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Summary: A Lesson Before Dying
Review: If you have ever had someone in your family that has had cancer and they knew they were going to die before they actually passed away, you could probably relate to this book. Although this book isn't about a man with cancer, it is about someone who is going to die who was falsely accused of a crime. Miss Emma a godmother to Jefferson the man who is sentenced to death wants Jefferson to die a "man." In court the District Attorney tried to get Jefferson off by saying you might as well kill a hog as to kill this Jefferson. Miss Emma wants Jefferson to be educated and stand as a he walks to the electric chair electric chair.
In A Lesson Before Dying Grant is a School teacher who has to try and teach Jefferson to stand as a man before being executed. Grant has trouble at times trying to stand up on his own, facing a lot of racial prejudice with most of the white community thinking that they are superior to the blacks in the community. While visiting Jefferson Grant rarely talks about god and this angers their Reverend. At one point in the story Reverend Ambrose said, "We have to get something straight around here," speaking to Grant, referring to teaching Jefferson about God. Grant does not have the faith the Reverend would like him to have. Grant bought Jefferson a radio which the Reverend didn't agree with either. Grand believed that the radio was just company for Jefferson and said, "I call it company, Reverend Ambrose," in a argument between the two. Grant beleiverd that Jefferson needed to realize important things about living before he had to die. Towards the end of the book Grant read in the notebook that Jefferson wrote, "allow me to be your friend Mr. Wiggins."
In conclusion A lesson Before Dying is a very compelling and moving book. There are many lessons to be learned within the book. I believer that Grant who is still living learned just as many lessons as Jefferson who stood as the strongest man in the execution room. I would recommend this excellent book to anyone who likes a moving book about great relationships between families.
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Summary: A Lesson Before Dying Essay
Review: A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines is a book of people learning and realizing what life is all about. Grant Wiggins is a person who changes and realizes what life is really about.
Grant is a person who others come to for help because he is the teacher. They expect him to know most everything. This is why he is chosen to help Jefferson. Jefferson is in jail for participating in a robbery and murder which he did not commit. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. At the end of the trial, the prosecutor calls Jefferson a hog. Now Grant's aunt and Miss Emma want Grant to convince Jefferson that he is not a hog, that he is a man.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Grant, I'm helping them white people to humiliate you. I'm so sorry. And I wished they had somebody else we could turn to. But they ain't nobody else." (p. 79)
Just about every Friday Grant goes to see Jefferson, unwillingly though, to try and make Jefferson realize he is a man. Jefferson, at first doesn't even talk. Eventually, however, Jefferson starts talking. By the time of his execution, Grant has convinced him that he is a man. He is not only a man, but a hero. He is a man/hero because not everybody will give up there life and take the chair as Grant knew Jefferson would.
"Do you know what a hero is, Jefferson? A hero is someone who does something for other people. He does something that other men don't and can't do." (p. 191)
Grant changes throughout this book. He goes from being sad and sorry for himself, to realizing that life isn't so bad.
"I wanted to scream at my aunt; I was screaming inside. I had told her many, many times how much I hated this place and all I wanted to do was get away. I had told her I was no teacher, I hated teaching, and I was just running in place here. But she had not heard me before, and I knew that no matter how loud I screamed, she would not hear me now." (p.15)
"Yes, I'm lucky," I said. "Some of us are." (p. 255)
These quotes prove that he has changed. He realizes that he is lucky to have what he does have, and to be grateful for it.
Overall, I think this was an excellent book that helps teach you that you should be grateful for what you have, and not be mad or upset about what you don't. It takes a while to learn, but all you have is time. For those people who do not have time to learn should think about their lives as they are now. Yes, sure, you can always pick out the bad things in your life, but why would you want to?
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Summary: A lesson Before Dying
Review: A Lesson Before Dying
Every Day people are accused of doing something they didn't do, but back in the early days black people got accused of everything. White people thought that since the black people were black they weren't completely human. In Jefferson's case they had seen him not as a man but a hog. In the final words of the trial the lawyer said "he's just a hog."
When someone looses there faith they tend to say they are lost. Grant said to the priest "I am lost and you can't expect me to tell Jefferson to believe when I don't." He also told the priest he needs the radio more than God because he let this happen.
The Priest said to Grant, "You think your educated because you went to collage, but don't know ant thing about your own people you are not educated when you are in hell your so called education won't mean a thing." it means that even if you know things from books you still have to know god and the people you are around daily to make a difference.
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Summary: A lesson before dying
Review: A lesson before dying is about how the unfair punishment of one man that affects all of those around him. A young black man named Jefferson is sentenced to death by a jury of white men and in the court room is convinced that he is less than human. After his sentencing his god mother encourages the local school teacher, Grant Wiggins, to teach Jefferson how to die like a man. Grant is a skeptic when dealing with people. He has seen the world around him and the way it works and belives that all "The same people wore the same clothes, and sat in the same places." Grant reluctantly accepts his task and sets out to teach Jefferson how not only to live like a man but also die like one.
As the weeks leading up to Jeffersons execution go by Grant gains a new appreciation for life, and feels more and more annoyed by the unfair treatment of African Americans at the time, asking himself "twelve white men say a black person must die, and another white man sets the date and time witout consulting one black person. Justice?" At the same time the people closests to Grant and Jefferson all learn something about themselves.
This novel is well written, interesting, and thought provoking. The novels main protagonists both start in similar yet separate conflicts with those around them. But as Jeffersons execution date grows nearer the two feed off each other and learn to overcome there problems. These two are not the only ones to learn a lesson though. Everyone around them learns a lesson on the power of human spirit over the oppression of mankind. And the true meaning of friendship "A Godson obeys, but a friend- well, a friend would do anything to please a friend."
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Summary: A Lesson Before Dying summary
Review: "A Lesson before dying" is about a man who is convicted of murder in the town on Bayonne, Louisiana. Jefferson the man's name said he was not guilty of the charges. He says he was on his way to the bar, but changed his mind and decided to tag along with two men who were on their way to a liquor store. When they arrived Jefferson had no idea that they had planned on robbing the store, and when the two men started arguing with the store clerk a shoot out started. After that everyone was dead and Jefferson panicked and did not know what to do. When the cops came he was arrested and tried for murder and later found guilty. Jefferson always says " I'm a pig, I eat like one to."
When Jefferson's godmother hears about the verdict, she refuses to let Jefferson to die like a hog, but instead die a man. So she asks Grant Wiggins to help turn Jefferson into a man. At first Grant is very reluctant about helping them because he doesn't want anything to do with the case, but after a lot of bugging and nagging from Miss Emma and Tante Lou he gives in, and says he will try hard as possible to turn him into a man. On there first visit Jefferson heard the lawyers words, and took it to heart. Jefferson resents Grant, and doesn't talk much at all, which makes it even harder for Grant to reach him.
Grant tells Jefferson, "I don't have to be here so don't threaten me. During Grants next visits it doesn't get any better. Jefferson still insists to be stubborn and malice, but Grant doesn't lose his cool because if he blew up at him then left the judge would know that there conversations are not going well. Visit after visit it is the same thing over and over, sit for an hour with no conversation, looking at each other with dislike and antipathy. On his fourth visit, Grant sparks conversation about Jefferson's last meal. After awhile he admits that he wants a gallon of vanilla ice cream. As they get along better and better Grant promises him a radio. So he has to go around town trying to get money from people to help pay for the radio.
On Grants next visit he gives Jefferson a note book to write down all of his thoughts. On Grants visit after his gives Jefferson the note book he has filled up page or more. After awhile they begin to connect more and get along much better.
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Summary: Lessons well learned
Review: A LESSON BEFORE DYING is about relationships. Relationships between a man and a woman, a man and his family, and a man and society. All incorporated in a wonderful and powerful story. It takes place in the 1940's where a young black man will be executed for the murder of a white store owner. During the trial, his lawyer tells the jury of white men that executing the young man would be like strapping a hog to the electric chair. His godmother doesn't want the world to see a hog executed, but a man. So the local black schoolteacher's services are offered up to make sure that no "hog" is to be executed. It is a wonderful book. It is the perfect example of "walk softly and carry a big stick". Gaines does this literally. The language is elegant which makes the emotions all the more powerful. I was moved. Read this book, not because it is Oprah's pick, read it if you are a fan of a good story. You will not be disappointed. Must also recommend THE CHILDREN'S CORNER by Jackson McCrae for another great read-though nothing along the lines of A Lesson, it is riveting and compelling with many stories set in the south. Enjoy!
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Summary: The Product of a Brilliant Mind
Review: Capital punishment, segregation, and acceptance have been a part of past and present times. Those issues along with tragedy, injustice, and accomplishment are part of the fascinating story, A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest Gaines. The setting for this novel is a small town in the south during the 1940s where the two main characters are Jeferson and Grant. Jefferson is condemned to death by electrocution for a crime he did not commit. When his godmother realizes that nothing can be done for his freedom, she asks Grant to help him die like a man. After being called a hog by his defense attorney, Jefferson looses the little dignity he had and it's up to Grant to restore it. Grant doesn't like the idea, but he's forced to comply to it by his aunt. In return, Grant learns about the soul and spirit. Gaines writes this tragic story and reveals his feelings of capital punishment, segregation, and the difficulty of acceptance in a unique way, which thus makes this novel a 1993 winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. Ernest J. Gaines was born into the world he describes in A Lesson Before Dying. "Though the places in my stories and novels are imaginary ones, they are based pretty much on the place where I grew up and the surrounding areas where I worked, went to school, and traveled as a child..."(Vintage Books) depicts Gaines. Although what he says, Gaines has a special way of letting the reader know what his opinion is on capital punishment. He describes his feelings about this form of punishment through Grant. When the date for Jefferson's death is set, Grant thinks about the way someone can plan a man's death. "How do people come up with a date and time to take a life from another man? Who made them God?" Those were the thoughts going through Grant's mind, and they showed the billiance of an author who expresses his feelings in a unique manner. Grant and Jefferson convey to the reader the true meaning of soul and spirit by teaching each other those values. Grant shows Jefferson to die with dignity. Then, conversely, he is learns a few things about the soul. The way they respond to each other is described so clearly, it's as if the reader is in that lonely and desolate cell. Gaines also wrote about the mulattos to tell the reader about the struggle with acceptance. He teaches the reader about segregation and acceptance through his other characters. Bars in the back of town for "blacks only", "blacks only" restrooms, and the school where Grant teaches for "blacks only" are only some of the examples of segregation Gaines so explicitly places in the novel. A Lesson Before Dying is a touching and powerful novel that reaches out to the reader and portrays a time of injustice, inequality, and struggle. Gaines does an exquisite job of describing thoroughly the pain of enduring those issues. That description makes the story powerful enough to change some readers' thoughts. By comprehending the struggle these main characters go through, the reader gets a broader view of society which makes him/her a better person.
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Summary: Oprah Has Good Taste
Review: Ernest Gaines' novel A LESSON BEFORE DYING is a fast paced, powerful novel that can reach readers on many levels. The book takes place in the segregated south of the 1940's. Grant Wiggins, a local educator, is too qualified to be teaching at the local school, but his possibilities are limited due to his race. He has big dreams, but is trapped due to the social conventions of his time. Since he is an educated person, the community expects a great deal from him, especially his grandmother and her friends. He is expected to try and help a young man named Jefferson, an African American who has been sentenced to death, die with the dignity he never had in life and much of the plot revolves around the decisions he has to make regarding Jefferson. The book could easily turn into a moralistic tale where a basically good person does the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do. Gaines avoids this route. Grant struggles with the expectations of others, his own religious beliefs, what he reasonably owes the community, as well as the normal struggles of any young person trying to find joy, happiness, love, and satisfaction in the world. We see in Grant a character who deserves our respect and admiration, not because he is superior, but rather because of the way in which he uses his strengths and wrestles with his own demons.
When the book was first published, I purchased quite a few copies for friends. It sat on their shelves until the book was part of Oprah's book club. Then it became a must read. Oprah had great taste in choosing this book.
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Summary: A Long Road to a Valuable Lesson
Review: Ernest J. Gaine's, A Lesson Before Dying, was the longest 250 page book I ever have read. It's slow pace and predictable events put me right to sleep. The book takes place in the 1940's in a highly racially segregated part of a small Louisiana community. Jefferson, a young black man, is falsely accused of murder and sentenced to the electric chair. The majority of the book is the time between his accusation and his death, in which his old teacher, Grant Wiggins, tries to make a man out of him at the wishes of his godmother (Tante Lou, Jefferson's mom). Grant's goal is to make the hopeless Jefferson into a man, and destroy the white man's myth that the white race is superior. So after frequent visits from the teacher and Jefferson's family, Jefferson decides to stand as a man and die with pride to further the black populations struggle for equality. By sacrificing for this cause, Jefferson defined what it is to be a man by giving his all for others and what he believes in. Everyone in the book is so amazed and enlightened by his actions, and they learn what it means to be a man or even human for that matter (Even Grant Wiggins). It proves we all have something to learn in life, but after twenty pages I guessed the ending because I have encountered a similar theme in multiple other works. I suppose I'm a sucker for happy endings, but I wanted to know where the justice was. Jefferson was a decent human being, and yet he and his family suffered. The question that arises is; "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Well I don't like that Jefferson seemingly had an unfair turn of events, but being a man of God, I accept the idea the he will be compensated for in Heaven. No one is above death or fate, and for that reason I believe we are all equal. On a side note, the author had some excellent descriptions of the food that Tante Lou made for Jefferson, and I have to say I found myself hungry quite often. Overall I believe that the lesson in the book was a subtle yet valuable one, but it seemed to take the author forever to get there. Other then the fact that there was not much "happening" in the book, I thought I was a worthy read for someone who has a lot of time on their hands.
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Summary: Struggles in an Unjust Society
Review: Ernest J. Gaines, the author of A Lesson Before Dying, has written a novel that is difficult to put down, though the conclusion is inevitable. Gaines creates a strong emotional power that is set in the story, one that the reader will not likely forget. As the first chapter was read, I began to instantly visualize what the characters were actually seeing. This is definitely a compassionate novel that left me tearful. The story, about two young black men struggling in their unjust society, is set in a small community in Louisiana during the 1940's. Jefferson, who just so happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, witnesses a shootout between a white store owner and two black men. It also just so happens that Jefferson is the only survivor and witness. He is put on trial and because of his race, convicted of murder, sentenced to death by electrocution. But before his execution, Jefferson's sickly Godmother's only wish is for him to believe he is a man and not a hog, as the defense had cruelly stated him as. His Godmother believes this can only be done by persuading Grant Wiggins, the school teacher, to gain access to visit Jefferson in prison and help him face his death with dignity. Grant, the educated school teacher, who has returned from the University back to his hometown, is living a life full of problems. Grant struggles with his decision to run away with the woman he loves, although deep inside he knows he cannot leave his aunt. He is also involved in many arguments with his aunt over him not believing in God and also him dating Vivian, his girlfriend. Now Grant must fulfil a wish of a dying old woman, and help Jefferson to die like a man. Eventually through the story the two men acquire a relationship that changes them both.
The beginning of the story was a little boring, but with an urge to finish the book, I kept reading, and it kept getting better the further I read even through the end of the novel. The chapters contained events from one day to the next so it was very easy to understand and pick up where I left off. The only confusing chapter was reading Jefferson's diary. Although I believe it was essential to the novel to include this chapter, it was difficult to read. This chapter lets you understand and realize what exactly Jefferson was thinking and going through right up until his execution. The words written, in this part, would have been exactly like the poor grammar Jefferson would have used because he was almost illiterate. The words written were parts of words with misspellings and no punctuation making me have to slow down the reading and at times think of what words he was actually referring to. This story, I think, dealt with heroism that does not always have to be shown through a persons actions. It also dealt with major issues of race and identity. For example, Grant struggled with being the well educated man he thought he was or being the ... they (meaning the white people) knew he was. This story made me also think how unjustly blacks were treated. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an emotional story that has a meaning to it that can be different to each person depending on how they look at it. Just remember that when you read it do not stop reading it just because you know what the ending will be because each chapter brings more and more meaning to the story.
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