A
LESSON BEFORE DYING
The title of this novel is imperative in understanding one of the
major themes. The entire book focuses on Grant’s attempts to teach
Jefferson a lesson. In order for Grant to be able to show Jefferson how
to ‘become a man, he must himself understand the meaning.
Symbolically, the butterfly towards the end of the novel is proof that
both of these men have succeeded in their goals.
The great novel was later turned into a movie starring; Don Cheadle,
Cicely Tyson, Mekhi Phifer, Irma P. Hall Brent Jennings. The plot of
the movie revolves around a young man, convicted of a murder he did not
commit, has been sentenced to die. Now it falls upon a teacher to
enrich a life he cannot save and, in so doing, somehow redeem his own,
by teaching one young man.
On a bright sunny day in 1948, Jefferson (Mekhi Phifer)
sets off down the road to go catch some fish; by the end of the
movie's opening sequence, he is the one who's been caught, and wrongly
accused of the murder of a white shopkeeper. Racial inequality, at the
time, is so pervasive in Louisiana that the white defense lawyer's
argument at Jefferson's trial is that his client is not worthy of
conviction: "You might just as soon put a hog in the 'lectric chair as
this," he declares. Outraged by this statement, Jefferson's godmother
(Irma P. Hall) does not want her godson to die as a hog. To this end she
enlists the reluctant aid of the black community's teacher, Grant
Wiggins (Don Cheadle), to teach him to "be a man." As Grant and
Jefferson get to know each other (and the viewer gets to know them
both), it's not clear which of them needs the lesson more.
As in Ernest J. Gaines's award-winning novel, the movie goes beyond the
conflict between the races to explore divisions that splinter the black
community: education versus religion, dark skin versus light. And,
thanks to masterful performances from Cheadle and Phifer as well as a
thoughtful screenplay by Amy Peacock, A
Lesson Before Dying goes even further, examining what it means to
be human and the responsibility a man has to himself and to his
community.
