"I was not there, yet I was there." (Gaines 3) Grant says this in the beginning of the story reflecting back on Jefferson’s trial. This quote characterizes Grant as a type of person who accepts his role in the society, in which he lives and feels a responsibility towards those around him. Although he was not present at the trial, it has become personal to him and the remorse he feels for the situation could be none the more real if he had been there. (www.accessus.net) Grant Wiggins, is a teacher at an elementary school. Grant is a very bitter man for being so young; maybe it is because he has known nothing but

When it is time for Jefferson to die Grant cannot bear to attend his execution. He remains at his schoolhouse, but hears from Paul, the white deputy, that Jefferson did die with pride and courage. “A Lesson before Dying” by Ernest Gaines, is about standing tall and being a man in the face of overwhelming adversity.

When Grant agrees to help Jefferson, he begins to visit Jefferson regularly. Grant progress is slow at first because Jefferson refuses to emerge from his shell of anger and resentment. When he brought Jefferson the radio it inspired Jefferson and allowed him to let Grant help him. Grant buys Jefferson a small notebook to write down his thoughts and Jefferson agrees to use the items. The notebook serves to help them communicate. Grant sees the benefits that persistence and continuation can lead to as he observes Jefferson using his notebook to write things down.

Jefferson is convicted of murder. The attorney defending Jefferson asked the jury to spare his life, because he was a "hog," not a man and there was no point in killing a hog that didn't know the consequences of his actions. This statement upsets Jefferson a lot. Jefferson soon believed he was a hog and that nothing mattered. He knew that he was going to die anyway. Therefore, nothing else mattered anymore. His pride was gone. Until he began, talking to a man named Grant Wiggins. His aunt and Jefferson’s godmother to go in to the cell and talk to Jefferson so he can die with dignity thus becoming a man ask Grant. She says, "I don’t want them to kill no hog," She also said, "I want a m

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