Themes In A Lesson Before Dying

A Close Look Into The Theme: A Lesson Before Dying
A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest J. Gaines, is a wonderfully-written novel about a man named Grant, and a tragic part of his life that changes him forever. This book revolves around the lives of Miss Emma, Tante Lou, Vivian, Grant, and a man named Jefferson. In the beginning of this book, Jefferson is thrown into jail for a crime he didn’t commit, and is sentenced to death. Jefferson’s attorney drilled it into Jefferson’s mind that he was a hog. His godmother, Miss Emma, wants Jefferson to become a man before he dies, and with the help of her friend, who just so happens to be Grant’s aunt, she picks a teacher who she thinks can help. Grant, with the support of his girlfriend Vivian, and the

force of his aunt Tante Lou, tries his hardest to help Jefferson amount to a man. In A Lesson Before Dying, Gaines uses Jefferson’s imprisonment and death to criticize racism through the ages and draw notice to the fact that it didn’t just hurt people who were close to the victims.
An example of racial injustice in the novel is shown in this passage. This is Grant talking to Jefferson in chapter twenty four. This tells a great deal about how Grant feels, and about the events he witnesses everyday. We examine how he observes people getting treated, how he gets treated himself, and how he feels about that and his life.
“‘A myth is an old lie that people believe in. White people believe that they’re better than anyone else on earth-and that’s a myth. The last thing they ever want is to see a black man stand, and think, and show that common humanity that is in us all. It would destroy their myth. They would no longer have justification for having made us slaves and keeping us in the condition we are in. As long as none of us stand, they’re safe. They’re safe with me. They’re safe with Reverend Ambrose. I don’t want them to feel safe with you anymore. I want you to chip away at that myth by standing. I want you-yes, you-to call them liars. I want you to show them that you are as much a man-more a man than they can ever be. That jury? You call them men? That judge? Is he a man? The governor is no better. They play by the rules their forefathers created hundreds of years ago. Their forefathers said that we’re only three-fifths human-and they believe that to this day’” (Gaines 192).
This passage shows that Grant feels trapped. He needs a hero-someone to stand up for him and the people around them going through the same struggles. This reveals a reason as to why he is doing this with Jefferson, and it allows us to delve deeper into the character that we know as Grant. The mood in this passage is dark yet hopeful. Everyone is going through dark times, but Grant has faith in Jefferson.
Grant’s diction is greatly important to this passage-it inflates the theme and makes the mood more noticeable.

The way Grant says that they are “safe” with him and Reverend. The fact that he questions their manhood (just like how they questioned Jefferson’s), and calls them liars shows how much he is struggling and how much faith he has in Jefferson. Grant tries to stay strong in his life, but he doesn’t know what to do. He wants to run away, but something is holding him back. He doesn’t want to be a teacher. He loves a married woman. Now, he has to help someone become a man, and realizes that he can help everyone. Jefferson is now practically Grants savior, his hero, and that is what he is saying in this beautifully written, very moving passage.
Gaines is very blunt when it comes to racism in this novel, and he shows that through Jefferson’s struggle. The previous passage represents the theme immensely and is a very important part of the story. We don’t unambiguously know who Grant is on the inside until this part of the story. This passage is where Grant opens up the most he can and shows his faith in Jefferson, and really shows how much he is fighting through the thing he calls his life. In this passage, we learn that Jefferson is the

key.