Setting The Scene
In A Lesson Before Dying the setting is very important to the central theme. This novel would not be able to represent the central theme of cruelty, unfairness and racism without the setting being exactly the way it is. Setting refers to the time and place of where the story takes place. In A Lesson Before Dying the setting is in a small town in Tennessee in the 1940’s. The setting is important because the 1940’s is when there was limited black rights, Bayonne Tennessee is a small town where rumors spread quickly and the different building impact the story such as the school, Jail, Courthouse and the plantation.
By living in a small, mainly white colour people, town it is easy for rumors, blame and unfairness to spread …show more content…
In these places you could tell all of the different emotions that took place here and without the setting the way it was you couldn’t understand truly how the characters felt. The first and most important place would be the courtroom. Since this was located in the 1940 it was no surprise that the judge and the jury of Jefferson’s case were all white. This made a huge difference in the story because if the jury was not all white, Jefferson may of had a chance to actually win this court case. The second and less obvious spot where setting would make a difference would be the classroom. Knowing that it was the 1940s it was a requirement for blacks and whites to have different schools. On the day of the execution Grant made all of his students stay on there knees until he heard the news about Jefferson. If this was in a white school there is no way that this would be acceptable. The last area would be the plantation. Everyone in the plantation knew that Jefferson was innocent but there opinions did not have any say in the court case. If this was closer to 2000’s there opinions would have made a big difference, but since this was the 1940s and coloured had limited rights there opinions remained unheard. If the setting was any close to 2015 it would have made a big difference and the author timed the setting perfectly so the coloured people would have no say in there fellow black
In A Lesson Before Dying the setting is very important to the central theme. This novel would not be able to represent the central theme of cruelty, unfairness and racism without the setting being exactly the way it is. Setting refers to the time and place of where the story takes place. In A Lesson Before Dying the setting is in a small town in Tennessee in the 1940’s. The setting is important because the 1940’s is when there was limited black rights, Bayonne Tennessee is a small town where rumors spread quickly and the different building impact the story such as the school, Jail, Courthouse and the plantation.
By living in a small, mainly white colour people, town it is easy for rumors, blame and unfairness to spread …show more content…
In these places you could tell all of the different emotions that took place here and without the setting the way it was you couldn’t understand truly how the characters felt. The first and most important place would be the courtroom. Since this was located in the 1940 it was no surprise that the judge and the jury of Jefferson’s case were all white. This made a huge difference in the story because if the jury was not all white, Jefferson may of had a chance to actually win this court case. The second and less obvious spot where setting would make a difference would be the classroom. Knowing that it was the 1940s it was a requirement for blacks and whites to have different schools. On the day of the execution Grant made all of his students stay on there knees until he heard the news about Jefferson. If this was in a white school there is no way that this would be acceptable. The last area would be the plantation. Everyone in the plantation knew that Jefferson was innocent but there opinions did not have any say in the court case. If this was closer to 2000’s there opinions would have made a big difference, but since this was the 1940s and coloured had limited rights there opinions remained unheard. If the setting was any close to 2015 it would have made a big difference and the author timed the setting perfectly so the coloured people would have no say in there fellow black