Devin Manley

Mr. Massie

AP Language and Composition

14 June 2019

A Lesson Before Dying

In the book ​A Lesson Before Dying​ by Ernest J. Gaines, a young black man in the 1940s

is convicted of a murder that he didn’t commit and was sentenced to death. Before his

electrocution, a teacher named Grant Wiggins attempts to help him regain his sense of manhood

and redeem himself despite the pressures of the White community. Jefferson, along with other

characters, demonstrate the ways in which the generalizations of their race can create adverse

consequences for many. This concept has relevance in modern day society as racial

discrimination and prejudice occur on the daily, leaving many to feel helpless and used. In

regards to the topic of identity, it is prevalent that one’s self-image is relative to the standards

implemented on themselves through various comparisons, interactions, and the stagnancy of

society.

Numerous comparisons made in regards to how a singular individual can develop a

person’s identity are developed in this text. This is demonstrated through the form of identity that

Jefferson adopts throughout the novel. During Jefferson’s trial, the public defender labeled him

as a hog and fool in order to try to reduce his sentence through establishing pity. This ultimately

caused Jefferson to believe he is an actual hog and isolate himself from the human world. In

efforts to help Jefferson regain the mentality of a man, Jefferson’s godmother asks Grant to visit

him in the jailhouse. Miss Emma and Grant had visited Jefferson in the courthouse a couple of
times, but the response by Jefferson was always the same: quiet with little interaction. When

Grant went alone, he brought the food that Miss Emma had prepared, but Jefferson asked for

corn. He kept referring to himself as a hog, thus his reasoning for asking for corn, claiming that

they were just trying to fatten him before killing him. A part of their interaction is as follows:

“‘You’re a human being, Jefferson. You’re a man’… ‘I’m go’n show you how a old hog eat,’ he

said. He knelt down on the floor and put his head inside the bag and started eating, without using

his hands. He even sounded like a hog” (Gaines 83). This dialogue reflects the influence and

importance that the defendant’s comparison had on Jefferson. As readers, one does not know

many details about Jefferson’s character before the trials occur. However, it is certain that he did

not behave like nor believe that he was a hog before the trial itself. As a result of the defendant

calling him a hog, a fool who does not have the intellect of a human, Jefferson started acting as

would be expected of one. He no longer believes he is a man because of the distinct identity that

was placed on him by others. Regardless of what Grant or the others say, he continues to call

himself a hog. He acts like a hog and avoids activities that would be considered ‘human,’

including talking, . Jefferson doesn’t even think of himself as a living being anymore. This is

evident in the following dialogue where Grant says that he “...saw tears in those big reddened

eyes. ‘Manners is for the living,’ he said. He looked at me a while, then he swung around and

knocked the bag of food off the bunk. The bag burst open on the floor… ‘Food for the living

too,’ he said” (Gaines 130). Jefferson constantly dehumanizes himself to the level at which white

people see the black community. Being in prison for a murder that he did not commit is an

agonizing experience for him, as visible in his eyes, but he did not express it in words because he

felt he was not capable of doing so as a ‘hog.’ This important comparison is the reason behind
why Jefferson is acting the way he does, resulting in his identity being changed to fit the

comparison. Therefore, it is established that various comparisons to objects and organisms below

the intellect of the human mind can shift the identity that some have created for themselves.

Furthermore, Gaines believes that identity is a concept that is influenced by the

interactions that individuals have with others, especially when those interactions belittle them.

The idea of one’s identity being developed by the expectations of others is demonstrated through

usage of the following quote spoken by Grant: “I tried to decide just how I should respond to

them, whether I should act like the teacher that I was, or like the nigger that I was supposed to

be” (Gaines 47). Grant is an educated man; he attended university and became a teacher. Yet he

is conflicted in how to express his identity—whether to show his intellect or match the

expectations of black people as uneducated. This shows how an individual’s identity is

influenced by the interactions they have with those around them as Grant is attempting to limit

the extent of his intellect in order to please the white people through acting inferior to their own

education. This concept of identity is further developed when Grant states, “the hours I had to

wait while they ate and socialized before they would even see me. Now going up to that jail…To

search my body each time as if I’m some kind of common criminal” (Gaines 79). In the 1940s,

African Americans were still seen as inferior, as illustrated by the treatment that Grant had to

endure. This negative perspective inflicted humiliation on all those that had to experience it, and

often that interaction was enough to change their self-image, as demonstrated through this

exchange with Jefferson. Having to wait to speak to a white man and being searched as if he was

a threat were actions committed solely on the basis of the inferior identity that was applied to

blacks. In doing so, they also made them feel lesser, forcing them to believe that they are not
enough to receive the same treatment and respect as white people, further establishing the notion

of how various adverse interactions can influence one’s personal identity. In brief, it is prevalent

that identity can be seen as a concept that is influenced by the interactions that individuals have

with others around them.

Stagnation, or the refusal of society to change for the better, can ultimately influence

one’s identity in an adverse context. This is established when Grant reflects on the area he lives

in and how it has changed throughout his life, saying “I had heard the same carols all my life,

seen the same little play, with the same mistakes in grammar. The minister had offered the same

prayer as always… Vivian said things were changing. But were they changing?” (Gaines 151).

Grant feels trapped in the town of Bayonne, as if his life is in an endless loop bound to repeat the

same mistakes he had made his life over and over again, due to Bayonne continuing with the

same traditions and same routines that Grant had witnessed there since his birth. This led to

Grant feeling as if the town will never change, urging himself to leave the town due to a sense of

isolation and feeling of not belonging there anymore, ultimately stripping himself of his identity

in the process. This same concept is further developed when Grant recalled visiting his old

teacher, Mr. Antoine. As a teacher, he taught less about academics and instead prepared his

students to work as he thought that was the only option. He considered education to be a burden.

In one of their conversations, he said, “You’ll see that it’ll take more than five and a half months

to wipe away-peel- scrape away the blanket of ignorance that has been plastered and replastered

over those brains in the past three-hundred years” (Gaines 64). Mr. Antoine believed that

education was worthless because it would not be enough to create a new identity for African

Americans, one that would allow them to sit at the same level as whites. For three hundred years
they had been made inferior, and the short period of time that they had been allowed to gain an

education would not be enough to reverse those centuries of subservience. The town of Bayonne

is stuck in the past and will not progress for the better, effectively keeping the pain and struggles

of black men and women to continue to stay that way. In summation, it can be said that the

stagnation of a society’s progress can ultimately influence one’s identity in an adverse context.

In essence, the image in which people convey themselves to the world around them can

be developed through a variety of ways. Whether it be through comparing oneself to others,

having harmful interactions with people, or feeling secluded and restricted by a society that

cannot accept change, the idea of how some perceive themselves to be can shift countlessly

throughout their life. Identity is not set in stone and can change drastically at any time, whether it

be for better or worse. Considering the non-static state of identity, individuals can choose to

surround themselves with positive influences to develop a growth mentality that will help them

thrive in society. Even with the restrictions that are set by factors like race, religion, wealth, and

beyond, using the influence of others in a positive perspective can end the years of stagnancy

that have long been part of American society.