Who is Bayonne in A Lesson Before Dying?

Who is Bayonne in A Lesson Before Dying?

Bayonne, a small town of six thousand people, is primarily a plantation community. The descendants of slaves who work on plantations are paid far less than their white counterparts. The African Americans either have inferior facilities as compared to the whites or have no facilities at all.

What is the significance of the setting time and place in the novel A Lesson Before Dying?

The setting of Louisiana in the 1940s before integration clearly determines the direction of the plot of Gaines’s narrative. With the theme of the destructive powers of racism, the time and place of A Lesson Before Dying is of much importance. Jefferson is summarily sentenced to die and faced with no hope of appeal.

Is Bayonne Louisiana a real place?

Bayonne is an actual city in France, but also the fictional Louisiana town where the generation is set before the Civil Rights movement in the South, depicted in the novel.

Where is Bayonne in A Lesson Before Dying?

Louisiana
The novel is set in the fictional community of Bayonne, Louisiana, in the pre-Civil Rights South. Much of the beauty and power of Gaines’ writing derives from his ability to re-create a sense of place and to transport his readers back to life on a Louisiana sugar cane plantation during the pre-Civil Rights era.

Who is the protagonist in A Lesson Before Dying?

Grant Wiggins The protagonist and narrator of the novel, an elementary school teacher in his mid-twenties.

What year is A Lesson Before Dying set in?

1948
Set in 1948, the novel addresses literacy, poverty and race relations in the segregated South. NPR’s Bob Edwards speaks with author Ernest Gaines.

Who was murdered in A Lesson Before Dying?

Jefferson, a mentally challenged, barely literate young man, witnesses a shootout between two black robbers and a white liquor store owner, in which all except Jefferson are killed.

Why is A Lesson Before Dying banned?

Banned (later reinstated) in Savannah (GA) after protests about the book’s sexual content, violence, and profanity.