What If I Was Jefferson?

Today I caught myself daydreaming; what if I was Jefferson.  I was wondering if I would be able to cooperate like the way he did. I don’t know if I would be able to stay sane throughout the whole process.  I honestly have to give it up to Jefferson for actually becoming a man at the end of the novel. If I was him, there is no way I would be able to do what he did.

If I were sentenced to death, I would probably break out in tears in front of everyone. I was shocked to read that Jefferson wasn’t crying after the judge sentenced him to death by execution.  I don’t remember the dream fully, however, I do remember fillip out in the court and trying to fight the officers. Jefferson did the opposite though. He sat there and didn’t move throughout the whole trial. You can never really feel how another man is feeling unless you’re in his shoes. In my dream, I was in Jefferson’s shoes and I can tell that even before the trial, he was a man. The word “hog” may have changed his mindset but he soon came back into reality late in the novel and realized that he is indeed a man.

I soon woke myself up from this dream, but, the ending wasn’t pretty. I had to be dragged to that chair while in tears. It takes real strength to do what Jefferson did and I can finally appreciate that. He did what I, and probably man other man, couldn’t do. He can be looked at as a true inspiration.

The Role of Children

Just like the woman, children also played an important role in the novel. This may not be obvious but I believe that they had a lot to do with how Jefferson eventually became a man.  Neither of the children had a key major role in the novel but they contributed in the novel and even helped Grant achieve his goal of making Jefferson a man.

One of the key examples I realized about the children being a key factor in the development of Jefferson was when Grant gave Jefferson the pecans and peanuts that the children in the quarter had picked for him and he said thank you. That was the one of the first instances in where Grant believed that he was getting somewhere with Jefferson. I believe that the innocence of all the children actually caring for him showed Jefferson that maybe he does mean something to the quarter. Another example of the children’s role in the novel is during the Christmas play. Even though it was rainy and muddy that day, everyone in the quarter came to watch the play. This represented the unity that the children brought to the quarter. This also shows that even are the worst days, children could still make people come out and be together.

There may have been other examples of the children’s roles but I believe these are the most important in the novel. Also when the children visited Jefferson in his jail cell during his final days, it put a smile on his face. It was also nice to see that his little cousin Estelle was able to see him. She was shown crying several times in the beginning of the novel. These children affected Jefferson and the people of the quarter internally.

The Role Of Women

The role of women in the A lesson before Dying is a key factor in the development of Jefferson and Grant. Both started off as bitter and angry man who naïve in what happened in the world. Jefferson didn’t want to listen to Grant at first because he believed that he was going to die anyway so what was the point of learning anything. Grant had several instances where he was naïve. He didn’t believe that teaching the kids was going to get them anywhere because they would all end up like the men who were unloading the wood. As his teacher Mathew Antoine said, there was no future for black people in the society.  Also, Grant did not believe that he could change Jefferson. He too thought that he was going to die so what difference did it make. However, the woman in this novel changed both of these men’s mindsets.

The one female in Jefferson’s life that he loved the most was Miss Emma. In the beginning of the novel, Jefferson would say something disrespectful to Grant until his godmother was mentioned. Grant noticed that the only way to get to Jefferson was to show him that the one woman that did everything for him needed him the most. He told him that the only thing that would make her happy is if he did things such as eat her food and walk to the electric chair as a man. Because of her, Jefferson did become a man at the end of the novel. As for Grant, he had two important women in his life that helped him progress as a person. These two people were Vivian and Tante Lou. As much as Tante Lou would aggravate Grant, he seemed to always listen to her. She is part of the reason that Grant agreed to see Jefferson. Without her, Grant would have probably not gone to the jailhouse to see Jefferson. Vivian on the other hand, also played an important factor in Grant’s life. Grant started out as a very bitter man that could only be happy when he was with Vivian. He was contemplating not visiting Jefferson anymore, but she encouraged him to keep seeing him. She always showed Grant that there was ar reason why he came back to Bayonne and that was to help the community. This showed Grant that he actually wanted to contribute and change the society he lived in. He wanted to make a difference in the lives of the children and adults in the town.

These were just some of the effects that women had in this novel. There were also minor roles that women had in the book. One of the minor roles was how Grant would always leave Irene Cole in charge of the class whenever he needed to attend to something else. Although this was not very big in the novel it shows that even a child had an impact on Grants life.

Changes in Jefferson

I will be the first to tell you that I was not a fan of Jefferson in the beginning of the novel.  I believed he was ignorant and even though he was going to be put to death, he could have been more positive and more responsive to Miss Emma. I even at a point in the novel felt bad for Grant because he had to deal with Jefferson.  It was almost like a father trying to explain something to a child. However, I was surprised to see the transformation that Jefferson made from the beginning of the novel to the end.

In the beginning of the novel, Jefferson himself believed that he was a hog. It even got to the point where he got on his hands and knees put his face in the basket of food and made hog sounds intending that he really is a hog. Grant got to the point where he didn’t even want to visit him anymore because there was no way he could change Jefferson. With the help of his girlfriend Vivian, Grant continued to visit Jefferson and this is where the transformation begins. Not only did Jefferson become responsive, he even started to think about his worth and how he would be helping all of the people of Bayonne by believing in himself. He even started to eat Miss Emma’s food in front of her which she enjoyed. That was the key way Grant used to try and get to Jefferson. He knew Jefferson loved his godmother so he explained how much she would love it if he ate her food. In chapter 29, you could tell how much Jefferson transformed. The begging of his diary, he didn’t have much to say but nearing the end of his diary he explains that he’s sorry about the harsh things he said to Grant and about how he is still shaking at night but he is strong.

Jefferson ultimately goes to the chair as a man which is what everyone in Bayonne hoped. This transformation reminds me of the change in a child’s life to adolescents. Jefferson started off ignorant and non-responsive but he later grew into maturity and walked to that chair like a man.

A Lesson Before Dying: The Movie vs The Book

In this post I won’t be judging the entire novel with the whole movie but rather the first half of each respectively. I finally realized why people would tell me that it’s better to read the book rather than watch the movie. I could say with confidence that the novel is WAY better than the movie. Not only did they change a lot of things but I felt as if they skipped key points in the movie. The book is more descriptive and expressive than the book is.

One of the main differences I realized in the book and the movie was how much less descriptive the movie was. At first, I did not like how much the novel would describe a certain place. However, further into the book a painted a lot of imagery in my mind which allowed me to get a better sense of what was really happening. I understand that it is a movie so I am watching what is happening, however, it would have been better if they could explain more things through the characters. I also realized that the movie may have skipped some of the chapters that were in the novel. They never showed Grant and Miss Emma being patted down by the deputies. The also didn’t show the several visits between Jefferson and Grant before he began to open up.  These were only a few of the differences in the first half of the movie and the novel.

I know there were many differences, but, there were also some similarities that I appreciated. I enjoyed the fact that they showed how Jefferson started out in the situation he was in with Brother and Bear. After reading the first chapter, I was enticed to see how everything really went down in the movie. I hope that the second half is as good as the book was.

"I was not there, yet I was there."

"I was not there, yet I was there."

Early in the novel, you explained the basic meaning of this quote. You said that even though Grant wasn't physically there, he still has an understanding of what went on in the coutroom that day. However, I believe there is a deeper meaning to this quote. Reading further into the novel showed me different ways this quote could be explained.

The first thing that came to me recently about this quote was that I believe Grant thinks that he has to live out Jefferson's final days as if it were himself being executed. Grant saying that he was not there means that he didnt commit the crime but he is being "forced"--(Grant technically has a choice not to help Jefferson but decides to do it) to visit and be in the same conditions as Jeffereson. Therefore, Graqnt isn't there meaning he is not going to die like Jefferson but he is there because he will be with him every step of the way.

Another relationship I noticed with this quote is how it effects Grant mentally. When he says, "Yet I was there," I think he means that he is effected by it as much as Jefferson is. He may not be in a cell but he thinks about the situation almost every moment in his life. He even showed that he cannot control it at times when he explained Jefferson's future execution in depth to his young students.(See Chapter 5). I have a feeling that there will be many more relations to this quote later on in the novel.