A Lesson Before Dying

Ganes, Earnest J. A Lesson Before Dying. New York: Vintage Books 1993. Genre: Novel 256 pages Setting: The story is set in a small Cajun Louisiana town in the 1940’s. The setting in this story is significant because, the whole story is about how a young black boy is treated unfairly and sentenced to death because of something he did not do. It also deals with the emotions that this black boy faces because he has been …

…He’s still going to die…knowing anything? (31) Nothing was accomplished, but when he put his mind to it, he got Jefferson to realize that he was a man and not a hog. “Tell nannan I walked” (254) Major Strength: The major strength in this novel was the fact that Ganes was able to present such a terrible subject in such a touching way. He was able to use the text to open people’s eyes.