Rating: 
Summary: A Good Book
Review: A Lesson Before Dying is about a black man named Jefferson. The setting is a small town in the 1940's. Jefferson is on trial for robbery and murder. This is the time of segregation. Although there was evidence of him not committing murder, he was still sentence to death row because the juries were all white. During this time there was a lot of discrimination against black. So Jefferson was not given a fair trial. To the white Juries he was a black man. To them he was already guilty. Also during the trial his own lawyer called Jefferson a hog.
Although the book is about Jefferson, the main character is Grant Wiggins. He is a school's teacher in the town where Jefferson is. Grant promised Jefferson's godmother to make Jefferson into a man but Grant himself doesn't know the meaning to be a man. As Jefferson is waiting for the day of his execution, Grant tries to talk to Jefferson as much as possible. As the execution day draws nearer, Grant and Jefferson will form a bond of friendship.
Although this book was a very good, I didn't like it because I like to read mystery books. I recommended this book to anyone that like to read about human stereotype of others and the discrimination that African-American face during this time. About how they are treat more like a "hog" than human. Although this book was very good, there was a lot of part where it was very boring and confusing.
Critical Reaction
The themes of the story for A Lesson Before Dying are based on Gaines ideology. "We all know--at least intellectually--that we're going [to die]. The difference is being told, 'Okay, it's tomorrow at 10 a.m.' How do you react to that? How do you face it? That, it seems to me, is the ultimate test of life. Quote by Ernest J Gaines, by Vintage Books. That quote tells of how Jefferson feels. Knowing that the exact date and time of his death. The author is trying to tells the reader what it would be like to be on death row for something of which you have not done and discrimination of which the people during that time had to endure.
The author writing style is a bit unusual. Although the story is about Jefferson, throughout the entire story I mainly focus on Grant. Throughout the story it mostly focus on Grant and his life. It wasn't until the end that the author let the readers read about Jefferson perspective. It wasn't until the very end that the readers will know about what Jefferson was thinking.
Throughout the story there was too much unnecessary information that the author put in. So that made the reading boring for me. It talks too much about Grant's life instead of more about Jefferson. But over all the book was a good one, I would recommend anyone to read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A Local Masterpiece
Review: This story takes place in in 1940s Louisiana in a small Cajun town in which a black school teacher,(Grant Wiggins), is called upon to make a young, wrongly convicted black man,(Jefferson), go to his electric chair as a man rather than a "hog". This is an emotional and touching book that makes readers realize that any form of racism is unecessary under any circumstances. It shows that sometimes people must go through hell in order to achieve something that seems unachievable. A Lesson Before Dying also sympathizes with people who are unhappy with their surroundings due to chaos and want to just run away from it all. At the very end of the book, Grant and Paul, ( deputy at the Bayonne prison), are walking down a road talking about how Jeffersons execution went and Paul tells Grant that he is one of the best teachers he's ever seen. They end up shaking hands, and to me, this indicates that somewhere down the line, blacks and whites will bond one day and all of this ridiculous racial tension will end. This is the kind of book that seems like time flies when you're reading it because you get caught up in it and it is so interesting and easy to understand. Earnest J. Gaines definitely put together one hell-of-a book when he wrote A Lesson Before Dying. Don'y hesitate to buy it.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful Novel!
Review: A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines was an excellent book. Though sometimes it dragged on a little bit, the book portrays the life of a man sentenced to death unjustly and a school teacher who has to make him a man before death superbly. The best part of the book had to be when Jefferson wrote his thoughts in the notebook given to him by Grant. You can see the way Jefferson was and how he was becoming a man. In my opinion, Jefferson was always a man, never a hog. People just didn't give the time or the chance to prove himself before he was convicted.
Rating:
Summary: A Lesson Before Dying
Review: This book, by Earnest Gains, has very good meanings to it. The lesson that is taught before Jefferson dies can apply to anyone. You think that you are helping someone and you are really helping yourself in the long run.
I really never would have picked this book to read on my own, yet I am glad that I have read it. To me, it makes you appreciate life more. It makes you see the things that you thought did not matter matter. I really did enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: A lesson before dying
Review: ~This novel taught alot about isolation and being alone. This book was very intresting. I could not believe that one man could be charged with murder with no proof. Everyone played a good role in the book. I feel that this novel was explaining the ways of the old south. It expressed the racism that went on between black and whites. Racism is still expressed today. If I was Jefferson I would feel intimdated, sad, alone, and very angry. Many people didn't back him up at the beging but at the~~ when it was two late they realized Jefferson died like a man not a poor fool or a hog. This book was very infasnating and unique.~
Rating:
Summary: Advice for students
Review: Gaines's novel is a classic in American literature. It is not cotton candy reading, nor is it the kind of stuff people will like who restrict their study of the arts to sit-coms and MTV. This is serious drama and explores the depths of human experience. At times, students take this book lightly and instead of committing to the text they complain that the book is boring. But the prose is measured and well crafted, and only those who are intellectually shallow themselves are capable of making those kinds of superficial comments. If any book over the last 25 years is must reading, it is Ernest Gaines's novel.
Rating:
Summary: Prejudice Kills!
Review: A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines shows a classic case of prejudice in that existed in southern states in the 1940s. For a young man to be classified as a hog, and shown no respect is a prime example of the ruthlessness. Jefferson did not have a fair trail. What ever happened to the United States law that states every man is innocent until proven guilty. The outstanding prejudice of the small Cajun town send a man who was not rightfully trailed to death. Who made us God, and how are they to try and do Gods' work. Prejudice is a bad discrimination among people that not only hurt others, but hurt ourselves. Prejudice divides communities, teaches children to hate, and weakens the economy. Ernest Gaines shows us through the townspeople that prejudice just makes things worst. Jefferson was not killed by his actions, but by the prejudice of the people.
Rating:
Summary: A Brighter Future
Review: "A Lesson before Dying" is a powerful novel which confronts racism as well as many other social issues. Although the novel is enjoyable at face value, it also allows for an abundance of individual interpretation of the text. I feel one of the most significant symbols in the novel is the friendship between Grant and Paul. Grant, a pessimistic African American school teacher is the frustrated protagonist. While Paul, a white guard at the local jail, is a young man who comes from "good stock". Although not a large character in the book, Paul is a key representation of one of the many underlying messages in the text. I personally interpreted the friendship between Grant and Paul as a sign of change. That, in time, everything changes and Grant's pessimistic feelings should change as well. Paul signifies a new generation, one that is far from the previous generations of narrow minded southerners. Grant feels that things will never change, that as long as he is in the south he will be caught in a latent society. Paul is evidence that the age of bigotry is declining. Their friendship foreshadows the progression of relations between the races in the future. Paul is the symbol of hope for the future, and a vision of equality among all men.
Rating: 
Summary: good-but
Review: I thought this book had a really great message to it that lots of people can learn from. A young black man faces the toughest form of adversity, death, and with the help of a another black man named Grant, he stares his cruel fate right in the eye and becomes a man before he dies. This is the reason why I would reccomend people to read this because of the message it sends: to become a man and do the right thing no matter what the situation is. However, I do have a reason why certain people should not read this book. Because if you have a short attention span, you may not be able to make it through. There are not many interesting plot twists and there really is no drama or mystery. You know as soon as you start to read, the fate of the young man.
Rating:
Summary: Hard Lessons
Review: This is book about racism in the south prior to the civil rights movement. This a story about the oppression of African Americans. This is a story of hope. Jefferson is an innocent man and he will die because a white man has died and he was there when it happened. Grant is an educated black man who has come back home to teach school. Jefferson must learn from Grant how to be a man, ironicly that is the same thing Grant must learn from Jefferson. This novel is a must read. It is as accurate as you are likely to get when it comes to pre-civil rights race relations. The story is very emotional and will pull at the hardest of hearts.
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