Student Question
How does Jefferson's worldview in A Lesson before Dying impact his self-perception and views of others?
Quick answer:
For Jefferson in A Lesson before Dying, his knowledge that the world is unjust and his belief that he is worthless impacts his views about himself and other characters by making him deeply distrustful and despondent.
To answer this question, we first need to look at what Jefferson knows about the world. In a nutshell, he knows that he has been found guilty of a crime that he did not commit, based on the color of his skin. He therefore has a deep understanding of the entrenched racism that exists in Bayonne and surrounds in the 1940s. While Jefferson is poor and illiterate, the events that have taken place have given him a thorough understanding of the place he is expected to accept in the world and of his own mortality.
The despondence that comes with having been found guilty and condemned to death for the murder of a white liquor-store owner, which he did not commit, has led Jefferson to be deeply distrusting. His view of his situation is that it is hopeless, and he is initially ambivalent and unresponsive to Grant Wiggins's attempts to...
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emotionally prepare him for execution.
Jefferson has come to know the world as a place of complete injustice, and in that frame of mind, he had little interest initially in trusting anybody. Over and above this, Jefferson has accepted his lawyer's view of him, that he is nothing more than a "hog," and come to think this true.
In A Lesson Before Dying, how does Jefferson's relationship with others help him understand himself?
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 available to him and receiving little encouragement, Jefferson developed very little confidence in his ability to overcome the oppressive status quo. These factors are all clearly on view in his interactions with the criminal justice system. The law views his involvement as equal to that of the robber and tries him accordingly. The actions of his defense attorney, who openly derides and dehumanizes him, do not attempt to get him acquitted. All twelve members of the jury are white. The trial only confirms to him that the system was fatally flawed and that society does not value his life.
The interactions that Jefferson has with Grant, therefore, constitute a novel experience. While he is incarcerated, he is finally encouraged to communicate his thoughts, both within his journal and with an educated Black man who takes his ideas seriously. Their sessions together help Jefferson to believe that his ideas have value, which contributes to raising his self-esteem. Unfortunately, these positive experiences occur within the confines of the prison and only in the last days of his life.