Racism in Ernest Gaines's A Lesson Before Dying

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After the civil war ended many blacks and whites especially in the south, continued living as if nothing had changed with regards to the oppressions and poor treatment of African Americans. Narrator Grant Wiggins, of the novel A Lesson Before Dying, By Ernest Gaines, finds himself in a similar situation towards racism. Through his experience Grant is forced to transform Jefferson who was wrongly accused of a murder from a “HOG” into a man. Although Grant was forced to make jefferson a man, he himself became more of one as a result. Grant transformed from an ignorant pessimistic person into a sensitive and compassionate human being. Grant Wiggins, one of the few black males in his town to have a college education, is a teacher at a all black school. Nevertheless, he continues to feel aggravated by the way the white people throughout his town treat him because of his skin color. Grant at the beginning is very selfish and rude, but he himself believes is a “man”. This attitude is seen by the way he treats vivian. Grant continuously throughout the novel mentions to vivian how he wants...

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