Social Injustice In Ernest J. Gaines A Lesson Before Dying

A Better Way The famous philosopher Plato once said, “Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.” Ernest J. Gaines, the author of A Lesson Before Dying, is often criticized because the characters in his novel seem extremely passive and reluctant to stand up against the social injustices in their community. Grant Wiggins, Reverend Ambrose, Jefferson, Tante Lou, and Miss Emma each come to realize that the only possible way to fight injustice is to react in an atypical fashion. Each character reacts differently to social injustice because of each individual’s unique make-up, but their actions reflect their active roles in the war against social injustice. Grant Wiggins is perceived as the most passive character in Gaines’ novel, but the reader comes to understand Grant on a deeper level through his thoughts. Many passages throughout the novel express Grant’s inner turmoil concerning social injustice. In chapter six, an example of Grant’s inner battle is expressed when Grant goes to meet Henri Pichot and the other prominent white men in the community. Grants come to terms with his anxiety. His thoughts are as follows, “I tried to decide just how I should respond to them. Whether I should act like the teacher that I was, or like the nigger I was …show more content…
They develop a plan to save Jefferson’s soul and reputation. They desperately plead with the Sheriff and other authority figures in the town, like Henri Pichot, in order to get permission for Grant to teach Jefferson how to be a man. These women are courageous and take an impossible situation upon their shoulders. They serve as the masterminds in the story, which may seem rare because of their place in society, but they have adapted and taken on the roles men would typical hold. Therefore, Miss Emma and Tante Lou are two ambitious women who refuse to sit back and let injustice take over in their small Cajun