Language

• In A lesson before dying, the plot is told in chronological order. While the narrative perspective from the point of view of the protagonist Grant Wiggins predominates, it is interrupted only once by Jefferson's diary entries, which differ stylistically from Grant's style of narration
• As a reader, we see the world from a rather cynical and ironic point of view when Grant narrates, but at the same time, the author manages not to lock us into one perspective. Gaines thus manages in a subtle way that we can easily switch from the cynical perspective to Jefferson's point of view
• The purpose of having the first scene in the courtroom, for example, narrated by the first-person narrator Grant, is that Grant, although not physically present, nevertheless empathises with the innocent convicted Jefferson, as do countless other characters. The compassion that can be shown to a human being becomes blurred into an undefined carrier. Gaines demonstrates that there is compassion in all of us and that we can strengthen and support each other

Setting

• Two storylines are evident in A Lesson Before Dying, the main one focusing on Jefferson's trial and execution
• The subplot, which is no less significant to the work, deals with the struggle of black, oppressed people in 1940s Louisiana to achieve a measure of pride and dignity within a hostile, racist environment
• A Lesson Before Dying opens with Jefferson's trial, followed by a flashback to the murder of Alcee Gropé. It then describes the progression from Jefferson's conviction to his execution, focusing on the transformation Jefferson undergoes
• Regarding the innocence of the condemned prisoner, the black citizens of Bayonne are horrified by the apparent injustice of the court's verdict. The white community, on the other hand, perceives Jefferson's impending execution as an unpleasant but necessary matter
• The setting is the fictional community of Bayonne, Louisiana. The author can create a picturesque image of Bayonne in the reader's mind through his figurative language and transport the reader to the time before civil rights in Louisiana through his simple but touching style of description