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Escaping from Mental and Physical Cages Loading...
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A Lesson Before DyingLoading...
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Ernest J. GainesLoading...
Realistic Fiction Loading...
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Ms. Carbone's Book Club
A Lesson Before Dying
Synopsis
Recommendation
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines is a story that takes place 1940's about two black men, Grant and Jefferson, who are both fighting there own personal battles. Jefferson has been wrongly persecuted and is sentenced to death by an all white jury. He struggles throughout the story on how to feel like a man after being called a hog by his defense attorney. Grant is a teacher at an elementary school and he is struggling to figure out where his life should go as he doesn't know where to go with his life. Grant agree's to help out Jefferson to make him a man before he dies, and together they both find there way.
Overall, we would recommend a Lesson Before Dying as a valuable story to read. It is beautifully written, and builds up into a powerful ending that is both uplifting and heart-rending, conveying the power of resilience in the face of prejudice and injustice. It is a relatively easy read, and would be a good fit for those interested in topics of identity, race, and injustice.
Listen to our Podcast!
Podcast Summary
A Lesson Before Dying is an amazing novel that can be talked about for days. Our Podcast consists of numerous different topics as we discuss Grant and his first perspective view on the world in the 1940's. We give context about the novel as we make symbolic connections and apply a historical lens about figurative language. Our group really gets into the main characters development of the novel as we make connections of the characters, such as Grant and Jefferson, and compare their personal journeys and their own struggles as we connect them to one another. Then breaking it down even further as there is much discussion on the feeling of escape and how it affects both Grant and Jefferson's journey. Which also is a subtopic of our overall closing question "What cages a person in?" as we tied the whole novel together there were many new realizations of both physical and mental cages that had been brought up, which we came to the closing conclusion of our thematic idea of physical and mental cages.
Beth, Bridget, Julia, & Thomas
