Heroes are often described as physically attractive, strong, intelligent figures with a flair for grand gestures,and an eloquent knack for stringing words together. The fundamental aspects of what defines a hero are conveniently glazed over. People forget that heroes often lead lives of quiet determination. When they have an idea, a goal they want to accomplish, they ignite a spark within themselves that burns into an uncontrollable blaze, which that can only be tamed by success. The fabricated image of a hero has been so deeply rooted into society that the quiet heroes in literature, such as Jefferson from A Lesson Before Dying, are often forgotten, or the misdeeds of cowards such as Frankenstein are overlooked. Jefferson is the literary foil for Victor Frankenstein, because he has strongly built morals that enable him to become a hero, whereas Victor Frankenstein is a weak willed and indecisive character. A hero is defined by their ability to go through with a task despite the obstacles that lie in their way, along with their courage and ultimately, they accept any responsibility that may befall them.
Jefferson is a hero for the black community because he perseveres and makes a stand for them in his final moments, while Victor Frankenstein immediately abandons the creature he toiled over for years, due to its unsightly appearance. Jefferson’s sacrifice for the black community is heroic, because he has no emotional connection to the majority of them. However, he realizes that his death has power to unleash hope; a great force with unstoppable momentum.By discarding the label of a ‘hog’ thrust on him by a white lawyer, he can give people hope. If he, the lowest of the low can discard the fetters thrust upon him by the w...
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...ak sense of duty so greatly maimed by fear, that it is virtually nonexistent.
Jefferson is the epitome of a hero, for the harmonic blend of his Unfortunately, Victor Frankenstein is the exact opposite. He must look after the creature in whatever capacity he can; he unknowingly accepted that responsibility the moment he began his foray into galvanism. However, his cowardice taints any semblance of persistence and responsibility he has. Heroism is not about battling external challenges as much as fighting personal demons. Heroism is about battling the internal beast within oneself; fighting the natural human desire to take the easy way out. Jefferson successfully defeats his base condition, where Victor Frankenstein entirely succumbs to them.True heroes are rare, for heroism exceeds the bounds of personal glory and gain, which is the very embodiment of a human being.
Considering the poor relations between blacks and whites at the time in which the story is set, it comes as no surprise that Grant sees tension frequently in his community – not only through the ways in which persons of various races treat one another, but also in the justice, or lack thereof, served in court cases. The white authorities accuse Jefferson, an innocent student Grant taught a few years prior, of first-degree murder. During the trial, Jefferson's state-appointed defense lawyer pleads for the jury to have sympathy on Jefferson as he is a hog and does not possess the intelligence to commit the crimes of which he is accused. Because the whites dominate the society, the court finds Jefferson guilty as charged and the judge sentences him to death by electrocution.... ...
Humanity has created this “universal story” of what a hero is, or at least the myth of it, time and again. Different tasks and encounters with a variety of villains all lead the hero to the prize, to a new life (Seger). This person deemed the hero is as ordinary as the next but what makes them different is the drastic test that they must face. Individuals admire this character because the hero stands for something, something bigger than themselves. Whether it be the compassionate act of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games or the death of the oldest brother in Brother Bear, as an outsider, an individual sees the human side of these heroes and relates. Connor Lassiter from Unwind by Neal Shusterman is an ideal example of the myth due to the
Everyone has their own perception on what defines a hero; some may argue that they exhibit characteristics such as honesty or courage, while others may think that heroes have special power. Our society may have changed the values in which we associate heroes with, but one thing seems to have never changed: the main character of the book turns out as the hero. In my analyst, Holden Caulfield, the protagonist in The Catcher in the Rye, is put on trial as we see through our own eyes how Caulfield can not be considered a hero in modern society.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others.”-MLK Jr. In the book A Lesson Before Dying, Ernest J. Gaines explores the relationship between a student and a teacher in Bayonne, Louisiana, in the 1940s, and how their actions affect the society they are living in. Jefferson, a young black man, is accused of a murder, and is sentenced to death because of his race. Miss Emma, Jefferson’s godmother, wants Grant Wiggins, an educated black teacher to “make him a man” before Jefferson dies. Even though Grant was reluctant that it would amount to anything, but he gave his word that he would try, and soon after a couple of visits to the jail, Grant starts to develop a bond with Jefferson. As the book progresses, Jefferson learns that you need to take responsibility for your own actions, you should always be humble, one should never submit their dignity no matter the circumstances, and always remember that even heroes are not perfect.
Jefferson is trapped in a racist and ignorant place, this is shown countless times throughout the book, for example when Jefferson's defendant said ”A cornered animal to strike quickly in fear a trait inherited by his ancestors in the deepest jungles of blackest Africa...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”(Gaines 7) .
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.
Summary: This story is about racism in the south and how it affects the people it concerns. It starts out with Jefferson being sentenced to death for a crime that he did not commit. He was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and because he was black, they assumed he did it. Grant Wiggins is told to go up to the jail and convince Jefferson that he is a man. At first he doesn’t know how to make Jefferson see that he is a man, but through visiting Jefferson, talking to Vivian and witnessing things around the community, he is able to reach Jefferson, convince him that he was a man.
In Grant Wiggin’s speech about heroes, Jefferson displays many of the qualities that, according to Grant, a hero must possess. Grant himself, for all the good he does Jefferson, is not a hero, following his own formula. However, we cannot simply say that one is a hero and the other is not. In comics and fairy tales, the divisions between heroes and average people might be clear, but in real life, the lines are blurred.
In a rural town in Louisiana in the late 1940's a poorly educated young black man, Jefferson, is in the wrong place at the wrong time: he is in a bar with two friends when they murder the white bartender. Jefferson is unfairly convicted of murder and sentenced to the electric chair by a white judge and jury. His defense lawyer, in an attempt to ward off the death sentence, labels him a "hog"--and it is this label that Jefferson's godmother wants disproved. She enlists the help of a plantation school teacher, Grant Wiggins, who at first isn’t too keen on the idea of helping a crook. Wiggins agrees to talk with Jefferson only out of a sense of duty--he is an unhappy, angry man who dreamt of escape from his deprived childhood yet returned to his hometown after a university education to teach in the same one-room parish school he attended. Despite humiliation at the hands of the white sheriff, Jefferson's lack of cooperation, and his own sense of futility and uncertain faith, Wiggins forges a bond with Jefferson that leads to wisdom and courage for both. At first, Jefferson sees himself as a hog, and nothing but a hog.
With fear comes courage, with experience comes bravery, and with pain comes strength. One may assume that these traits are the exact characteristics a hero. However, heroism can come in many different forms. Victor Frankenstein, from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and Beowulf exemplify many different traits of heroism.
This causes Jefferson not to care about anything and does not use the time that is still left for becoming a “man”. For example, Jefferson believes that “nothing [does not] matter,” (Gaines 73) even when Miss. Emma offers him his favorite food and she explains how much she is missing him. He is morphing into a nihilist, which does not make the situation any better for him. It also affects the people of his community, who are seeing him die a sad, and considerably pathetic death. However, Grant being the hero he is to Jefferson, does not give up. By going to visit Jefferson, Grant shows, and explains to him that he is important. Specifically, by giving Jefferson the notebook and pencil, he is able to further reflect on his life. He realizes he should not be a nihilistic person, but rather be strong and inspire the black community. For instance, when talking to Grant shortly before his death, he claims that, “ [he is going] to do [his] best, Mr. Wiggins. That is all [he] can promise.”(225). It is evident Grant helps Jefferson become positive and an existentialist. Instead of being depressed, Jefferson promises that he will do his best which is very different from the Jefferson right after the trial. To further prove this, in his journal, Jefferson even writes that he misses Grant when he does not come, apologizes for all the things he did, talks about heaven, and says a man will sit in the electric chair. Jefferson’s
A character named Jefferson, an African American male, is wrongly accused when he is in the wrong place at the time during a shoot-out between two African American men and a storeowner. During the shoot-out the storeowner and both men were shot and killed, Jefferson in shock stays at the scene of the crime until authorities arrived and arrested and tried Jefferson for murder. Jefferson being found guilty and compared to a hog fills him with hate and anger. Jefferson has an aunt that reaches out to a creditable teacher at a local school named Grant; she gets Grant to help Jefferson find a purpose. Grant helps Jefferson find a sense of dignity, although it took some time he was successful. Grant later focuses his time and energy on the importance of Jefferson’s death and tries to explain it to him. Jefferson doesn’t really understand it until members of the community come to visit him; young children, old men, strangers, friends, all come to see Jefferson in his cell and speak to him. The onslaught of attention makes Jefferson begin to understand the enormity of his task. He now realizes that he has become much more than an ordinary man and that his death will represent much more than an ordinary death. Gaines emphasizes the worth and dignity of everyday heroes like Jefferson; just as Christ did during his
Wilhelm, Jeffrey D., et al. A Brief History of Heroes. 2004. Glencoe Literature. New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2009. 69-72. Print.
For a time, the main characters in a story, poem, or narrative were easily classified as either being a hero or a villain. A hero would be easy to identify by the traits he'd possess, such as bravery, honesty, selflessness, trustworthiness, courage, leadership, and more. The villain would be easy to identify as well, possessing traits such as maliciousness, deceitfulness, immorality, dark, wishing harm upon others, and more. But what if the character lacked the natural heroic qualities but wasn't a villain either? What if the person displayed personality flaws that would traditionally be associated with a villain, but has heroic intentions? These questions were finally answered with the emergence of the anti-hero in literature.
Each anti-hero has their own characteristics and their own traits, but all of these anti-heroes have all a common trait. Anti-heroes “They are neither 100% good nor 100% evil , are fated to cause grief to individuals or to the community or to self , are driven and obsessed with past deeds or by fate, they do not need to die at close of story; there is uncertain resolution , can act as a vigilante, even against the self , act according to their own set of rules, their own values, may have tragedy in their life , may or may not have a tragic flaw , lack true identity, even to themselves; in some cases they are disillusioned with life, lack strong ideals and goals , this does not define them as a villain , their actions are merely reactions to events , usually they are not motivated to act for, nor act against anyone , and they are not fighting fate but present