A Lesson before Dying and The Hurricane
Yoonji 2
The 30th President of the United States, John Calvin Coolidge, once said, “All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work. Work is not a curse; it is the prerogative of intelligence, the only means to manhood, and the measure of civilization” (searchquotes). Being a man is about recognizing that one is a man first. The value of the word manhood is described, compared, analyzed, and contrasted. Evidence of this is shown when Jefferson’s lawyer dehumanizes Jefferson, a black man unfairly treated in trial, by calling him a hog in the novel, A Lesson Before Dying, The movie The Hurricane tells a story of an African American man who is accused of a triple murder and is convicted and sent to jail for three natural life terms. On the other hand, the symbolic value of the word “manhood” is also discussed and analyzed by linking the word to human values and morals. Set up in a place and time where strong segregation was the social issue, Rubin and Les from the movie “The Hurricane” and also Jefferson and Grant from Ernest Gaines’s novel, A Lesson Before Dying offers moral definitions of manhood and humanity by showing the characteristics of hero.
In the beginning of the novel A Lesson Before Dying, Jefferson 's lawyer in an attempt to defend him calls him a hog by saying “The public defender, trying to get him off, called him a dumb animal... He said it would be like tying a hog down into that chair and executing him an animal that didn 't know what any of it was all about...” (Gaines 31). He indicates that Jefferson has no ability to think so he could not have done things with thought. He is trying to help, but deprived Jefferson of his own self worth as a man. Grant’s aunt Miss Emma wants Grant to help Jefferson to feel like a man before he dies. The idea of what makes a man is central to the idea of the story. As Grant helps to teach
Yoonji 3 and educate Jefferson he helps to
The 30th President of the United States, John Calvin Coolidge, once said, “All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work. Work is not a curse; it is the prerogative of intelligence, the only means to manhood, and the measure of civilization” (searchquotes). Being a man is about recognizing that one is a man first. The value of the word manhood is described, compared, analyzed, and contrasted. Evidence of this is shown when Jefferson’s lawyer dehumanizes Jefferson, a black man unfairly treated in trial, by calling him a hog in the novel, A Lesson Before Dying, The movie The Hurricane tells a story of an African American man who is accused of a triple murder and is convicted and sent to jail for three natural life terms. On the other hand, the symbolic value of the word “manhood” is also discussed and analyzed by linking the word to human values and morals. Set up in a place and time where strong segregation was the social issue, Rubin and Les from the movie “The Hurricane” and also Jefferson and Grant from Ernest Gaines’s novel, A Lesson Before Dying offers moral definitions of manhood and humanity by showing the characteristics of hero.
In the beginning of the novel A Lesson Before Dying, Jefferson 's lawyer in an attempt to defend him calls him a hog by saying “The public defender, trying to get him off, called him a dumb animal... He said it would be like tying a hog down into that chair and executing him an animal that didn 't know what any of it was all about...” (Gaines 31). He indicates that Jefferson has no ability to think so he could not have done things with thought. He is trying to help, but deprived Jefferson of his own self worth as a man. Grant’s aunt Miss Emma wants Grant to help Jefferson to feel like a man before he dies. The idea of what makes a man is central to the idea of the story. As Grant helps to teach
Yoonji 3 and educate Jefferson he helps to
Cited: Gaines, Ernest J. A Lesson Before Dying. New York: Vintage Books, 1993.