Much like Grant Wiggins (and presumably the inspiration for the character), Gaines too was an educated black man who was born on a sugar cane plantation in South Louisiana. Incidentally, he depicts characters in A Lesson Before Dying very clearly and with specific, thorough characteristics as if they are people he has known before. In contrast, it’s the very opposite; the characters are merely ideas made of assumptions and prior knowledge. His inspiration for the plot and characters of the novel comes from his experience “living across the Bay from Marin County” where criminals were executed by the state: “Whenever there was an execution, I would not write that day. I couldn't work that day. I couldn't do anything, or the day before, trying
