Through my research I have found that Ernest Gaines and the protagonist in his novel, A Lesson Before Dying are very similar. They both live in Louisiana, are both black men who grew up on plantations post-slavery era, grew up impoverished, were raised by their aunts and both attended university. I do not believe that Gaines intent was to model Grant on his own life. Upon further research, I found that the novel was also loosely based on the non-fictional story of Willie Francis, a black man who was sentenced to death via the electric chair just like Jefferey. However, I do believe that Gaines used aspects of his own life to create Gaines and the setting of the story because he would able to tell and describe it more vividly than if he had
