A Lesson before Dying

In a sense, this book is more about the injustice in the world thanks to racism than actually presenting a treatise on how to live life. Yet arguably, we can infer such lessons from the way in...

Gaines begins the novel with these words:I was not there, yet I was there. No, I did not go to the trial, I did not hear the verdict, because I knew all the time what it would be. Still, I was...

A Lesson Before Dying is written from the first person narrative point of view. This means that the story is told from a character's point of view, and readers can expect the narrator to refer to...

We learn about Mr. Antoine through Grant Wiggins's memories and his actions as a teacher. Grant Wiggins begins the novel by feeling as though he is above Reverend Ambrose and his student,...

The historical setting of the novel is critical to the themes of the novel. Jefferson, having been sentenced to death, struggles to grapple with the indignity of dying due to false accusations...

In A Lesson Before Dying, Grant refuses to take dinner at Mr. Henri's house because he does not respect Mr. Henri. To appease Miss Emma and his aunt, Grant has already used the back door to enter...

A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines is set in Louisiana's rural South and the events occur in the year 1948. This was after the Second World War, but before the Civil Rights Movement took...

A Lesson Before Dying, while focusing on the story of Jefferson's kidnapping by the state and state sanctioned execution, provides readers mostly with Grant's inner thoughts and turmoil as he...

Ernest Gaines's novel, A Lesson Before Dying is set in Louisiana. There, the main character, a young black man of diminished mental capacities named Jefferson finds himself in a liquor store...

In A Lesson Before Dying, author Ernest J. Gaines provides a variety of literary devices to demonstrate to his readers how deeply rooted the specter of racism found its way into every aspect of...

Gaines's style in Grant's narration is a literary element used to communicate the text's central idea. The style of Grant's narration is distinctly different at the start of the narrative from...

This conversation occurs in Chapter 4, and is when Grant is feeling very entrapped and frustrated with his position in life. He feels that he is being forced against his will to spend time with...

I don't think Gaines gives the character Jefferson a last name in A Lesson Before Dying. His godmother is named Emma Glenn, but she is not a blood relative. I've read the book and several critical...

Jefferson’s worst ordeal with racism begins after the fatal shooting of the white liquor store owner. He is denied any chance of justice when an all-white all-male jury is convened to decide his...

In A Lesson Before Dying, we meet Jefferson, a black man who is accused of murder. Jefferson is a simple kindhearted man who swears he is innocent. He goes to trial and his lawyer argues that...

The protagonist, Grant Wiggins, does not especially want to help Miss Emma. Despite being a college educated man, he is still considered inferior by whites in his society. Powerless to change this...

A Lesson before Dying is a fictional work loosely based on a true story. It describes the plight of a falsely-accused young black man on death row and his struggle to regain his dignity. The main...

One example of segregation in A Lesson Before Dying is how Grant and other black people are forced to enter homes through the back entrance. That is the entrance that is reserved for servants (who...

In chapter 4, Vivian's family has issues with her trying to get together with Grant before her divorce from her first husband is finalized legally. They also object to the fact that Grant wants her...

The setting is a small town in the South called Bayonne in the 1940’s. Bayonne, which is named after a town in France, is a Cajun town. It represents many small towns in the South during the...

Under the circumstances, Jefferson could’ve been forgiven for fighting tooth and nail right up until the last, for resisting his execution with everything he had. After all, he’s completely...

In Ernest J. Gaines, "A Lesson Before Dying," Reverend Ambrose approaches Grant to request his help in getting Jefferson to turn to God before his execution. Grant tells the Reverend that the soul...

The answer to this question is a matter of perspective and what one individual considers a "real teacher." I believe that Jefferson, the imprisoned many who has been sentenced to death, is the real...

What Grant's doing here is to try and talk himself out of the thankless task of preparing Jefferson for his imminent execution. When he tells Miss Emma that Jefferson's already dead, Grant means...

There are several circumstances toward the end of A Lesson Before Dying that do the most to explain a comparison between Jefferson and Jesus. One circumstance is that Jefferson is executed on Good...

A Lesson Before Dying takes place in Louisiana in 1948, where racism is prevalent and an innocent black boy, Jefferson, is sentenced to death. Our protagonist and narrator is Grant, a teacher in...

In Ernest Gains' " A Lesson Before Dying," Grant is in love with Vivian. She, however, is still married to another man. Vivian is in the process of getting a divorce, in order for she and Grant...

One human condition presented in A Lesson Before Dying is conflict. Throughout history, people have been battling one another for countless reasons. In Ernest J. Gaines’s novel, Grant Wiggins,...

As we see in Chapter 9 of Ernest J. Gaines's A Lesson Before Dying, the first time Grant goes with Miss Emma to visit her godson Jefferson in jail, Jefferson treats them with silence and hostility,...

Jefferson asks Miss Emma if she brought any corn for him when she begs him to eat something. He says, "Corn for a hog," and Miss Emma tries to convince him, of course, that he's not a...

Matthew Antoine was Grant's elementary school teacher and previously the quarter's teacher, passes away before the novel begins."Sam Guidry, the sheriff, always tries to put Grant Wiggins in...

In trying to save him from being executed, his defense lawyer argues that Jefferson has no more sense nor intelligence than an animal - specifically a hog. Miss Emma is deeply hurt by this...

Significant quotations from stories are often related to the theme and/or the author's purpose for the story. In A Lesson Before Dying, the last two chapters of the novel contain many statements...

According to the story, Inez Lane is the maid who works in Henry Pichot's large gray and white antebellum house. We first meet Inez in Chapter 3 when Grant, his aunt (Tante Lou) and Miss Emma go up...

This book has multiple themes throughout the text, so picking the central theme is going to be up to individual readers. I do think that the themes of race and prejudice should be among the...

I would want to support #3. Clearly, the theme of teaching and learning is essential to the story, and is what stood out most to me, along with the other themes. The narrator shows that, although...

I can see the parallels between Jefferson and Jesus. Both were innocent men who were executed. In chapter 28, Jefferson seems to see that parallel himself when he says to Grant, "Your cross,...

Let's take a closer look at this question by identifying the setting where each chapter, eleven to twenty, occurs. After that, we can take a broader look at how some of these settings directly...

She is willing to prostate herself before Henri Pichot because she is willing to do anything that will help her son to die "like a man" rather than "like a hog," as was said during his trial....

One topic to consider when debating the pros and cons of "dignity in death" are the "lessons" Grant and Jefferson learn through the experience of waiting for the execution. If Jefferson (and...

Jefferson is convicted of murder and sentenced to death by execution. During his sentence, the defense lawyer refers to Jefferson as a "hog", claiming that it is senseless to execute someone who...

Ernest J. Gaines's A Lesson Before Dying is set during the days of racial segregation in the South and centers around the theme of the dehumanization of racial discrimination. Relationships in the...

The ending image of Grant seeing the butterfly is the sign for him to recognize that the execution has ended and that he can say goodbye. At this particular point in the narrative, Grant is not...

In Ernest J. Gaines's 1993 novel A Lesson Before Dying, a young innocent black man named Jefferson is charged with and convicted of murder. During the trial, Jefferson's attorney uses the defense...

Consider Jefferson’s social worth. In the novel, how is his life perhaps not worth as much as another in the community? Of course, a major theme in the novel is racism, and not just racism directed...

As a poor Black man growing up in the Jim Crow era, Jefferson constantly experienced discrimination and racism from many members of the dominant white society. With a dim view of the opportunities...