Customer Reviews

A Lesson Before Dying

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This year, i really havent read much, but i've found a book that i really enjoyed, A Lesson before Dying. The book had a really good beginning, it grabed my attention right away. It starts of in the court, some one has been killed, and their trying to figure out if the "man" is really guilty of robbery and first degree murder. Their is also these two main characters that they call them Brother & bear, and they go to court to support their friend, telling them thir side of the story, because they were there with him. Later on the story, the mother is really upsset, but believes that her son is inocent of all charges. When the court is finally over, after all the convincing storys from both sides, the man was guilty with all charges of robbery and first degree murder. The man claims that he didnt kill the worker at the liqior store, and that he dindt take any of the money.

This is the story of Jefferson, a youn man living in rural Louisiana about 1948, who has been erroneously convicted of murdering a white shop keeper. Once his white lawyer has referred to him as a hog, his behaviour reverts to that of an animal. His Aunt Emma, who raised him, asks the local school teacher, Grant Wiggins, to speak with him and to help Jefferson to regain his humanity and to face his future with dignity befitting a man.
The school teacher has his own challenges. He hates living in the south, being reminded daily of the poor circumstances of the black man and the mean way in which they are treated. He longs to leave and work elsewhere, but he can't just walk away from the request of Aunt Emma as she was one of the people who helped pay for his college education.

I down loaded this from my library and listened to it on my ipod while driving. Unfortunately I had it set to shuffle and I listened to the second half of the story first and then the first half. Yes, I was a bit confused at moments, but it made me listen all that more intently. I think I might have even gained more listening to it this way.

This was an incredibly moving book. Yes, it was bad that an innocent man was railroaded into a convictions for a crime where he was a bystander. For me this book was more about the actual people of Jefferson and Grant Wiggins. They had the power to chose the type of man they were going to be, the type of man they would present to those surrounding them. Jefferson could be dragged to the electric chair or he could walk there with his head up and show that he was a better person than those who put him on that path. He was able to chose to ignore all those who said he was nothing better than an animal. He lived up to the expectations of his Aunt Emma and to the many others in his community who were supporting him. Grant asked Jefferson to become a hero to his people. To walk with his head up. Even the teacher is able to learn from the student.

I really enjoyed listening to this play and look forward to reading the novel.

Author Ernest J. Gaines has written at least eight books and many more short stories and articles. He has won numerous awards for his writing. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette has a good biography of Mr. Gaines.

We have read this book before. We have heard these lessons taught and we have seen what happens when we refuse to learn them. We heard the voice of innocence lost in To Kill a Mockingbird when Scout realized that racism for the sake of tradition is still racism. Now, in A Lesson Before Dying, Ernest J. Gaines, gives us a voice from the other side of the tracks.

Grant Wiggins is a young man in the south, during the days of "Separate but Equal". He's six years out of University, a little too educated for most white folks' taste, but he keeps his learning in line by teaching at the black school in the quarter (short for ex-slave quarters) on the old plantation where he lives with his Aunt. He's resigned himself to his fate. He knows the rules and he plays by them. He ends sentences addressed to white men with "sir", and he doesn't look a white man in the eyes unless the white man is speaking to him. He'd be angry if he thought it wasn't pointless.

Then comes along an event that changes everything. Not so much his world, as much as the way that he sees it. His old Aunt's friend's godson, has the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This puts him on trial for the murder of a white man. His court appointed defense attorney appeals to the jury of 12 white men, that Jefferson, guilty though he may be, should not be put to death. "What justice would there be to take this life? Justice, gentlemen? Why, I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this." Even with such a strong argument, the jury gives him the death penalty.

These are the words that changed the course of Grant Wiggins' life. Jefferson's godmother wants "the teacher make him know he's not a hog, he's a man. I want him know that 'fore he go to that chair...". But for Grant to do that, he's got to know it himself. The teacher has much to learn from his former student.

A Lesson Before Dying is a novel of such striking poignancy, that long after the last page is read, the story goes on and on in your mind. You grow to love the characters BECAUSE of their humanity, as much as IN SPITE of it. Your breath catches when you realize, as Grant does, that maybe it was Jefferson all along that was the man, and Grant that learned what being a man really means. A wonderful book, but try it for yourself! Pick up a copy. Another book I need to recommend -- very much on my mind since I purchased a "used" copy off Amazon is "The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition," an odd, compelling little novel I can't stop thinking about.

Overall I feel that this book is extremely well written. The book is centered on one main character and gives you the ability to get into his mind. While reading this book I was never bored or disappointed. The chapters were not long and drawn out which kept my attention and forced me to read on. I enjoyed how the author used descriptive detail in order to give me a clear understanding of the setting, characters and moral of this novel. I loved the fact that this book touched me so much even though it wasn't happening to me. I felt as if I was there, yelling at the white people for treating the blacks so poorly and feeling their pain. This novel will forever stay with me; it has opened my mind to a new perspective on how something that occurred so far away can have an effect on me, right here, right now.

A LESSON BEFORE DYING is about relationships. Relationships between a man and a woman, a man and his family, and a man and society. All incorporated in a wonderful and powerful story. It takes place in the 1940's where a young black man will be executed for the murder of a white store owner. During the trial, his lawyer tells the jury of white men that executing the young man would be like strapping a hog to the electric chair. His godmother doesn't want the world to see a hog executed, but a man. So the local black schoolteacher's services are offered up to make sure that no "hog" is to be executed. It is a wonderful book. It is the perfect example of "walk softly and carry a big stick". Gaines does this literally. The language is elegant which makes the emotions all the more powerful. I was moved. Read this book, not because it is Oprah's pick, read it if you are a fan of a good story. You will not be disappointed. Must also recommend THE CHILDREN'S CORNER by Jackson McCrae for another great read-though nothing along the lines of A Lesson, it is riveting and compelling with many stories set in the south. Enjoy!

This book overall was very good I thought, it had a very good ending message and I enjoyed watching the changes in the characters that Gaines developed for the reader. I would reccomend this book to all readers. Also recommended: THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD

This is a wonderful novel about segrationist Lousiana and about two men trying to become men. One is a slow, barely literate young black wrongly accused of murder, and the other is a young black profesional working as a teacher in a plantation school. Both are trying to attain their manhood. The young person convicted of murder becomes a man first and shows the community what it is like to face a grim fate with dignity and courage. The young black professional learns from this person how he should conduct his life.
This is wonderful story with good life examples of how people become adults. It is not only serious, but has some good stories that I chuckled over. A great read.

A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines is an excellent story about duty and heroism. It takes place on a small Southern plantation outside of Bayonne, Louisianna in the 1940's. At this time in America when society is still torn by racial segregation, an innocent black man named Jefferson is found guilty of robbery and murder and sentenced to death by electrocution. The majority of white men in town share the sentiment that Jefferson's life has no more worth than that of a hog's. This is where the narrator, Grant Wiggins comes in. Grant, a professor at a very primitive grade school for black children, is the only educated black man on the plantation. He is asked by Jefferson's godmother, Miss Emma, and ordered by his own aunt, Tante Lou, to visit Jefferson in jail and teach him, before he goes to the electric chair, that he is not a hog but a precious human being. Grant is already unhappy and despaired with what he thinks is a futile life, teaching black children who, despite his efforts, will turn out just like Jefferson anyway. All he wants to do is run away with his girlfriend Vivian, but he is tied down by the obligation he has to his fellow black man. Although Grant is reluctant to begin visits with Jefferson, and Jefferson is just as reluctant to receive these visits, the two eventually form a very close bond. This story centers around their relationship and the lesson they teach each other about fulfilling responsibility and dying with dignity.
It is no wonder why this novel is a classic. It is eloquently written, emotionally powerful, easy to follow, and very profound in its subjects and themes. The characters are well-developed and difficult not to empathize with. Grant is an especially dynamic character, but everyone in Gaines' novel contributes to an understanding of the overall plot and its purpose. Vivian, for instance, acts as the voice of reason and the support Grant needs to continue his lessons with Jefferson. Henri Pichot and Sheriff Guidry represent the fear and ignorance that keep racial segregation so prevalent in American society. A Lesson Before Dying is deep on many levels, and there is no one that I would not recommend it to.

This book really hit me hard. I grew up in the deep South in the 1960's and witnessed some of the segregation and attitudes that fill this story. But to see only that in this book would be a mistake. There are multiple themes here. Gaines explores the idea that we must sometimes move out of the familiar if we are going to change. The line 'if you stay, you'll become the n***** they believe you to be' is very powerful and applies to all us all at times. As we strive to improve ourselves, to be more than we are, there are forces that strive equally hard to keep us in 'our place'. Often these forces are not as obvious as the bigotry portreyed in this book, but they are as real.
There is also a thread of hope sewn into this story. Hope of change, growth and improvement. We see it in Jefferson, in the deputy and finally in Grant himself as he learns an important lesson.

This book is not FUN to read, but everyone should read it.

This book was just fantastic! The writing style and themes are as brilliant as McCrae's "Bark of the Dogwood" or "Cry, The Beloved Country." This was one of the most moving, intense, and touching books I've come across in a while. Heart-warming without being sappy, and literary without being boring, you simply cannot go wrong with this one.