The Psychological Events of Jefferson Cheyenne Marie Berry 12th Grade

Novels are able to use both physical and psychological events to help shape a character or theme. They often act as building blocks for the meaning of the writing as a whole, and they are often thought invoking. In the novel, A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, an African American character named Jefferson is caught in an altercation, and he is mistakenly charged with the murder of a white man. His punishment is the death sentence. During the court trial, one of the lawyers refers to Jefferson as a hog due to his uneducated nature. An African American teacher named Grant Wiggins is forced by Jefferson’s aunt to help him become an educated man. She does not want him to die being considered a hog. Throughout the novel, a reader can observe the psychological events that occur within the innocent mind of Jefferson, and these changes not only help develop his character, but they also help shape the meaning of the novel, which is that injustice should not just be accepted.

One of the first major psychological events that we witness for Jefferson occurs at the very beginning of the novel. The opening scene quickly introduces his character in the middle of the altercation, so we are able to witness how the event had a...