Diction In A Lesson Before Dying

Values and Traditions Ernest J. Gaines, the author of A Lesson Before Dying, is able to develop the theme of the book through diction to show tone. Through tone, he is able to reveal how tradition hinders the progress of a society that retains incorrect values, which promotes a system of injustice among the people in the society. To demonstrate the theme of A Lesson Before Dying, diction is used to develop a frustrated and uneasy tone. At the beginning of the book, a black man called Wiggins had been waiting for hours to talk to white men about the fate of Jefferson. Yet, Wiggins was intentionally left in the waiting room for a long period of time and is let in only to consider what persona he should use. Wiggins stated, “Whether I should act like the teacher that I was, or like the …show more content…
I appreciated his humanitarianism” (56). Through the use of diction, one is able to see how the tone of the passage is both sarcastic and disdainful. The use of tone is able to reveal how Wiggins is using sarcasm at the end of his statement to show how similar of a situation the kids are facing to animals and previous slaves. The other tone, disdain, is meant to show how Wiggins feels about Dr. Joseph and his personal actions. A word that indicates the tone of the passage is slave, which holds negative connotation because of how it is associated with people doing actions against their will. Slavery can be considered a word that has a lot of history and can instantly show how Wiggins feels disgusted with the events that would occur. Another word that shows the tone of the passage is master. The word master is portrayed as one who rules over others, which implies that a system of superiority is being developed through the actions of Dr. Joseph. Masters were thought of as cruel people that did not believe that black people were individuals like them. The words’ horses and cattle are also able to support the idea that Wiggins felt disdain because in the passage they hold a