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Zac Richey
H English 11
Summer Reading

A Lesson Before Dying

Heroism isn’t always expressed through action, but sometimes the simple act of

resisting the unavoidable is enough. A Lesson Before Dying is a powerful novel. There

is a display of hopelessness throughout the story in the fact that Jefferson cannot escape

his early death, but Jefferson, dying as a man (not a hog) gives hope for a greater cause,

as it did for Grant. Near the beginning of the novel, Jefferson was called a hog. Grants

mission is to make this “hog” into a man. Throughout the book Jefferson and Grant

evolved into more enlightened people.

Grant recognizes the injustice in the ruling of the court against Jefferson along

with the unprejudiced group of people who thought the ruling was unfair. Jefferson was

wrongly accused of murder. He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time when

the men were shot in the drug store. The court was prejudiced and actually judged him

on the color of his skin as opposed to what was just and unjust. The court and society are

so quick to judge people at times. It seemed that every white man wanted to join the

bandwagon and persecute Jefferson just because of the color of his skin. Most people do

not realize that they have committed a greater wrong in judging somebody than the

person they have judged.

Jefferson and Grant are both incarcerated in a type of prison. Physical bars

surround Jefferson, while cynicism, racism, and self-obsession confine Grant. Grant also

feels trapped in a job that he hates, and is trapped in the South not being able to flee to

the North. In a way, Jefferson is freer than Grant, mentally. Since Jefferson is already
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sentenced to die, he has nothing to lose and nothing to fear. He is free to act as he

chooses since the court cannot punish him more severely than it already has. He is free

of the expectations that would constantly burden Grant. The bar is set so low for

Jefferson that anything above hog behavior would surprise everyone, which is why his

show of bravery during his execution has such a profound effect. Before, Grant and

Jefferson were trapped in believing there’s nothing they can do to change things. But

when Grant watches Jefferson transform into someone who can go heroically to the chair,

he realizes he can also make changes to defy what is expected of him.

There were many references in this book that were similar to Jesus Christ’s

crucifixion. Jefferson was a man who was persecuted wrongly and willingly accepted the

consequence of death for a greater cause. Our lives are always a series of choices. It

seemed that when Jefferson rises up, with courage and grace, and finally sees himself as a

man, he triumphs in his spirit. He understands that he doesn’t have to die like a grunting

hog, and begins to realize that it is heroic to resist the temptation to be as white men have

always seen him.

Jefferson’s death was almost necessary so that people may start to see the

prejudice acts the white men were taking in the court. Professor Antoine said to Grant

that he believes no one can change society without being destroyed in the process. Some

might believe that statement is true, because Jefferson could not have made such an

impact on people without being persecuted. Sometimes before life, there must be death,

just as some forests need to be burnt down to fertilize the soil for new plants and trees to

grow.