A Lesson Before Dying (Oprah's Book Club)

~Time and Place: 1940's in Bayonne LouisianaA young unintelligent black man named Jefferson, is present at a shop burglary of a white owned store. Two other black men and the white shop owner end up in a gun fight, and the three men end up dead. Jefferson is scared and confused as to what to do next. He grabs a bottle of liquor off the shelf, gulps down some whiskey, grabs some money out of the open register and runs. He was on his way out of the store with the bottle of whiskey and a pocket full of cash, when two white men catch him.At the trial, the prosecutor stated that Jefferson along with the other two black men had intentionally gone to that store together and had planned the robbery together. The defense stated that Jefferson had simply been at the wrong place at the wrong time. There was absolutely no proof that there was any pre-planning with the other two black men. After all the shop owner only shot the other two men. He said that Jefferson, took the booze to calm his nerves and he took the money out of need and stupidity. That didn't make him a murderer. The defense attorney also asked the jury to look at Jefferson, and see that he was not really a man (yes he was 21) but not really a man. He asked them to look at the shape of his skull, his flat face, his empty eyes; he asked them if he looked like he had enough intelligence to plan anything, let alone a burglary. His argument was that this black man who knew of nothing more than plowing a field was not capable of such a crime, therefore to find him guilty and sentence him to death, would be like putting a hog in the electric chair.The twelve white men that sat on the jury found Jefferson guilty of robbery and murder in the first degree. Jefferson was sentenced to death by electrocution.Jefferson's godmother, Miss Emma asks Grant Wiggins, the young twenty-something college educated black teacher to help Jefferson die with dignity, like a man; not like a hog.This was a great novel. It is books like this one, that are full of ideas, themes, and symbols, that leave me wishing I was a member of a book club, because after you are done, you just want to talk about it with somebody else that recently read it.If you are thinking about reading this book, think no more...just read it!

A lesson Before Dying is a very MOVING book. By reading most of the other reviews I'm sure everyone understands what this novel is about. I'm not positive if I would have appreciated this book in High School had I read it 10 years ago. I would like to thank Mr. Gaines for his lessons!! I've typed out a few powerful passages that moved me...There were more but these are just some I made sure I highlighted!A hero is someone who something for other people. He does something that other men don't and can't do. He is different from other men. He is above other men. No matter who those other men are, the hero, no matter who he is, is above them."Do you know what a myth is, Jefferson?" I asked him. "A myth is an old lie that people believe in. White people believe that they're better then anyone else on earth -and that's a myth. The last thing they ever want is to see a black man stand, and think, and show that common humanity that is in us all. It would destroy their myth. They would no longer gave justification for having made us slaves and keeping us in the condition we are in. As long as none of stand, they're safe.Please listen to me, because I would not lie to you now. I speak from my heart. You have the chance of being bigger then anyone who has ever lived on that plantation or come from this little town. You can do it if you try. You have seen how Mr. Farrell makes a slingshot handle. He starts with just a little piece of rough wood- any little piece of scrap wood- then he starts cutting. Cutting and cutting and cutting, then shaving. Shaves it down clean and smooth till it's not what it was before, but something new and pretty. You know what I'm talking about, because you have seen him do it. You had one that he made from a piece of scrap wood. Yes, yes - I saw you with it. And it came from a piece of old wood that he found in the yard somewhere. And that's all we are Jefferson, all of us on this earth, a piece of drifting wood. until we - each of us, individually- decide to become something else. I am still that piece of drifting wood, and those out there are no better. But you can be better.

Excellent

Wonderful, thank you. I have just finished reading it today.

Un livre formidable à lire, une vraie leçon de vie vécue par un adolescent noir condamné injustement à la chaise électrique.On mesure le rôle et l'importance de l'éducation dans la vie de chacun, ceux qui en sont privés n'ont aucune chance contre l'imbécilité des gens pétris de racisme haineux. Un très beau livre, émouvant, qui se lit facilement et qui montre bien l'atmosphère lourde d'une petite bourgade, au milieu de nulle part, dans le sud des USA au siècle dernier.

Good read

Bon livre mais thème dur, il faut être prêt à le lire. Mais très révélateur du système américain et d’où peut conduire un racisme si profondément ancré jusque dans le système judiciaire – toujours d’actualité d’ailleurs.