Ernest Gaines, A Lesson before Dying

Michael J. Meyer (DePaul University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1993

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

Ernest Gaines's novel A Lesson before Dying was published in 1993 but gained best-seller statute when Oprah Winfrey named it as her Book Club selection in September 1997. Set in the 1940's in the small Southern town of Bayonne, Louisiana, the novel tells the story of a beleaguered school teacher, Grant Wiggins, who has returned from college to serve a “plantation” school in his home town. His goal as an educator is to motivate his African American charges to become both literate and self-confident members of their community. As the novel begins, however, Wiggins is clearly despondent about his potential to attain this goal, especially given the prejudice of the local school administrators who feel that minority schools …

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1487 words

Citation: Meyer, Michael J.. "A Lesson before Dying". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 November 2008 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=24356, accessed 25 November 2024.]

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