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| Plot Summary of A Lesson Before Dying |
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"Grant Wiggins, the first member of his family to attend university, has returned to his hometown of Bayonne, Louisiana to teach in the plantation school. When a former student, a simple-minded young man named Jefferson, is sentenced to die after getting mixed up with some bad company that killed a white shopkeeper but were killed themselves in the gun battle, the doomed boy's mother asks Wiggins to visit the kid in jail and make him realize he's not just an animal but a man, before he dies. Wiggins does not want this task, but his aunt Lou, with whom he lives, insists. The teacher has to negotiate the gauntlet between suspicious, unsympathetic white jailers and an unresponsive, ungrateful "pupil." This beautiful, heartfelt novel skillfully brings to life a time and a place, and depicts the subtleties and hypocrisies of race relations, the limits and consolations of faith, and the emotional process of putting a man to death."
David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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"This is the story of two young black men who are very different but both face the same issues of racial oppression in the era preceeding The Great Depression. Grant Wiggins is a young teacher who is in love with a married woman. He believes that the only way to escape racism is to leave the town of Lousiana where he grew up but has very bitter memories of. Grant is very insightful and intelligent and this is why he is asked by his aunt Tante Lou and her friend Miss Emma to spend time with Miss Emma's godson Jefferson.
Jefferson is also a young black man who has struggled with predujice, but unlike Grant this struggle will ulitmatly cost him his life. Jefferson was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was sentenced to death for the murder of a liquor store owner and two other men. At Jefferson's trial his lawyer defends him by saying that he was no smarter than a hog and a hog couldn't plot a crime. Jefferson is sentenced to death but he takes the hog comment to heart. His godmother Miss Emma does too and this is why she summons Grant to speak with her godson before his death so he can "die a man."
Grant who is a very selfish character is nervous to speak with Jefferson because he doesn't want to get close to someone who is going to die. Grant's aunt forces him to visit Jefferson and by the third visit Grant is making progress with him.
Grant has evolved as a character and grown very clost to Jefferson over the months awaiting his execution. When the day of the execution arrives Grant makes his class at school kneel until he receieves word from the courthouse that the execution is complete. Finally the final word is in that Jefferson is dead. "
Kim Fedder, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of A Lesson Before Dying |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- thoughtful
Time/era of story
- 1930's-1950's
Political/social activism
Yes
Plotlet:
- death penalty
Inside culture (main char)
- Black
Crime & Police story
Yes
Story of
- criminal becomes sensitive
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Outside culture (society)
- American South
Ethnic/regional/gender life
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- thief/con artist
- teacher
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Black
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- society
Age:
- long-lived adults
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Dumb
Physique
- average physique
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 6 (an above average amount)
United States
Yes
The US:
- Deep South
Small town?
Yes
Small town people:
- nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee
- dumb Rednecks, like Gomer Pyle
- hostile, like Gomer Pyle on steroids
Misc setting
- prison
Style
Person
- mostly 1st
- rotating 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references
- descript of kissing
Unusual Style:
- written like a journal/diary/letters
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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