A Lesson Before Dying

Grant Wiggins has been teaching on a plantation outside Bayonne, Louisiana for several years, where a slow-witted man named Jefferson now stands convicted of murder and sentenced to death. According to Jefferson, he had been on his way to a bar, but decided to tag along with two men who were on their way to a liquor store instead. Upon arriving there, the two men entered into an argument with the storeowner, eventually leading to …

…his students to kneel by their desks in honor of Jefferson. He steps outside the classroom, distressed and bewildered. He knows he should have attended the execution. After a few minutes, a deputy drives down from the courthouse and informs him that the execution is over. He assures Grant that Jefferson was the bravest man in the room that morning. Grant looks out over the town, numb and heavyhearted, and discovers that he is crying