A LESSON BEFORE DYING by Ernest J. Gaines

A young black man, Jefferson, was with two other young black men when they murdered a white storekeeper.  Everyone at the scene except Jefferson died in the ensuing gunfire.  He then goes to trial for murder, but the trial is a sham, and his attorney argues that there is no point in sentencing Jefferson to death, as he is basically a fool and an animal.  The all-white jury, of course, returns a verdict of first-degree murder in short order, and the judge sentences Jefferson to the electric chair.  Jefferson, however, is not the main character.  That role belongs to Grant Wiggins, a college-educated black schoolteacher, whose aunt and Jefferson’s godmother persuade him to counsel Jefferson.  Basically, Grant must attempt to bring Jefferson into a state of dignity and manhood before the execution.  In some ways, this seems to be not just a lost cause but an almost futile exercise.  Grant resents being placed in such an impossible position, now that Jefferson has become convinced that he is less than human, but this task is actually a redemptive opportunity for Grant.  He doesn’t feel that he is making a difference in the lives of the children he teaches, and he still has to enter through the back door of a white man’s house.  Furthermore, although a church serves as his schoolhouse, he is not a religious man.  His argument with the local pastor over the fate of Jefferson’s soul and the existence of heaven is one of my favorite sections.  My interpretation may be not what the author intended, but the pastor seems to imply that the idea of heaven is to comfort and ease the grief of loved ones left on earth, with the promise of meeting the deceased in the afterlife.