what important attributes does he reveal about himself in the opening chapters?

Grant Wiggins, the narrator of A Lesson Before Dying, is a disaffected African-American schoolteacher living in the quarter. Raised by his Tante Lou for unknown reasons (his parents are alive and live in California), Grant is more educated than most of the people, black or white, in the region, and is accorded high social status because of this. However, he feels oppressed in the South because of his race, and longs to move to the North and take up a different profession. The narrator, Grant Wiggins, begins his story with a flashback to the trial of Jefferson, an African-American youth, for the murder of Alcee Gropé, a white storekeeper. During the trial, Jefferson tries to explain what happened the day of the murder. He says that he accepted a ride from two older acquaintances, Bear and Brother, who hoped that Jefferson could lend them some money to buy a drink. Jefferson had no money, so they went to Gropé’s store, hoping he would give them some wine on credit. Gropé refused, and Bear, already drunk, attacked the storekeeper. A scuffle ensued, with Brother, Bear, and Gropé dead. Jefferson, unsure what to do, took a bottle of whiskey and some cash from the register and tried to run away, but two white men entering the store caught him and took him to the police.