In Chapters 5-8, Ernest Gaines reveals the main conflict of A Lesson Before Dying lies within Grant Wiggins himself. Likewise, Gaines illustrates the racism that plagues Grant. Which part/scene/event from Chapters 5-8 best conveys the internal conflict within Grant and the racism he faces? Explain how so. CATCH: You may not use the same example as the person who posted prior to you. And, you must comment on the example the person used and how that situation made you feel. (The deadline to post a response to this blog is midnight, July 18, 2013.)
Monday, July 15, 2013
Just do the best you can but in the end...
In Chapters 5-8, Ernest Gaines reveals the main conflict of A Lesson Before Dying lies within Grant Wiggins himself. Likewise, Gaines illustrates the racism that plagues Grant. Which part/scene/event from Chapters 5-8 best conveys the internal conflict within Grant and the racism he faces? Explain how so. CATCH: You may not use the same example as the person who posted prior to you. And, you must comment on the example the person used and how that situation made you feel. (The deadline to post a response to this blog is midnight, July 18, 2013.)
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Hunter Sudduth: Throughout the novel, Grant experiences racism in many different ways. A good example of the racism that Grant faces takes place in Chapter 7 when the superintendent comes to do his yearly analysis on the school. Grant treats the man as best and submissively as he can and eventually works up the courage to complain to him about the shabby hand-me-down books that are falling apart and the lack of supplies. The superintendent shrugs off the complaint and says the white schools are struggling, as well. He then suggests that the children should spend more time in the fields. These types of disadvantages are what drives Grant to want to leave his home and go someplace where he can "live".
In this novel, Grant experiences racism multiple times. One example is when he goes to Henri Pichot's house. Pichot asked that Grant come in order to talk about meeting with Jefferson. Grant shows up early, but stays later than he expected. He stood for a very long time, waiting for Pichot and the sheriff to be finished talking about the situation. They did not care if Grant waited for hours. He was of a different race, and Grant was not important to either of them at all. I also agree with Hunter. The way that the superintendent picked out certiain children to answer his questions disturbed me. He would pick out one child who looked smart to answer first, then a child who looked unintellegient to answer a question. That really disturbed me. The superintendent acted like he did not care about the school. Like Hunter said, the superintendent requested that the kids work in the fields a bit longer. He is just saying that the children are not smart enough to do anything but work in fields.
Brittney P.
In chapter 8 of the novel, Grant reflects on the time when he was in school. His teacher, Matthew Antoine, was a Creole man who constantly told his students that most would die violently or would be brought down to the level of beasts.He hated being there and just wanted to run. When Grant came back to visit his teacher, Matthew admits to him that he was so mean to him because being Creole meant that he was superior to any man blacker than him. Grant wants his former teacher to tell him about life and Matthew told him that he has to go away to know about life because there is nothing but ignorance here. Grant's former teacher is the reason why he feels like he needs to escape to live life. I also agree with Brittney. Grant waited for two and a half hours to speak with Henri Pichot and the gentlemen he was with didn't care at all that they made him wait. Even though Grant was hungry while he waited for Henri Pichot, he refused to eat at his kitchen table because they were already humiliating him and he wouldn't add hurt to injury.
Lealah W.
In this book, Grant Wiggins encounters problems with racism. While talking to the men in the house of Henry Pichot in chapter six, Wiggins, an educated man, can tell he is not liked. The fact that he uses correct grammar when he speaks and stands up to the men by letting them know he was unhappy about having to wait makes the men think he is being too smart. They believe he should not speak the way he does because they feel they should be superior to him. Talking like an educated man makes Wiggins feel somewhat better, but he does not live in a world that accepts educated black people, which must be frustrating.
The scene Hunter described made me the most disgusted. Normally, Wiggins is a sarcastic character, but even being on his best behavior, the superintendent refuses to fix any of the problems because all he can see the children as good for is being uneducated and submissive hard laborers.
In regard to Brittney’s post, I agree that the men thought they did not have to worry about Wiggins because he was a black man. I was glad that he decided not to sit or eat, even though hungry and tired, because that shows he is not submissive to racism.
The scene Lealah depicts summarizes the attitude of the time. The teacher views himself as better than all-black Wiggins but less superior to all-white people. He bases his superiority solely on color or skin.
-Hannah S.
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