In 1993, author Ernest J. Gaines published the novel A Lesson Before Dying , an eye-opening diminutive story about a young black professor, pressured into helping an innocent man on death row by his Aunt and neighbor, Ms. Emma, grow more aware of his surroundings. Throughout the story, Grant Wiggins, the main character and narrator of the novel, struggles to help Jefferson in his journey to develop into a man before he dies, but the pair gradually grow connected as Jefferson’s death date draws near.
In the novel, Grant and Jefferson’s relationship seems to remain static, with no real progress being made until the end. But if the reader looks closely and reads between the lines, they can see that it’s mostly Grant who cultivates and changes from being in contact with Jefferson.…