A Lesson Before Dying Thought Questions Final

A Lesson Before Dying Thought Questions Final

Changes- Grant
When A Lesson Before Dying begins Grant Wiggins is a selfish man. He believes that his education allows him only to teach reading, writing and arithmetic. What he doesn’t see is that he has more to give than just these things.
Grant wants to leave Bayonne “ I need to go someplace where I can feel I’m living” (29) Grant is feeling trapped; but by what? Is it the prevalent segregation in his area? He has left home before, so I’m sure he is aware that it is prevalent all over the United States during his time. Then is it his Aunt? She loves him and has raised him, she has even given a home to Grant even though Grant is often less that polite with her.   The only logical reasoning for Grants suffering is himself and his selfish attitude.
Grant is the teacher at the colored school where oftentimes it is his mood that design his lesson plans, or whether he will grade his students papers or not ,rather than what the children ought to be learning or whether the papers ought to be graded. Unfortunately for his students, Grants mood is often poor. He yells at them and smacks their hands with his ruler for minor transgressions. He lightly passes it off by saying “ They all knew I was in a pretty rotten mood today” (37)
As the story progresses though, Grant begins to come around more and more. He begins being nicer to his students, his aunt and Miss Emma. He comes around so much that he tries to recruit Jefferson into trying to make them happy. He asks Jefferson to eat the Gumbo because he wants his aunt to be happy with Jefferson and he wants Jefferson

to have a better legacy than what he would have had otherwise. The Grant he was before would not have done that. The old Grant had to be practically forced to visit Jefferson at the jail.
Grant even shows signs of letting all of the race issues and his better than thou attitude slip from his psyche. He accepts Paul’s friendship, which he was very leery of at first. He even begins...