He is walking towards the chair, walking towards his death, the death he did not deserve. This is exactly the case of Jefferson, a main character in Ernest J. Gaines A Lesson Before Dying. Jefferson is falsely accused of murder and sentenced to death by electric chair. His godmother, Miss Emma, assigns Grant Wiggins, a young educated man, to teach Jefferson human dignity. Although she has given the job to Grant, she takes part herself in the teaching of Jefferson, along with the local reverend, Reverand Ambrose. Grant and Miss Emma both care about Jefferson’s fate, but they have different views on how to approach him, therefore, it takes a combination of different views to teach human dignity.
While Grant cares about Jefferson, he thinks that …show more content…
She is more concerned about Jefferson listening to her. When Miss Emma is visiting Jefferson one of the first times, she brings him a big bag of delicious food. When she offers it to him, he replies with “‘It don’t matter’ I heard him say…’What don’t matter?’ He didn’t answer. ‘What don’t matter Jefferson’ ‘Nothing don’t matter,’ he said, looking up at the ceiling but not seeing the ceiling. ‘It matter to me Jefferson,’ she said. ‘You matter to me’” (Gaines 73). Jefferson rejects the food because he doesn’t think it will help his situation, and after this Miss Emma explains that he matters to her and him eating is important to her. Miss Emma clearly cares about Jefferson. She practically raised him as a son and they have a strong relationship. Miss Emma can say this at one of her first visits because of this relationship, yet it took Grant a while to confess his care for Jefferson. No matter the time it took them to say it, Grant and Miss Emma both care about Jefferson much. During the same visit, when Miss Emma arrives, she is standing up. Harshly she asks “‘Ain’t you go’n ask me to sit down, Jefferson?... Ain’t you go’n speak to me Jefferson?’” (Gaines 72). Miss Emma talks to Jefferson asking him a series of questions as if she is ordering him to do them. As visible here, Miss Emma has a much harsher approach on Jefferson than Grant. Rather than waiting patiently for Jefferson to digest the question and answer thoughtfully as Grant would, she instantly goes to asking another question. Therefore, using a stricter method. This can still teach Jefferson human dignity but in a more direct way, creating a faster effect. This method is faster because when she is being harsh with him, it forces him to pay attention and learn. Though Miss Emma also cares for Jefferson, she uses a harsher method. This produces a faster effect while Grant’s method takes more time. This