Injustice is something that a lot of people experience in today’s society. It usually happens to people of color in today’s society when someone is accused of something they didn’t do. This is similarly the case in the book a “Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest J. Gains which is about a young boy named Jefferson who gets accused of murder in Lauisanna durin the late 1940s, and given the death penelty, without being given a real chance at a fair trial. He was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time, in a society full of racial injustice. In this novel there is a reoccuring theme that racial injustice causes people to change their view of themselves, simply because of how society treated them. We see this through the use of diction in the novel that is mostly shown when Jefferson is in court. It expresses that he is not given a fair chance to have an actual trial with valid evidence. We also see this threw the characterization of Jefferson in the novel once he is accused of the murder. When the book started Jefferson was someone who saw himself as innocent but he longer he spent in prison he started to think of himself as being a “hog” even though he is innocent.
Are you Looking For A Custom Essay about “A Lesson Before Dying By Ernest J. Gains: The Impact Of Injustice On One’s View Of Themselves” NOW? You Found It!
Professional Writers that Guarantee an On-time Delivery
Firstly, injustice is shown in Gains novel, “A Lesson Before Dying’’ when the main character, Jefferson is on trial and it is clear to the reader that he was not given a fair trial. For example when he is in court it states “the defence argued that Jefferson was innocent of all charges except being at the wrong place at the wrong time” conveys that he didn’t actually do anything but the court never gave him a chance to prove that he was innocent, they just saw him and because he was colored they automatically thought that he was guilty. This goes back to my theme that injustice within the novel because if they were being fair with him, they would have given him a chance at a fair trial and figured out that he was innocent.
In addition, throughout the story we see that Jefferson starts to believe what everyone said about him and what people think of him. This includes the fact that they say he is a hog and he soon starts to act like one because he starts to believe that he is a horrible person that the people say he is. For example, when he starts to believe he is a hog he starts to act rudely towards the people who are trying to help him see that he’s not a hog he is a man. He says to his teacher Grant, ‘I’m gonna show you how an old hog eat’ and he then “knelt down on the floor and put his head inside the bag and started eating, without using his hands. He even sounded like a hog.” This elaborates on my team that injustice can lead to people changing their view of themselves because Jefferson knows that he was innocent but because people believed he was guilty he started to believe it himself.
Get a Personal "A Lesson Before Dying By Ernest J. Gains: The Impact Of Injustice On One’s View Of Themselves" Tailored Essay For You in 3 Hours!
In conclusion, the theme that injustice can change one’s view of themselves in a Lesson Before Dying is proven using the evidence that Jefferson changed his view of himself into thinking he was a good person to thinking he was a hog. Although, it is also important to consider the time period that this book was based in because during the 1940s racism was a huge issue and people of color where shown a huge amount of injustice. This is also a problem in the real world because when people are proven guilty but they are actually innocent they soon go to become vicious in prison and as time goes on.
Remember! This is just a sample.
You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.
When first starting to read the novel, A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines, the reader can predict that the person who is going to be learning a lesson before dying is going to be Jefferson because he is the one convicted for [...]
A delightful novel diverts and amuses the reader wanting them read more and more till they know each and every detail in the book. A Lesson Before Dying is a tale set in the town of Bayonne Louisiana in the late 1940s. A Lesson [...]
Faith has always played a role in human society. Some put their faith in a divine being, while others put their faith in more physical things. In the historical fiction novel A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest J. Gaines, a reader [...]
In Romulus Linney’s, A Lesson Before Dying, Linney highlights the abounding inequalities and obstacles African American people faced on a daily basis in society and government in the South during the 1900’s. Romulus Linney was a [...]
"When Thomas More wrote Utopia in 1515, he started a literary genre with lasting appeal for writers who wanted not only to satirize existing evils but to postulate the state, a kind of Golden Age in the face of reality" (Hewitt [...]
The fear of a dystopian future that is explored in both Fritz Lang’s film Metropolis and George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty Four is reflective of the values of the societies at the time and the context of the authors. As [...]
In the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, Orwell uses several literary techniques to develop the theme that totalitarianism is destructive. He does so by using extensive imagery, focusing on the deterioration of the Victory Mansions, [...]
The title year of George Orwell's most famous novel is nineteen years past, but the dystopian vision it draws has retained its ability to grip readers with a haunting sense of foreboding about the future. At the heart of many of [...]
“How does one man assert his power over another, Winston?” O’Brien asks. Winston’s answer: “By making him suffer” . These two characters inhabit George Orwell’s vision of a future totalitarian government that has evolved to its [...]
Find Free Essays
We provide you with original essay samples, perfect formatting and styling
Cite this Essay
To export a reference to this article please select a referencing style below:
A Lesson Before Dying By Ernest J. Gains: The Impact Of Injustice On One’s View Of Themselves.
(2021, March 18). GradesFixer. Retrieved June 5, 2023, from https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/a-lesson-before-dying-by-ernest-j-gains-the-impact-of-injustice-on-ones-view-of-themselves/
“A Lesson Before Dying By Ernest J. Gains: The Impact Of Injustice On One’s View Of Themselves.” GradesFixer, 18 Mar. 2021, gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/a-lesson-before-dying-by-ernest-j-gains-the-impact-of-injustice-on-ones-view-of-themselves/
A Lesson Before Dying By Ernest J. Gains: The Impact Of Injustice On One’s View Of Themselves. [online].
Available at: <https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/a-lesson-before-dying-by-ernest-j-gains-the-impact-of-injustice-on-ones-view-of-themselves/> [Accessed 5 Jun. 2023].
A Lesson Before Dying By Ernest J. Gains: The Impact Of Injustice On One’s View Of Themselves [Internet]. GradesFixer.
2021 Mar 18 [cited 2023 Jun 5].
Available from: https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/a-lesson-before-dying-by-ernest-j-gains-the-impact-of-injustice-on-ones-view-of-themselves/
450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help you just now
Starting from 3 hours delivery
Download
Print
Download
Print
