Lesson Before Dying: Worth a second glance

Rainbow Bracey

Assistant Spectrum Editor

“A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest J. Gaines was assigned to me, like countless other books in middle school for Black History Month. And while the gravity of the message might be lost on the average middle-schooler, the average college student should think about picking it up off the shelf.

“A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest J. Gaines is the story of protagonist Grant Wiggins and Jefferson immerses the reader from the first page. Wiggins, a black teacher on a rural Louisiana plantation, lives in a constant state of struggle for identity while simultaneously attempting to bring literacy and education to black elementary school children.

Though slavery is now extinct, the South is still divided by race. When Jefferson is accused of murder it only intensifies that division. The black community has little doubt as to what the outcome of the trial, will be. Jefferson’s court appointed defense attorney argues not for his innocence, but for his dim-wittedness, comparing him to foolish hog. It was not only demeaning but ineffective.

Through Jefferson was merely a witness to crime, he is convicted and sentenced to death. Through the determination of Jefferson’s godmother Miss Emma, Wiggins enters Jefferson’s life and begins to educate the now imprisoned young man in the short time before his death sentence is carried out. This journey takes both men down the road of acceptance-of-self, a path laden with bitter mistrusts for Wiggins. He’s lost faith in the church, which is ironically the school.

“My classroom was the church. My desk was a table, used as a collection table by the church on Sundays, and also used for the service of the Holy Sacrament. My students’ desks were the benches upon which their parents and grandparents sat during church meeting. Ventilation into the church was by way of the four windows on either side, and from the front and back doors. There was a blackboard on the back wall. Behind my desk was the pulpit and the altar. This was my school.”

Though the language of race is subtle in the book, it carries potent impact. The author shines light onto the internal battle often waged with African-American males of the time. Though they are men, they’re called boys. Though Wiggins and Jefferson appear on to reside in two completely different circumstances, their inner plight is the same. Jefferson wants to be seen as a man, not hog. Wiggins needs to view himself as a man despite the constant devaluation of southern society.

Accompanied by the naiveté of youth, my first read resulted in anger and disappointment—not at the writer, but at the reality of the situation presented in “A Lesson Before Dying.” Now a decade older wiser, the book perpetuates a re-evaluation of how far this country has come. The lessons Wiggins and Jefferson attain are imperative to teaching present-day readers an antiquated lesson. So while Jefferson learns to write, the readers learn to appreciate the struggle of oppression; regardless of race.

As Black History month hurdles toward an end, and we as Americans grapple to understand its continued value, Earnest J. Gaines offers a Pulitzer Prize-winning look into African-American experience that might be worth another read.

Grade: A