said, “Open wide, say “Ahhh”- and he would have the poor children spreading out their lips as far as they could while he peered into their mouths. At the university I had read about slave masters who had done the same when buying new slaves, and I had read of cattlemen doing it when purchasing horses and cattle. At least Dr. Joseph had graduated to the level where he let the children spread out their own lips, rather than using some kind of crude metal instrument. I appreciated his humanitarianism” (Gaines 56). Grants use of sarcasm exemplifies his disturbed emotions to see Doctor Joseph Morgan carry out the same routine to inspect a classroom as he would to the purchasing of cattle. Through his observations of both the courthouse and his classroom, as a bystander Grant was able to recognize the inhumane actions taking place that he naturally overlooks when he is involved. These first-hand experiences verified the truth for Grant. Along with the community, Grant is desensitized to misery from the everyday occurrences taking place right in front of his eyes.