A Lesson before Dying, Ernest Gaines, Marcus Wallace
             Briefly describe the major themes in your book ½ page or so.
             In my book a "Lesson before Dying," themes are: 1) To be black in the South around the nineteen forties and fifties, you were guilty until proved innocent, not innocent until proved guilty. I feel this theme is so important because in the Bill of Rights as an American, we are all taught that a man is supposed to be innocent until proved guilty. However, if your skin color and ethnicity was black, you were not allowed participate in this deep American virtue. 2) Religion for blacks was their only way to have hope in an extremely racist society. I also feel this theme is essential because it showed the contrast in the character of Grant Wiggins against Reverend Ambrose, Miss Emma, and his Aunt Tate Lou. For example, midway through the book, even though Grant was obviously having a positive affect on Jefferson, Reverend Ambrose, his Aunt Tate Lou, and Miss Emma soon became only concerned with whether or not Jefferson was saved or not in terms of the Bible. I truly feel like this negative treatment of Grant by the others for actually doing an excellent job to try and help Jefferson before he's put to death is a defense mechanism in response to the world they live in. In reality, I feel the true feeling from Reverend Ambrose, Aunt Tate Lou, and Miss Emma is one that of anger to see a system of government that is prejudiced against blacks even if they are not guilty. I feel the extreme way they were involved in religion, covered over the pain in their hearts to be racialized by whites. 3) No matter how successful you are, if you are black than you're nothing but stupid and weak. I definitely see this theme in the way the town treats Grant Wiggins. He's high educated, smart, and a teacher, but to whites in the community, he's still nothing but a stupid Negro. This theme shows up m...