America is called the melting pot because of its diverse races, leaving insoluble racial issues. Even now, racism is taken seriously in schools, work environments and other places. Earnest J. Gaines’s novel, A Lesson Before Dying, deals with the issue of race in the 1940s. Jefferson, a young black man, is convicted of murdering a white man. A plantation school teacher, Grant Wiggins, is asked to visit Jefferson before his death. With friendship between the two growing, Wiggins persuades Jefferson to be a hero, and Jefferson accepts Wiggins’ persuasion. The process of Jefferson becoming a hero impacts not only Wiggins, but the entire Cajun community.
Jefferson is convicted as a murderer, and his attorney defends him by insisting that Jefferson is a foolish young boy, incapable of planning a murder. The attorney says he would rather put a hog in the electric chair than execute such a thoughtless individual. However, the court sentences Jefferson to death by electrocution. Jefferson’s Godmother, Miss Emma, asks Grant Wiggins to visit Jefferson until his death. Wiggins is a successful black man, a teacher at a local school; however, he is not satisfied with his life, and is always thinking about whether he should escape to another state. At first, Wiggins refuses to meet Jefferson, and Jefferson is also dissatisfied with meeting Wiggins. However, a transformation begins to occur between the two hurt and confused souls.
When Wiggins first approaches Jefferson, Jefferson calls himself a hog and refuses any sort of communication. Similarly, Wiggins doesn’t seem attached to Jefferson. Jefferson is locked in pain and agony, while Wiggins is hypocritical and depressed. Because Jefferson was raised in a racist society, he does not have faith in himself, his society or his church. He just wants to escape the situation. Innocent, young black Jefferson takes on the insult of being called a hog, and he is just waiting for his death. He is a dark, powerless symbol in the white-dominant society. However, through the communication with Wiggins, Jefferson begins to transform into a symbol of positive change.
Slowly, both Wiggins and Jefferson try to understand each other and talk with sincerity. Wiggins no longer is angry or upset about visiting Jefferson, and Jefferson also accepts Wiggins’ visits. Wiggins advises Jefferson to be a hero. He tells Jefferson, “A hero does for others. He would do anything for people he loves, because he knows it would make their lives better. I am not that kind of person, but I want you to be…They expect it from me, but not from you. The white people out there are saying that you do not have it—that you’re a hog, not a man. But I know they are wrong. You have the potentials; we all have no matter who we are”(191). While Jefferson is hurt by the insults, Wiggins tells him to become a hero by being a good Godson and a good friend, persuading him to prove to the white men that he is not a hog.
Wiggins’ advice works. Jefferson proclaims, “Me. Mr. Wiggins. Me. Me to take the Cross.” Wiggins decides to take on the cross of others and to be the sacrifice. He is dying as a scapegoat of racism, but he makes himself into a brave man rather than a hog. Jefferson says, “But tell them he was the bravest man in the room today. I’m a witness Grant Wiggins, Tell them so.” His heroic death changed both himself and Wiggins. Previously hypocritical, Wiggins begins to learn to take responsibility. The death of Jefferson also impacts his society. This is not delivered in the book, directly, but Gaines shows how the death of one common man can bring change to the society.
Jefferson was an innocent man who never had more than a dollar in his pocket and who wanted a gallon of ice cream for his final dinner. Just because he was black, he was accused of a crime and was sentenced to death. Also, people mock him, calling him a hog. In the beginning, Jefferson is just a symbol of sorrow, but throughout the book, he turns out to be a hero who changes the society. Wiggins, an educated pessimistic black man, also transforms into a new person because he sees the injustice that Jefferson has faced. A Lesson Before Dying is not just a novel, it is a life lesson for all of us, because we all have the potential to change the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment