A Lesson Before Dying
From Freepedia
Image:LessonBeforeDying.jpg A Lesson Before Dying is Ernest J. Gaines' eighth book, Published in 1994 by Vintage Contemporaries, a division of Random House Inc., and is a book on the Oprah's Book Club list, placed there in 1997.
Contents |
Description
Jefferson, a black plantation boy of 21, living in 1940's Louisiana, is accused of murdering the white general store owner. In his defense, Jefferson's defense lawyer attempts to appeal to the racism of the jurors by calling Jefferson a hog. The attorney says, "Why I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this," (8). This is heard by his godmother, Miss Emma, and her friend, Tante Lou, who are sitting in the courtroom. Jefferson is, of course, sentenced to death. This causes Jefferson to believe himself to be an animal rather than a man, so Miss Emma and Miss Louise ask Grant, the narrarator and teacher of the plantation school, to teach Jefferson that he is a man, and to walk to his death as such--the lesson before dying.
Summary
Characters (In order of appearance)
- Grant Wiggins - Narrarator and teacher at the local school. Also called Professor.
- Miss Louise - Grant's aunt and Miss Emma's best friend. Called Tante (The french word for aunt) Lou by Grant.
- Miss Emma - Jefferson's godmother and guardian.
- Nannan - Jefferson's name for Miss Emma
- Jefferson - Black boy convicted of murder and sentenced to death.
- Brother and Bear - Two black men who coerced Jefferson into going to the store with them, while they were planning to make trouble.
- Gropé - Old man who ran the general store in Bayonne.
- Henri Pichot - Owner of plantation where the story takes place.
- Inez Lane - Henri Pichot's Maid.
- Louis Rougon - Friend of Henri Pichot, banker of St. Adrienne, a small town near Bayonne.
- Sam Guidry - Brother-in-law of Henri Pichot and sheriff of Bayonne.
- Reverend Mose Ambrose - The reverend of the quarter, but doesn't live in the quarter.
- Vivian Brown - Grant's girlfriend, a teacher in Bayonne.
- Joe Claiborne - Owner of the Rainbow Club.
- Thelma Claiborne - Joe's wife and cook of the café in the Rainbow Club.
- Dora - Vivian's friend who takes care of Vivian's children when Vivian goes out.
- Shirley - Waitress at the Rainbow Club.
- Irene Cole - Student left in charge when Grant is out of the classroom.
- Farrell Jarreau - Handyman of Henri Pichot.
- Edna Guidry - Sam Guidry's wife.
- Dr. Joseph Morgan - Superintendent of the school district.
- Henry Louis - Worker on plantation. Brings firewood to classroom.
- Amos Thomas - Works with Henry Louis.
- Matthew Antoine - Grant's teacher, when Grant was a schoolboy.
- Clark - Chief deputy at the jailhouse.
- Paul Bonin - Deputy at the jailhouse. One of the few open-minded white people.
- Peggy - One of the teachers at Vivian' school.
- Daisy - The principal at Vivian's school.
- Elouise Bouie - One of Tante Lou's friends from the quarter.
- Bok - Mentally handicapped boy from the quarter.
- Dr. Sid Gillory - Doctor of Bayonne.
Most other characters introduced in the book are only mentioned once.
Locations
- Bayonne, Louisiana - Town nearest the plantation (13 miles).
- The quarter - The area of a plantation where the black people who work on the plantation live--the old slave quarters.
- Rainbow Club - Club Grant and Vivian frequent. It has a bar and café.
- Robert and Helen's house - A place Grant and Vivian can go and spend time alone together.
Plot
[Note: This is an overview of the main plot of the book. It does not cover all of the relevant parts of the book]
Jefferson was walking down the road when a car with Brother and Bear comes up, and Brother and Bear ask and finally insist on Jefferson getting a ride with them to Gropé's general store. Brother and Bear attempt to rob the store with Jefferson present as a scapegoat, but things go bad. Gropé pulls out a gun and shooting begins. Gropé manages to kill Brother and Bear before being mortally wounded himself. Jefferson, having just seen three men shot and killed, gets rattled and grabs a bottle of whiskey from behind the counter to try and calm himself. When he comes to realize how this will look he decides to leave, but seeing the open register grabs some money ans as he is leaving is apprehended by the police.
The trial goes poorly for Jefferson and he is convicted and sentenced to death by electrocution.
Miss Emma and Tante Lou talk to Grant and convince him to go talk to Jefferson and make Jefferson believe he is not a hog. After a time at Henri Pichot's house, Henri sees Emma, Louise and Grant and they tell him of what they want to do, hoping to get an audience with Henri's brother-in-law, Sam Guidry, who is the sheriff. Henri reluctantly agrees to talk to Sam. Henri invites Sam to his house and Sam agrees to let Grant talk with Jefferson from time to time.
The first visit does not go well. Neither Emma nor Grant can get Jefferson to say much of anything and they fail in getting him to eat the food Emma made for him. The next few visits end in roughly the same manner. Emma and Louise have Grant continue to visit Jefferson even when Emma can't.
On Grant's first solo visit, Jefferson starts to respond, but his responses are angry and defiant, calling himself a hog, eating like a hog and the like. This upsets Grant, so he goes to the Rainbow Club to drink and think of a lie to tell Emma about how Jefferson is responding to him. He leaves to find Vivian and finds her at her school. The next day, Grant tells Emma the lie he came up with, but she doesn't seem to believe him. Reverend Ambrose is there and the conversation moves toward religion, which Grant dismisses quickly.
Emma, Louise and Mose went to see Jefferson the next Monday and Emma learned the truth that Grant had lied to her. Grant visits again that Friday and Jefferson and Grant start to connect. Jefferson starts talking back to Grant. The next visit gets Grant and Jefferson talking more, but Jefferson will still not open up or stop showing anger about everything.
In late February, Grant finds out the execution has been scheduled for the second Friday after Easter, April 8, 1949. The next time Grant visits Jefferson, he comes up with the idea of bringing Jefferson a radio that he can listen to. He does so and brings the radio back up to the courthouse for Jefferson.
The Monday following Jefferson's receiving of the radio, he refuses to leave the radio and go to the common room to see his godmother and Reverend Ambrose. Grant is blamed for this, but nothing more comes of it and Jefferson gets to keep the radio. Grant visits again, and decides to bring Jefferson a notepad to write down his thoughts. Grant also brings some pecans that the children from the quarter picked for Jefferson. In his first truly positive response to anything since he'd been locked up, he asks Grant to thank the children for him.
On the next visit, Emma, Louise, Grant and Reverend Ambrose are all in attendance. Jefferson doesn't want to eat his godmother's food, but after a short walk and talk with Grant, he eats his food.
Two weeks before the execution, Jefferson and Grant have a good rapport and Jefferson gets the resolve to die with dignity. This ends up being Grant's last visit to Jefferson.
Jefferson writes a diary of the next two weeks. The transformation in his last two weeks is quite apparent.
In the end, Jefferson walks tall and with dignity to his death. He shows everybody that he is indeed a man.
