Customer Reviews

A Lesson Before Dying - Acting Edition

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

Heard A LESSON BEFORE DYING by Ernest J. Gaines, a
poignant novel about life in a small Cajun community in the late 1940s
that got me thinking about how tough things were for certain members
of this country--even in this century.

A young black man named Jefferson is at the wrong place at the wrong
time. By accident, he accompanies two men who attempt to rob a liquor
store. Firing breaks out, and though he is an innocent bystander
to what happens, he is the only one left standing at the end. From
the beginning, he knows what the outcome of the trial will be. As
he states, "I was not there, yet I was there. No, I did not go to the
trial. I did not hear the verdict because I knew all the time what
it would be."

His godmother realizes that there is no escape from death. So
she enlists Grant (the local school teacher) to help her condemned
relative get ready for death . . . so he can approach it with his
head held high.

Grant's story then takes over . . . his teaching in impossible
conditions, his struggle to get away from the South that he
despises and his growing friendship/admiration for Jefferson.

I won't give away the ending, lest to say that it was one
I'm still thinking about--even though I finished the book a good
way ago . . . A LESSON BEFORE DYING will remind you
of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, which certainly isn't a
bad thing . . . if you read the latter when you were younger,
you might now want to revisit it . . . but only after you first
read the former.

In Ernest Gaines' novel, a teacher, Grant Wiggins, is asked by his grandmother to go and make a man of young Jefferson, boy who is up against death and waiting in prison for his execution. The term "hog" is used to describe and dehumanize Jefferson during court proceedings, and this impels his aunt to try to change this perception in both Jefferson and the community. Wiggins becomes the man chosen to try and be the savior for this young man charged with a crime he might not have committed.

While Gaines has great promise writing a novel worthy of this subject, the book for the most part falls flat. One of the major problems in the book is the character of Wiggins, who has to be one of the most reluctant, repetitive, whiny protagonists in the history of literature. He seems to always have this "Do I have to do this?" kind of attitude about anything dealing with Jefferson. He doesn't come off as a strong character at all, and for most of the work doesn't seem to care about anything at all except not being involved. Finally, he has somewhat of an epiphany, but it comes maybe in the last fifty or so pages of the book. Even at this, the "awakening" of both Jefferson and Wiggins both seem a little contrived.

Another irritating aspect is the overly understated, simplistic prose that never truly delves deep into the characters, relationships or plot. We only really skim the surface of who Jefferson is, and Wiggins never experiences much in the way of a revelatory character change. Also, too often we are given too much trivial, mundane information about Wiggins daily life--what he ate, where he went, etc--rather than any kind of serious development between him and Jefferson.

Ultimately, the premise of Gaines' novel is more satisfying than the novel itself. Sure, it will sit around on Oprah's list of literary classics, and it is worthy in its intentions, but to call this classic literature on the same level as such novels as To Kill a Mockingbird is ludicrous. The novel is way too simple, and the theme of racism is dealt with in such a "glossed over" way that it ultimately renders the novel unsatisfying.

I'm not sure what to say about this book. Overtly it's about a young black man
in 1940's Louisiana who happens to be the only one still alive when two friends
try to rob the corner store. It's a book I *almost liked. The narrator is the
local teacher. He's one of the few who left the area long enough to get a college
education. It's expected or even required that he give back to his community.
Unwittingly he's asked to teach this same lesson to the accused. Jefferson (is
there some irony here naming him for our slave owning, constitution writing founding father?), the prisoner is understandably depressed. In his defense Jefferson's lawyer said Jefferson was nothing more than an animal and as an animal could
not be held accountable for the robbery or death of the store owner. The all
white southern jury finds him guilty and the judge sentences him to death. Grant, the
teacher, helps Jefferson to feel his humanity by convincing him he owes it to
those who love him and the community he represents to show some pride. Jefferson learns his
lessons and goes to his death with dignity. Do you ever read a book *willing
yourself to like it? This was that book for me. One thing that really bugged
me was the shift in POV, for three-fourths of the book it's told by Grant. Then
suddenly we're shown Jefferson's jailhouse notebooks, then a chapter or so of
how people in the town react to Jefferson's death, and then back to Grant. I could
understand reading Jefferson's thoughts but not the town's people. What bothered me the most was the assumption that Jefferson and Grant should suffer and stay trapped in a community because they `owed' that to them because they were both visible to the white community for good or for ill. Communities are important but so are the best people in those communities. In some ways it felt like a reliving of slave days. White people used to own black people. Now black communities are sometimes the oppressors.....at least in this book by Gaines.

The play form is easy to read. The book was better. The play doesn't do as good a job with the character development when just read. When performed, in the hands of a good director and actor, it would be better.

This is suppose to be a great book but it came in this version as a "play". I had to return it for the actual book. The play was just a pamphlet.

I thought I had purchased the actual novel but instead I got sent the sparknotes version of it. Went back to the site to see if anyone made a mistake only there is no listing anywhere that it is anything other than the real thing.