A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines

“I don’t want them to kill no hog…I want a man to go to that chair, on his own two feet” (13). Jefferson’s godmother, Miss Emma, desires to help her godson regain his sense of masculinity after being called a hog during his court case. She persistently beseeches Grant Wiggins to change Jefferson’s self-image even though she knows that Grant will refuse initially. Grant finally agrees to visit Jefferson in jail but only to appease Miss Emma and his concerned aunt, Tante Lou. The first three visits are utter failures but on Grant’s fourth trip, Jefferson asks for a gallon of ice cream which symbolically breaks the barrier between the

Grant will never know what an influence he had on his community. The governor of Louisiana set the execution date for two weeks after Easter. As the news of Jefferson’s situation spreads around the area, many people, friends and strangers, come to visit him in his cell. Jefferson has the opportunity to stand up for his community and in this way, his life becomes more than just ordinary and his death bears more importance than the norm. Wiggins is part of a very serious fight involving two mulatto bricklayers in the Rainbow Club. The two men were saying horrible things about Jefferson which infuriated Grant. The fight becomes so serious that the bartender, Claiborne, is forced to knock Grant into unconsciousness. On the day of the execution, Mr. Wiggins asks his students to kneel down on their knees in respect for Jefferson and remain in that position until he receives word that the execution is over. Even the jail guard, Paul, is affected. He states, “…I don’t ever want to forget this day. I don’t ever want to forget him” (255). Grant cannot even attend Jefferson’s execution because of the closeness he feels to his new-found friend. It is told to Grant that, out of all the people in the execution ro

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