A Lesson Before Dying Book Analysis Essay

To many people, life is a gift and a blessing, unfortunately, the main character in this book thought of it as a burden and just wanted to escape, but eventually, the community comes together to prove him wrong. The book A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines is about a young black male named Jefferson who was the only survivor after a liquor store shootout in which three men were killed. He was falsely convicted of murder and was sentenced to the death penalty. Grant Wiggins,  returned to his hometown as an educated man to teach. He is uncertain whether he will stay or leave when his aunt and Jefferson's godmother persuade him to visit Jefferson in jail and teach him how to be a man before his death. Gaines portrays Grant's transformation from initially powerless and pessimistic to impactful and caring to reveal the theme that with effort and dedication in helping others, one is able to create a change in peers and themselves. As a result, he was able to help Jefferson face death as a man, and join his community in fellowship. 

At the beginning of the novel, Grant feels powerless to make a change and because of that, he does not have any motivation to stay. The author illustrates this powerless side of Grant when he says, “Is it just a vicious circle? Am I doing anything?” (62).  When Grant says this, Grant feels powerless because he doesn't feel like he achieve anything to prevent this brutal cycle. Grant does not think he has the power to make a change and is, therefore, unable to help Jefferson throughout the start of his conviction.  Adding on to this, Grant feels powerless when he is being pushed to support and bring fairness to Jefferson’s situation, and states  “Yes, I’m the teacher…and I teach what the white folks around here tell me to teach— reading, writing, and arithmetic. They never told me how to keep a black boy out of a liquor store” (13). This reveals that Grant feels unable to help because he does what is asked of him, and can't do much more such as, ‘‘keep a black boy out of the liquor store’’ (13). This leads back to the idea that Grant initially feels powerless, as he feels there is nothing that he can do to create a positive impact on Jefferson’s life.

At the end of this book we are able to see the change within Grant, as he changes his way of thinking, he realizes that he is able to impact Jefferson's life greatly, meaning he can connect and sympathize with Jefferson on a deeper, and more meaningful level. One example of Grant's close connection with Jefferson is when Grant communicates to Jefferson, “You have the chance of being bigger than anyone who has ever lived on that plantation” (). This indicates that Grants has transformed from his powerless mindset to wanting and believing that he can impact Jefferson to be the truly strong man his godmother wants him to be. Grant also desires to make the last few weeks of Jefferson's life as comfortable as possible. He takes the time, collects money from members of the community, and pours hard work money to get whatever Jefferson wants. Grant says “He wants something of his own before he dies. He wants a gallon of ice cream for his last supper—did he tell you that?.. . He has only a month to live. And all I’m trying to do is make it as comfortable as I can for him” (). The words ‘I'm trying’ indicate that Grant is putting in effort and doesn't believe that everything is a waste of time, or that his community is lost because. I know that Grant has transformed from feeling powerless about making a change to trying and putting effort, this is demonstrating that Grant is influencing Jefferson in a good and powerful way. 

In conclusion, Grant has changed from feeling powerless and as if he can't make a change, to believing in himself and truly caring about the people around him. This development in himself allowed him to influence Jefferson and his community in a kind, uplifting way.