In Ernest J. Gaines A Lesson Before Dying a man is sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit because of his skin color. His Godmothers dying wish is that Jefferson dies a man. She elects Grant, the community educator to help mold Jefferson into the hero that he is destined become. Grant and Jefferson undergo many conflicts that metamorphose their friendship. Each of them as individuals has beliefs that bring them closer or tear them further and further apart. The overlaying theme of race and racism is ever important in this novel. There are many characters who exhibit racism, not just the whites towards the blacks. The blacks are also racist to the mulattos in the community. Grant and Jefferson come from the same background but end …show more content…
up in two very different positions. They have many similarities and differences, some including professions, level of respect, family life. Grant feels that as an educator he is not making any difference because his students are still ending up the way they would if they didn't receive any education. Jefferson on the other hand is treated like an animal for a crime he didn't commit because of his skin color. Jefferson alludes to himself as a hog because that is what the white majority perceives him as.
Jefferson is later seen as a hero in the black community because of the strength and courage he showed during the events leading up to his murder. Jefferson follows the vicious cycle because he is one of many that never received a full education and ended up in theory paying the price. Jefferson has very little education as he clearly showed when writing his journal. His education was not the thing that was holding him back; it was the color of his skin. He was found guilty because he was black. During his trial he was even given a fair jury for they were all white as well. During the civil rights movement, the separate but equal law was put in place. This was never what happened. Innocent people were killed and even more imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. In A Lesson Before Dying when “A white man had been killed during a robbery, and though two of the robbers had been killed on the spot, one had been captured, and he, too, would have to die” Gaines 2). That one word, white, creates the mood of the entire line. Had the robber been white, or the men killed been white the verdict reached would have been much different. Jefferson was a desperate black man who was in the wrong place and the wrong time, and now he too is going to …show more content…
die. Grant is also treated with disrespect but it is not all because of his own skin color, but the color of his girlfriend Vivian. Vivian is a mulatto. A mulatto is a mix of black and white and because they have more white blood than the full blacks, they are treated with more respect. Grant's own family is the ones who treat him differently because he is dating a mulatto. When Grant introduces Vivian to his aunt, miss Emma, Miss Eloise and Inez “they were not glad to know her. They didn’t feel comfortable at all. They were at my aunt's house, and they were not about to show much more enthusiasm than she had shown” (Gaines 112). Grant loves Vivian very much and wants her to get to know his family, but his aunt and her friends do not show any interest in getting to know her. Just the presence of a mulatto put them on edge. Jefferson also makes stabs at Vivian to Grant. On one of Grant’s many visits to the jail cell, Grant is trying to understand why Jefferson keeps hurting Miss Emma and Jefferson says “Just keep on vexing me, I bet you say something ‘bout that old yellow woman you go with” (Gaines 129). Jefferson is very confused about his purpose and he does not want Grant to keep coming back to his cell. He wants Grant to let him die by himself and so he throws this at Grant. Grant just brushes it aside and keeps on trying to get through to Jefferson. This shows that the mulattos have a great influence in their cultures. It is not accepted for a mixed colored woman to be with a black man. Unlike Jefferson Grant is treated with more respect because he went to college and now teaches the young people in the black community.
Grant feels that he is not doing enough as an educator. His job entails him to teach very poor students in a small church with very little resources he is trying to teach his students that there is a world beyond Bayonne, and they can have a future apart from working in the fields and chopping wood. Grant noticed that “They are acting as the old men did earlier. They are fifty years younger, maybe more, but doing the same thing those old men did who never attended school a day in their lives. Is it just a vicious circle? Am I doing anything” (Gaines 62) Grant has been standing in front of class after class trying to teach them the basic skills they will need for their future, but he is seeing no results. He knows that a majority of the class will have the same future as their parents and their grandparents, a labor job that pays very little but keeps them going. Grant says to his students that he is trying “to make you responsible young men and young ladies. But you prefer to play with bugs. You refuse to study your arithmetic, and you prefer writing slanted sentences instead of straight ones. Does that make any sense” (Gaines 39)? He wants to push himself to better each student that passes through the church doors. Transform them into young men and ladies that will change the vicious circle. Grant is very strict to his students because he
wants them to succeed to badly. He feels that even he, a black man who went to college still did not end up any better than say the old men who chop wood for the school house. He had the opportunity to make something of his life, but instead he returned home to Bayonne to teach. He is trying to teach his students a lesson that they should make what's best of their situation no matter how bad or good. Grant and Jefferson are alike in many ways. They are both disrespected because of their race; they both come from a family where education was not a top priority. The difference was that Grant wanted to be the outlier and make something of his life, so he attended college and avoided the vicious circle. Jefferson was put into a situation that changed his life forever. He was desperate and made a bad decision that in return ended his life. He was a boy that needed to be transformed into a man, and in the end became a hero.
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.
In Gaines' A Lesson before Dying, Grant Wiggins, a black male school teacher, struggles with the decision whether he should stay in his hometown or go to another state while his aunt, Tante Lou, and Miss Emma persuades him and gives him the responsibility to teach Miss Emma’s wrongly convicted godson to have pride and dignity before he dies. The wrongly convicted man, Jefferson, lost all sense of pride when he was degraded and called a "hog" as he was sentenced to death and announced guilty for the murder of the three white men at the bar he so happened to be in. Through Grant’s visits to Jefferson’s cell, the two create a bond between each other and an understanding of the simplicity of standing for yourself or others. In Gaines’ novel, Grant, Jefferson, and everyone around them go through injustice, prejudice, and race.
McKinsey was clear in her explanation of Grant’s original views on education, the impact of the women on Grant’s life, and how Grant and Jefferson both achieved manliness, however, she lacked grammatical editing and did not fully explain Grant’s call to service. In paragraph two of the article, McKinsey states the claim: “teaching by its nature is a service profession, but Grant, like so many educators, fails to realize the importance, role, and scope of education” (McKinsey 77). By doing so, the author allows the audience to grasp Grant’s mindset when it comes to being an educator. Grant Wiggins believed that education should only focus on the basics, which included reading, writing, and arithmetic.
This quote exemplifies Grant’s relationship change between him and Jefferson. Throughout the trial Grant didn’t care for the case, seeing Jefferson as almost a lost cause. Now that a date for Jefferson’s death has been set, he preaches that no man has the right to kill another, specifically white people deciding the fate black people. I thought this quote was very strong as it shows how, at the time, many people were getting upset over this case and almost made Jefferson out to be sort of a hero. The fact that he died with courage was extremely strong.
Thomas Jefferson is a well-known and respected man of American History. He was a legislator, president, a father, a spouse, a widow, an inventor, a plantation owner, and a slave owner. Many people fail to acknowledge the fact that, much like his fellow citizens, Jefferson too was a slave owner himself. In his life, he made so many accomplishments and strides of progress in the early days in favor of America, perhaps it is hard or unthinkable for some to believe that he was just an average man of his times. Similarly to many men of the time period, Jefferson also had sexual relations with one of his slaves. This relationship was reflective and consistent with Jefferson's views on slavery which were that of an abolitionist of sorts.
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey is acknowledged as a murder mystery, but it depicts much more. Its thrilling plot about a 13 year old boy coming of age in a small town has many underlying themes that are still present in today’s society. In fact, the plot fuels the themes and showcases them throughout the book. Themes like racism, hypocrisy, secrets, identity and bullying are constantly glimpsed at in Jasper Jones.
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.
While Grant taught Jefferson to feel like a man, Jefferson gave Grant hope as well, both in black men and Jefferson himself. Grant didn't even go to Jefferson's trial at the beginning of the book because he knew that Jefferson will be convicted, despite being innocent. Grant told himself, "I did not go to the trial, I did not want to hear the verdict, because I knew what it would be" (3). As time passed and the two grew closer through Grant's trips to the jail, both of them learned. Jefferson learned self-respect and self-worth, and that he could have an impact on the black community. Grant learned to put his trust in Jefferson because he would follow through. Grant came to understand that death isn't the end for Jefferson, and that his memory and impact would carry on long after his death. He even told Jefferson this at the end, saying, "You have the chance of being bigger than anyone who has ever lived on this plantation or come from this little town" (193). Grant accepted his death better this way, knowing that he helped Jefferson to make a difference in the lives of the people he interacted
Racism is not only a crime against humanity, but a daily burden that weighs down many shoulders. Racism has haunted America ever since the founding of the United States, and has eerily followed us to this very day. As an intimidating looking black man living in a country composed of mostly white people, Brent Staples is a classic victim of prejudice. The typical effect of racism on an African American man such as Staples, is a growing feeling of alienation and inferiority; the typical effect of racism on a white person is fear and a feeling of superiority. While Brent Staples could be seen as a victim of prejudice because of the discrimination he suffers, he claims that the victim and the perpetrator are both harmed in the vicious cycle that is racism. Staples employs his reader to recognize the value of his thesis through his stylistic use of anecdotes, repetition and the contrast of his characterization.
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
In the early 1920's, many generational Americans had moderately racist views on the "new immigrants," those being predominantly from Southern and Eastern Europe. Americans showed hatred for different races, incompatibility with religion, fear of race mixing, and fear of a revolution from other races. At the time, people believed the Nordic race was supreme.
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
“If you would just get up and teach them instead of handing them a packet. There’s kids in here that don’t learn like that. They need to learn face to face. I’m telling you what you need to do. You can’t expect a kid to change if all you do is just tell ‘em.” Texas student, Jeff Bliss, decided to take a stand against the lack of teaching going on in his class (Broderick).
In A Lesson Before Dying, one of the most pronounced themes or issues in the book is regarding people’s natural longing for power. The author uses the character of Grant Wiggins to reveal the need most encounter for authority over their peers. It is through Wiggin’s character that the audience truly understands how little remarks and condemnations significantly shape a person’s outlook and personality. Not only through comments made to Wiggins is the theme, a desire for power, exemplified, but also through dominance driven remarks made by Wiggins himself. The struggles of Wiggins and Jefferson to free themselves of a racist and power operated society displays a natural desire for dominance, how the power of the individual is greater than what society believes, and how continuous subjugations have an overwhelming effect or influence.