Human Dignity in A Lesson Before Dying Essay -- Ernest J. Gaines

forgiving Dignity in A Lesson beforehand Dying hand and Jefferson ar on a journey. Though they have vastly different educational backgrounds, their roughhewnality of being black men who have lost accept brings them together in the search for the meaning of their lives. In the 1940s scummy Cajun town of Bayonne, Louisiana, blacks may have legally been e gaycipated, but they were still enslaved by the antebellum myth of the place of black people in society. springer established during the years of slavery negated the laws meant to give black people follow rights and the chains of tradition prevailed leaving both Grant and Jefferson trapped in mental slavery in their communities.The struggles of Grant and Jefferson share a common theme, mans search for meaning. Grant has the advantage of a college education, and sequence that may have provided some enlightenment, he remains in the alike(p) crossroads as Jefferson. Grant sees that regardless of what he does, the black students he teaches continue in the same jobs, the same poverty and same slave-like positions as their ancestors. Grant has no hope of making a difference and sees his bearing as meaningless. Though Jeffersons conflict is more primal, it is the same as Grants struggle. Jefferson is searching for the most basic identity, whether he is man or animal. It is this conflict of meaning and identity that bring Grant and Jefferson together.In this book, Ernest J. Gaines presents three views to determine manhood law, education and religion. Jefferson has been convicted of a crime, and though he did not commit it, he is sentenced to death as a sloven a word that denies any sense of worth or dissolve of dignity he may have possessed in a world ruled by oppressive white bigots. Jefferson is at an heretofore greater loss as he has no education and after(prenominal) the conviction he doubts that God can even exist in a world that would send an innocent man to his death. It is clear that Jefferson does not believe he has any value. Im an old hog. practiced an old hog they fattening up to kill for Christmas (83).Though Grant may have had some advantages compared with Jefferson, his position in life was not significantly better than Jeffersons. Grant knows that if he had been the black man sitting in the courtroom, he too would have been convicted. In his powerful origin to the novel, Grant says, I was not in that respect yet I was there... ...rong allege them im a man (234).Jefferson died with dignity and Grant returned to Bayonne believing he could top a difference. It is not clear that religion, a belief in God, do the difference for either of them. It is clear that as they struggled with the issue of a high power, they did discover that the meaning of their lives was not attached to the white mans beliefs and myths, but rather came from inside themselves. To the end, they both struggled with whether or not there was a God. As they end their journey together, Jefferso n is at peace and becomes a hero in his community. Though Grant cannot be a hero, he does find his place and returns to the schoolhouse with new hope and a dream for making a difference, if not for himself, for his students. He doubts himself at times, but he gains determination for his students. Yet they must believe. They must believe, if only to free the mind, if not the body. Only when the mind is free has the body a chance to be free. Yes, they must believe. They must believe. Because I know what it means to be a slave. I am a slave (Gaines 251)Works CitedGaines, Ernest J. A Lesson Before Dying. New York Vintage Books, 1993.