Theme Of Conflict In A Lesson Before Dying

738 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: A lesson before dying analysis

The most important conflict in the story A Lesson Before Dying, written by Ernest J. Gaines is the person vs society conflict . This conflict is essential for the story’s themes of racism, ignorance and inequality. As well as the black man vs a racist society conflict is the entire reason for the events in the story to take place, and ties into many of the other conflicts in the book. A quote that demonstrates this type of conflict is this quote said by Professor Antoine : “Don't be a damned fool. I am superior to you. I am superior to any man blacker than me” (Gaines 65). Plot Element Example from novel Quotation from novel Exposition (initial situation) Inciting incident (what causes the events in the plot to happen) …show more content…

Jefferson has become a man, and now he is ready to die a man. Jefferson has now learned his lesson before dying. The Resolution of the story A Lesson Before Dying is when Jefferson is executed. Although it could also be considered the climax by many people, and rightly so. When Jefferson is executed all loose ends are tied up. “I have to go to Bayonne, Tante Lou,” I said. Something for school.” (exposition quote) 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) . "Gentlemen of the jury, be merciful. For God's sake, be merciful. He is innocent of all charges brought against him. But let us say he was not. Let us for a moment say he was not. What justice would there be to take this life? Justice, gentlemen? Why, I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this." …show more content…

"I want a man to go to that chair, on his own two feet." (2.29) Grant says "I want you to show them the difference between what they think you are and what you can be."

Show More
Related

  • Dignity and Sacrifice Depicted in Gaines' A Lesson Before Dying

    693 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Ernest J. Gaines novel A Lesson Before Dying, a young African-American man named Jefferson is caught in the middle of a liquor shootout, and, as the only survivor, is convicted of murder and sentenced to death. During Jefferson’s trial, the defense attorney had called him an uneducated hog as an effort to have him released, but the jury ignored this and sentenced him to death by electrocution anyways. Appalled by this, Jefferson’s godmother, Miss Emma, asks the sheriff if visitations by her and the local school teacher, Grant Wiggins, would be possible to help Jefferson become a man before he dies. The sheriff agrees, and Miss Emma and Mr. Wiggins begin visiting Jefferson in his jail cell. Throughout the book, Jefferson has two seemingly opposite choices in front of him; become a man, and make his godmother and other relatives proud by dying with dignity, or, remain in the state of a hog with the mentality that nothing matters because he will die regardless of his actions. The choices Jefferson is faced with, and the choice he makes, highlights the book’s idea of having dignity ...

    Read More

  • A Rhetorical Analysis Of Benjamin Banneker And Thomas Jefferson

    519 Words  | 2 Pages

    An instance of this is in the second paragraph where Banneker references the Constitution where it says "all men are created equal, and they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.” He knows that Jefferson will have a hard time challenging the Constitution that he wrote himself, thus making this rhetorical strategy one of his most important to persuade him. Banneker also draws up memories of the recent American, connecting the role that the British held over the Colonies to the role that the white men held over the slaves. This allows Jefferson to identify and relate to the injustice that Banneker feels is held over the slaves. Finally, in the last paragraph, Banneker quotes Job from the Bible where he says “put your souls in their soul's stead.” Banneker knows that if Jefferson is going to challenge his country, he won’t challenge his religion or morals. This tests Jefferson’s own morals because he doesn’t want to contradict his own faith, making him more inclined to agree with

    Read More

  • Racial Injustice in the Book A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines

    522 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Hollitz 6

    592 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jefferson feared the immigrants could explode into “unbounded licentiousness” doing so would bring down the curtains of the new republic. He also feared that unless men obeyed their moral sense and exercised self-control they would “live at random” and destroy the republican order. In Jefferson’s view, slavery was not only a violation of black’s rights to liberty, it also undermined the self-c...

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast A Lesson Before Dying And Everyday Use

    727 Words  | 2 Pages

    Grant Wiggins from A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines and Dee Johnson from Everyday Use by Alice Walker are two similar individuals who both steer away from their families’ traditional way of life, but are different in some aspects. Both characters are unique due to their personality, their education, and their appearance. Dee is a college student in rural Georgia who comes back to visit her mother and sister with her new boyfriend. Dee contradicts herself in trying to reclaim her heritage, but actually steers away from it. Grant is a plantation teacher who is recruited by Ms. Emma to help Jefferson die like a man. He feels that cannot help his family with their present issue because he is not a man himself, therefore he tries to detach himself from the problem.

    Read More

  • A Lesson Before Dying Thesis

    921 Words  | 2 Pages

    The author of the article “A Call to Service in Ernest Gaines’ A Lesson Before Dying” is Beatrice McKinsey. In McKinsey’s introduction, she stated her thesis statement: “whatever one’s social class, race, or education maybe, we have a purpose or a call to service. Ernest Gaines uses the main characters, Grant and Jefferson, to demonstrate how men can achieve manliness through service” (McKinsey 77). By stating this thesis statement, McKinsey shows her audience that she will be discussing the main characters, as well as their journey to becoming manly. Overall, this is seen as the purpose for her article.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Compassion In A Lesson Before Dying

    1410 Words  | 3 Pages

    In A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, Grant Wiggins is asked to turn Jefferson, a young man on death row, into an honorable man before his execution. Grant faces many difficulties when Jefferson is unresponsive and refuses to comply with Grant and Aunt Emma’s request. Throughout the story, Grant struggles to find motivation to keep working with Jefferson as he faces the difficulty of racism and prejudice. The author of the novel, Ernest J. Gaines, uses characterization to prove the theme that a lack of compassion in individuals can prevent people from uniting to form a better society, because they do not try to understand one another. In the beginning of the novel, Miss Emma and Tante Lou are threatening Grant into going to visit Mr.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast A Lesson Before Dying

    1317 Words  | 3 Pages

    African-American life in pre-Civil War America and life in pre-African-American Civil Rights Movement have many comparisons and also many differences. Some comparisons are the ideas of racism and segregation and some of the differences include the education during these two times and freedoms. These comparisons and differences are related to the novels Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass which is written by himself and A Lesson Before Dying written by Ernest Gaines. These two texts will compare and contrast how life was being an African American during these different periods of time.

    Read More

  • Human Dignity in A Lesson Before Dying

    1355 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Argument Analysis - Declaration of Independence

    765 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...kes a negative attitude throughout the article. He simply states the facts, supports them, and moves on to his next point. Jefferson never appears to be angry and does not point out anything that distracts the reader from the message that he is trying to convey. He keeps a serious tone throughout that keeps the reader drawn into what he is saying the entire time. The reader feels a sense that Jefferson is serious about what he is saying and he is not to be taken lightly at all.

    Read More

  • What Is Freedom In A Lesson Before Dying Essay

    1026 Words  | 3 Pages

    Grant hates the racist, white-dominated society in which he resides, but he disconnects from the black community and threatens to leave his hometown to escape from the vicious cycle of black men struggling among a white population. However, Grant’s love for his family and friends keep him from leaving when his girlfriend, Vivian, says, “You love them more than you hate this place” (Gaines 94). Although Grant cannot bear living in Louisiana any longer, he is similar to Jefferson in that he would lose purpose in his life without a family that cares about him. If Grant follows the cycle of black men abandoning their family to pursue other interests, it would be ironic because he decries the actions of the black men that came before him. Instead, Grant wants to reverse the cycle by remaining in his hometown to teach the black children in his school to live life as humans with equal status. Grant hopes that he will achieve freedom by helping his students discover their freedom, which is similar to Jackie Robinson inspiring black men around the country by breaking the color barrier. Grant’s belief in the future of his society is akin to that of Jackie Robinson when he says, “I believe in the human race. I believe in the warm heart. I believe in man’s integrity” (Robinson). As Mr. Robinson lists his beliefs, he shows hope for

    Read More

  • Thomas Jefferson: Paradox of Slavery and Freedom

    728 Words  | 2 Pages

    During that time 18th century slave holders did not want to be in trouble and therefore they owned slaves to make themselves free. Throughout his entire life, Thomas Jefferson was a consistent opponent of slavery.  Calling it a “moral depravity” and a “hideous blot,” he believed that slavery presented the greatest threat to the survival of the new American nation. Jefferson also thought that slavery was contrary to the laws of nature, which decreed that everyone had a right to personal liberty.  These views were radical in a world where unfree labor was the norm. While Jefferson contributed much to our American historical culture, he often comes under criticism for his support of and participation in the enslavement of African Americans. Jefferson,

    Read More

  • Fate In A Lesson Before Dying

    1152 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jefferson decided to react wrongfully during the situation which in the long run modified the result of his future by getting a capital punishment. The setting of this novel takes place during the post civil war and pre civil rights era which shows how hard it is to escape history and tradition before then. Prejudice was still everywhere and blacks had practically zero rights or equity. Very much aware of his circumstances Jefferson knew what was best for him to do yet he choose to do the complete opposite. If he had got out of harm’s way by leaving the crime scene he would not have to face death for a murder he did not commit. Since Jefferson decided to utilize his freewill negatively his outcome was reflected from it. The subject of unrestrained choice is basically an issue of organization, of who is in control as many experience life settling on a wide range of

    Read More

  • Lessons Learned In A Lesson Before Dying

    807 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Biography of Thomas Jefferson

    1762 Words  | 4 Pages

    Thomas Jefferson also had some dark history. Thomas Jefferson owned many slaves. When Thomas was 14 his father died and left him a 3,000 acre slave plantation with about 30 slaves. At one point he owned up to 600 slaves. There are many people that say Mr. Jefferson may have had a long term relationship with one of his female slaves, Sally Hemmings. It seems that most people agree that they had several children together. It is hard now to imagine what it would have been like to grow up on a slave plantation and to inherit ownership of slaves. Thomas Jefferson must have had many feelings of slavery through the years. Maybe some of the things that he saw on his own plantatio...

    Read More

More about Theme Of Conflict In A Lesson Before Dying

Open Document