A Lesson Before Dying

Book Details
Author: Ernest J. Gaines
Published: September 28th, 1997
Pages: 256 (Paperback)
Genre: Adult fiction, Historical

"But tell them he was the bravest man in that room today."

Originally published in 1993 (my copy was published in 1997, as you can see from the book details), this monumentally emotional and riveting book is centered around two men: Jefferson and Grant Wiggins.

(Anything that I say to summarize this book is going to sound like a regurgitated synopsis on the back cover, but I'm going to try anyway.)

Set in the 1940s, Jefferson is a young black man caught in the wrong place, at the absolute wrong time. He is wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to death by electrocution. Grant Wiggins is a teacher, recently returned to his hometown from university. He is convinced by his aunt (and Jefferson's godmother, Miss Emma) to teach Jefferson. Not the usual topics of 'reading, writing and 'rithmetic' but how to be proud of who he is and to stand.

Thoughts
This book was one of the first books to make me outright sob. I cried so hard through the last chapter I could barely read it. The injustice of Jefferson's conviction haunted me for weeks after I read it and is still one of the most well written stories I've ever read. It is consistently on my list of top ten favourites. Somewhere near the top of the list.

There is a scene in the book, what one might call a turning point in the narrative, where Miss Emma, Jefferson's godmother (also referred to as "nannan"), is talking about Jefferson's trial. During the trial Jefferson's lawyer referred to him as a "hog." Not a man, but a "hog." She is completely drained of emotion, exhausted, but convinced that she will not watch her godson die a "hog." With the help of Grant's aunt (Tante Lou), she convinces Grant to teach Jefferson how to stand as a man before the electric chair.

And through out the book, the focus often falls on Jefferson's ability to "stand." Before the chair, before God, before all the trials and tribulations heaped on him throughout the last few months of his life. To stand as a man, proud and tall, in spite of everything else and not to go squealing like a hog to the slaughter.

Along the way we experience Grant's own transformation, his personal growth as he continues to try and teach something he isn't sure he is qualified to teach. Teaching in a place that he hates and wants to escape from, though he seems just as trapped as Jefferson.

Rating
I gave this book a 5 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. I wish I had been able to give it a 10 out of 5, honestly.

For my rating it is definitely a 10 out of 10 for me. This book is heart-wrenching, beautifully written and powerful. At the time that I first read it I was a teenager, growing up in a small town in the midwest, and it helped to change my world view and shaped how I treated others. It taught me so many things and for that it will forever receive a perfect score from me.

This book is not for those who are easily offended by sex or language.

If those things don't bother you, READ THIS BOOK.