61 pages • 2 hours read
Ernest J. GainesA Lesson Before Dying
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1993A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 22-24Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 22 Summary
Grant goes to the jail, and Paul reluctantly searches him and then asks him if he wants to meet with Jefferson alone in his cell now that Jefferson knows his execution date. When Grant gets to the cell, Jefferson is lying down on the bunk looking at the ceiling. Grant tells him that he can bring him things, and Jefferson declares that he wants a gallon of vanilla ice cream that he will plan to eat as a last meal. He explains that he has never been able to get enough ice cream in his life.
Jefferson thinks of hunting with Gable, which is what he was supposed to do later on the day he got arrested. Grant talks to him about music and agrees to bring Jefferson a small radio next time he visits. When Paul asks how the visit went, Grant tells him it was the best one yet. Grant goes to the Rainbow Club and tells the staff about his plans to buy Jefferson a radio, and they give Grant the 20 dollars he needs. Grant goes to the local department store to purchase the radio, and a white saleswoman tries to convince him to get the used floor model instead. Between going to the back room to get a brand-new radio and chatting with another white woman who comes into the store, the saleswoman makes Grant wait for 25 minutes before ringing him up. Grant takes the radio back to the jail, and the sheriff checks him about asking permission first next time, but he agrees to let Jefferson have the radio.
Chapter 23 Summary
On Monday, Miss Emma, Tante Lou, and Reverend Ambrose visit Jefferson. They go to the dayroom but learn that Jefferson refused to leave his cell if he could not take his radio with him. The three visitors request to go to the cell. When the deputy returns 45 minutes later, the radio is off, and Jefferson is lying down facing the wall. The deputy tells Miss Emma that the sheriff would like to see her. The sheriff reminds Miss Emma that he doesn’t want any trouble from Jefferson, and he threatens to take the radio or stop visits.
The three go back to Miss Emma’s house and send word to Grant. When Grant arrives, his aunt is furious with him about the radio. Grant insists that Jefferson needs it, but Reverend Ambrose insists he needs God. Reverend Ambrose calls the radio a “sin box” and Grant explains that Jefferson just wants something of his own before he dies. Grant visits Jefferson on Wednesday and brings donated pecans from the students, and apples, candy, and comic books. The radio is playing softly in the background and Jefferson sits on his bunk staring at the wall. Grant asks him to agree to visit with Miss Emma in the dayroom next time, talk to Reverend Ambrose when he comes to visit, and to write his thoughts down in a notebook Grant agrees to bring him. To each of these requests Jefferson nods his head or says “all right” but never looks at Grant. Just before Grant turns to go, Jefferson says to tell the students ‘thank you’ for the pecans. Grant can’t stop smiling and wants to hug Jefferson but settles for a handshake instead.
Chapter 24 Summary
Grant stops by the drugstore to pick up a notebook and pencil on his way to meet up with his aunt, Miss Emma, and Reverend Ambrose to visit Jefferson. Because he makes the stop, Grant is late, and they are waiting for him. Once inside a white deputy escorts them inside then leaves them to wait in the hallway while he uses the “Whites” only bathroom and stops to talk to another white man. In the dayroom, Grant inquires about Paul, and the deputy gives him a hard stare for not putting “mister” before the name of a white man. He tells Grant that Paul has “other duties” (154).
Jefferson shuffles in in his chains to join his visitors for a meal. Grant makes the mistake of starting to eat his gumbo before the minister had said the blessing. Grant notices that Jefferson bowed his head first thing when he sat down. Jefferson does not eat, but when he and Grant go for a walk, he tells Grant he will try a spoonful. This is after Grant gives him a lecture on what it means to be a friend, a godson, a hero, a man, and how important it is to counter the myths that white people have about Black humanity. Grant explains that he can never be a hero even though he is a teacher. He says he hates teaching and only does it because it is the only job white men will let an educated Black man do in the South. Grant leads him back to the dayroom to have some gumbo.
Chapters 22-24 Analysis
There is a turning point that happens for both Jefferson and Grant in these chapters. In an ironic twist, Jefferson seems to experience a new freedom when he learns his execution date is set. While Grant continues to experience repeated racist humiliations in his daily life, he is no longer defined or defeated by them. Grant encounters a more talkative Jefferson in this visit, and he offers to bring Jefferson anything he wants. By the end of the visit, Jefferson agrees to let Grant bring him a radio. Grant is excited and tells everyone he sees. In an act of generous humanity, Joe and Thelma Claiborne give Grant the money he needs to purchase the radio that night. When he goes to get it, he must contend with a white salesperson who makes him wait unnecessarily. Despite this unpleasant encounter, Grant intentionally mispronounces the word batteries as “batries” to ensure the deputy sees him as ignorant and grants his request to deliver the radio to Jefferson. These constant assaults are woven throughout the novel and serve as a reminder of the daily challenges to Black Americans. Despite a series of racist and humiliating interactions that would normally have exhausted Grant and reminded him of his powerlessness, Grant intentionally plays into the stereotypes to get Jefferson a simple gift. The radio incident reveals character developments in both Grant and Jefferson—Grant “dehumanizes” himself for the sake of Jefferson, proving that he’s becoming more selfless and intent on teaching despite his pride. Jefferson, meanwhile, is showing his humanity rather than continuing to insist that he’s a hog.
The radio causes a clash of generations and ideologies when Reverend Ambrose accuses Grant of giving Jefferson a “sin box” that threatens his very soul. Traditional notions of being “saved” come up against Grant’s shared desires of something to call his own. Grant tries to explain that Jefferson needs to own something for himself, and the radio is it. This will make him feel human again. Reverend Ambrose and his aunt want their religion to be his saving grace. Grant is just excited that he has finally found a way to reach Jefferson. Grant is focused on improving Jefferson’s earthly condition while the older generation is still focused on the eternal afterlife rather than this one. Grant wonders if it is because they have given up hope on ever changing the circumstances of their earthly lives.
In his next visit to the jail, Grant delivers a pivotal lecture on friendship, heroes, myths, and manhood that seem to truly move Jefferson. The radio has helped Jefferson feel his humanity and connection to the world. This happens alongside Jefferson’s friend and family visiting the courthouse and experiencing more humiliating assaults against their own humanity. The visitors must pass by confederate flags and statues, be made to wait by rude white deputies and be denied access to whites only bathrooms. This is also the first time Grant uses the n-word regularly in his narration as he describes how white people think about Black men as being devoid of humanity and incapable of standing up like men.
Grant tells Jefferson it is the “little things” that matter most. He explains to Jefferson that a hero is “someone who does something for other people […] that other men don’t and can’t do” (156). He explains that a hero is “above” other men. Grant explains that he himself can never be a hero even though he is a teacher. He says he hates teaching and only does it because it is the only job an educated Black man in the South is allowed to do. He explains that Jefferson can prove to the white people and to all of his own people in the quarter that he is the opposite of a hog. He is a man. He is a hero. Grant goes on explaining what a “myth” is and how Jefferson has the opportunity to counter the myth of white perceptions by demonstrating his own “humanity.” Grant asks him to transform himself from the likes of driftwood into the kind of polished wood Mr. Farrell uses to make the perfect slingshot handle. Jefferson is crying and wiping his eyes. Grant’s speech harkens back to the old-timers waxing on about Jackie Robinson, and he proves his own ability to be the kind of teacher and man that Jefferson needs him to be.
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By Ernest J. Gaines
