Name: Hasna

NIM: 1907956031
Assignment: Synopsis of A Lesson before Dying

Jefferson A twenty-one-year-old uneducated black field worker condemned to die after being
innocently involved in an armed robbery and shooting.
Alcee Gropé The white storekeeper killed during the attempted robbery.
Brother and Bear Two young black men killed while attempting to rob Alcee Gropé's store.
Miss Emma (Emma Glenn) Jefferson's godmother; she is determined that Jefferson will die
with dignity.
Grant Wiggins The narrator. A cynical, disillusioned teacher called upon to instill a sense of
pride and self-worth in Jefferson before his execution.
Tante Lou Grant's aunt and Miss Emma's best friend.
Vivian Baptiste Grant Wiggins' Creole (mixed heritage of black and French or Spanish
ancestry) girlfriend.
Peggy A fellow teacher; Vivian's friend.
Miss Eloise Bouie A friend of Miss Emma and Tante Lou.
Estelle Jefferson's cousin; one of Grant's students.
Henri Pichot The owner of the plantation that once employed Miss Emma and Tante Lou as
cook and housekeeper.
Inez Lane Henri Pichot's maid. Inez has replaced Miss Emma in Pichot's kitchen.
Louis Rougon A friend of Henri Pichot. Rougon's family owns a bank in St. Adrienne.
Sam Guidry Sheriff of Bayonne County; Henri Pichot's brother-in-law.
Edna Guidry Sam's wife and Henri Pichot's sister.
Joe and Thelma Claiborne Owners of the Rainbow Club, Grant and Vivian's favorite hangout.
Shirley A waitress at the Rainbow Club.
Irene Cole Grant's assistant/student teacher.
Matthew Antoine Grant's former teacher, known in the black community as "the big mulatto
from Poulaya."
Mr. Farrell Jarreau Henri Pichot's yardman, handyman, and messenger.
Rev. Mose Ambrose Pastor of the plantation church where Grant Wiggins teaches during the
week.
Dr. Joseph Morgan The white school superintendent who reinforces the white supremacy myth
by being more interested in the students' teeth and hygiene than in their access to learning
materials.
Paul Bonin The young deputy at the county jail who befriends Grant and witnesses Jefferson's
execution.
Henry Martin One of Jefferson's fellow inmates.
Henry Louis and Amos Thomas The two old men who deliver the first load of wood to Grant's
school, marking the onset of winter.
Dr. Sid Gilroy The white doctor whom Sheriff Guidry calls on to visit Miss Emma.
"Gruesome Gerty" The portable electric chair brought into Bayonne from the Angola State
Penitentiary for Jefferson's execution.
A Lesson Before Dying tells the story of Jefferson, a twenty-one-year-old uneducated black field
worker wrongfully accused and convicted of the robbery and murder of a white man, and
sentenced to death by electrocution. At his trial, Jefferson's court-appointed defense attorney
argues that Jefferson lacks the intelligence to plan a robbery, and that, even if he had been
involved in the killing, sentencing him to death would be like putting a hog in the electric chair.
In spite of this so-called defense, the all-white jury finds Jefferson guilty. To compound the
horror of his situation, Jefferson internalizes the attorney's racist depiction of him as a dumb
animal.

Determined that Jefferson will die with dignity, his godmother ("nannan"), Miss Emma, turns to
Grant Wiggins, a black teacher at the local plantation school, and asks him to teach Jefferson to
be a man. Although convinced that there is nothing he can do, Grant reluctantly agrees to visit
Jefferson in jail. Over the next several months, while Jefferson awaits execution, he and Grant
forge a bond that enables both men to regain their dignity, reconnect with their community, and
learn "the importance of standing."

A Lesson Before Dying is a deceptively simple novel that explores numerous complex themes.
Like Albert Camus' The Stranger, which also explores a prison experience, albeit from the
prisoner's point of view, its stark simplicity and spare language belie a complex and profound
book. Gaines uses harsh (or austere) language to reflect the spiritual and personal alienation of
humans in the twentieth century. Through Grant Wiggins' emotionally detached account of
Jefferson's trial at the beginning of the book, we recognize that something about the main
character is out of the ordinary. The novel chronicles Grant's role in Jefferson's mental and
spiritual transformation from a person beaten down by the system, exhibiting apathy and anger,
to a man with a sense of passion and purpose, exhibiting dignity and strength. By helping
Jefferson triumph over his dehumanized existence, Grant is also transformed. As a result, Grant
regains his hope in humanity and his faith in his own ability to make a difference, with the
promise of a future as a better teacher who can pass his hard-won lesson on to his students and
more positively influence their lives.

On the surface, the novel is the story of one man's struggle to accept death with dignity while
another man struggles with his own identity and responsibility to his community. But on a deeper
level, it explores the process of an oppressed, dehumanized people's attempt to gain recognition
of their human dignity, acknowledgment of their human rights, and freedom to pursue their
dreams. Gaines' manipulation of time, focusing on the day-by-day struggles of ordinary people,
is a definitive structural element in the novel.

Unlike many black American writers, Gaines focuses on a cultural perspective of time that views
history from an Eastern (Afrocentric) view, as opposed to a Western (Eurocentric) view. The
primary difference between these two perspectives is the definition of time as it impacts our view
of the past, present, and future. Viewed from the Eurocentric perspective, history is a series of
"significant events" that document the accomplishments of "heroes." Time is a commodity that,
like money, can be spent, saved, lost, and managed. Time consists of the past, present, and
future, each separated by distinct barriers; death is the end of life. Viewed from the Afrocentric
perspective, however, history is a series of individual and collective stories that document the
accomplishments of everyday people. According to this view, time is a continuum. Like an
endless river, it cannot be controlled, contained, or manipulated. Time consists of the past and
present; events that have not yet occurred exist in a separate realm of "no time." All elements of
time are interconnected; death is part of life. In this context, Jefferson's death with dignity
becomes even more of a validation of his life and the lives of his community, despite the
indignities suffered while living.

Some black historians point out that white male historians have too long defined history as a
series of significant events (occurrences that are meaningful or symbolic for a person, group, or
culture).

This point of view implies that the events selected for inclusion by members of the dominant
culture are significant to all people. Consequently, black history has been virtually excluded
from U.S. history texts because white male writers and historians did not consider the
accomplishments of blacks significant.

In Lesson, Jefferson's execution is a significant event in the black community. His impending
death has a profound impact on the people in the quarter — from the students at Grant's school,
to the members of Rev. Ambrose's church, to the patrons of the Rainbow Club. By focusing on
the Afrocentric view of history, Gaines emphasizes the worth and dignity of everyday heroes like
Jefferson, an uneducated black field worker, and Grant Wiggins, an educated black man whose
education makes no difference to the white community, which treats him the same way that it
treats uneducated blacks. Grant's education, however, makes him more aware of the disrespect
toward blacks by the white community; thus, it is difficult for him to see how the education that
he offers his students can have a positive impact on their lives. It is this realization that causes
Grant to question his own life and fantasize a better future away from his home community
rather than seek to counteract the influences that have worn it down.