Analyse en angglais de l'oeuvre "a lesson before dying"
Intro: The scene takes place when Grant joins Miss Emma on her next visit to Jefferson, bringing along a notebook and pencil. In the dayroom, Jefferson refuses to eat at first. Grant asks Jefferson to walk with him around the room. As they walk, they start talking together....
Heroism according to Grant
Grant’s vision of heroism
--> Grant’s definition of what a hero is, it is someone who does something for other people. He does something that other men don’t and can’t do. A hero would do anything for people he loves, because he knows it would make them live better.
Grant’s perceptions
-->Grant says that he (Grant) is not a hero, but that Jefferson can be a hero. Grant tells Jefferson about the white myth that black people are not human. Grant says he cannot stand up to defy whites, and that the reverend will not stand up to defy them, but Jefferson can do it. Jefferson is the only chance for black community to change the vicious circle. Grant believe so much in jefferson, he told him that he has to die like a man, with dignity, so he can show to white people that he is more a man than them, and that they were wrong, he is not a hog.
The condition of black people
white people’s superiority
--> grant says to jefferson that he wants him to chip away at that Myth , he says that he wants to see Jefferson standing like a man so he can call them liars. White people’s forefathers said that black people are only three-fifths human, he told Jefferson that they still believe it today. so we can understand that white people really believe in that Myth and that they are not ready to stop believing in it. The only chance to change the way black people live is Jefferson.
B) The denying of humanity of the black community
Grant’s hopes
The evolution of grant and jefferson ‘s relationship
-->To Jefferson, he speaks the raw emotions of his heart as he never speaks them to other people. He tells Jefferson of his own shame, his own failings,