Comparison Between a Lesson Before Dying and If We Must Die
Both encouraged from the racial ages of America, A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines and “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay complement one another. “If We Must Die” is based off of the race riots in Harlem. Although A Lesson Before Dying is a fictional novel, “If We Must Die” summarizes the meaning of the novel. Through the use of symbolism, dialect, tone, and theme, the two literary inscriptions become one.
The tone of A Lesson Before Dying has an educational feel to it, as well as being gradual and heroic. Grant being at the jail to visit Jefferson presents the feel of wanting to learn, the urge for wanting to prove one’s self to society. When Jefferson is implied to be a Christ figure, the feeling switches to heroic and exciting. The tone expressed in “If We Must Die,” is also heroic, yet exciting in a different way.
Gaines, being an educated African-American man as well, used particular dialect one would not usually see in novels placed in such a racial time. Grant was the educated man of the novel—speaking like a white person, so to speak. Reading through Jefferson’s journal truly grabs the attention of the reader, by the dialect being so clear and spot on of a simple African-American. The dialect in this novel is important, for it lets the reader know what type of person they are reading about – whether it’s the intelligent Grant who does not know how to stay positive, or Miss Emma, who does not know how to control herself as well as the others. The dialect used in “If We Must Die,” is much like Grant, but as a leader instead. Starting off in A Lesson Before Dying, the story of Jefferson is unfolded. The narrator speaks of the trial and of the prosecutor claiming that Jefferson is a hog, and not a man. In “If We Must Die,” McKay states that, “If we must die—let it not be like hogs,” marking the first connection between the two. Throughout the poem, McKay insists that no man should not die a man, and that no man should be considered a hog. If a man
The tone of A Lesson Before Dying has an educational feel to it, as well as being gradual and heroic. Grant being at the jail to visit Jefferson presents the feel of wanting to learn, the urge for wanting to prove one’s self to society. When Jefferson is implied to be a Christ figure, the feeling switches to heroic and exciting. The tone expressed in “If We Must Die,” is also heroic, yet exciting in a different way.
Gaines, being an educated African-American man as well, used particular dialect one would not usually see in novels placed in such a racial time. Grant was the educated man of the novel—speaking like a white person, so to speak. Reading through Jefferson’s journal truly grabs the attention of the reader, by the dialect being so clear and spot on of a simple African-American. The dialect in this novel is important, for it lets the reader know what type of person they are reading about – whether it’s the intelligent Grant who does not know how to stay positive, or Miss Emma, who does not know how to control herself as well as the others. The dialect used in “If We Must Die,” is much like Grant, but as a leader instead. Starting off in A Lesson Before Dying, the story of Jefferson is unfolded. The narrator speaks of the trial and of the prosecutor claiming that Jefferson is a hog, and not a man. In “If We Must Die,” McKay states that, “If we must die—let it not be like hogs,” marking the first connection between the two. Throughout the poem, McKay insists that no man should not die a man, and that no man should be considered a hog. If a man