... was for Jefferson, a 21-year-old black man, or in the judge's case a "hog," who was innocent just in the wrong place at the wrong time. "A Lesson before Dying" by Ernest J. Gaines, is about the ways in which people insist on declaring the value of their lives during a time and place in which their lives count for ... depressed waiting on death row. Jefferson feels worthless in a white dominated world he lives in. but all of this changed when Grant befriends him and helps him out before he dies. Jefferson is convicted of murder. The attorney defending Jefferson asked the jury to spare his...

• Word Count: 1062
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... . No, I did not go to the trial, I did not hear the verdict, because I knew all the time what it would be..." So begins Grant Wiggins, the narrator of Ernest J. Gaines" A Lesson Before Dying. Within the novel, university educated Grant, returns to the tiny plantation town of his youth, where the only job available to him is teaching in the small plantation church school ... rather be superior to them, due to his education. As Grant struggles to impart a sense of pride to Jefferson, the accused of killing a white shopkeeper, Grant also learns an important lesson. This responsibility, to s...

• Word Count: 572
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... . No, I did not go to the trial, I did not hear the verdict, because I knew all the time what it would be..." So begins Grant Wiggins, the narrator of Ernest J. Gaines," A Lesson Before Dying. Within the novel, university educated, Grant, returns to the tiny plantation town of his youth, where the only job available to him is teaching in the small plantation church school ... rather be superior to them, due to his education. As Grant struggles to impart a sense of pride to Jefferson, the accused of killing a white shopkeeper, Grant also learns an important lesson. This responsibility, to...

• Word Count: 571
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... Christmas past is there to help him, and do him good. "Conduct me where you will. I went forth last night on compulsion, and I learnt a lesson which is working now. Tonight, if you have aught to teach me, let me profit by it." The spirit takes him to the streets on Christmas morning, ... doesn't bring happiness. Scrooge sees what an innocent, adorable child Tiny Tim is, Bob Cratchit's son, and is heart broken at the thought of him dying. Before the visits from all the spirits and ghosts, Scrooge wouldn't have cared one bit whether Tiny Tim lived or died, but he now actually takes an in...

• Word Count: 5644
• Approx Pages: 23
• Grade Level: High School

... kill without reason is an attempt to address Antonio's curiosity regarding the morals of murder. Ultima also tries to teach Antonio a larger moral lesson regarding salvation and damnation. Her suggestion that people must make independent moral decisions but should not make decisions regarding salvation and damnation introduces into the ... as an inevitable process that is not good or bad in itself. Antonio's relationship to the Virgin of Guadalupe highlights his growing moral awareness. Before, he was largely concerned with sin and punishment. In this chapter, he begins to include forgive...

• Word Count: 3136
• Approx Pages: 13
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Discrimination is evident throughout this novel, and is clearly is a major theme. The novel A Lesson Before Dying, shows that the blacks did not deserve any respect in many ways. For example, when the superintendent came to visit the school, the white people in that time thought that ... ...

• Word Count: 520
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School