Kelly Johnston Essays (260 words) - American Literature,

Kelly Johnston Nicola Thomas ENG3UE-26 August 2, 2018 Person Versus Society I feel that the biggest conflict in the novel A Lesson Before Dying is person versus society. From the start to the end of the novel, Ernest J. Gaines shows us how racism and discrimination effects the everyday lives of African-Americans. In the state of Louisiana African Americans were not treated as equal's. In A lesson before Dying houses were made with back doors for the blacks to enter through. African-Americans were made to feel ashamed and humiliated simply by having to enter through the back door. Though slavery had ended, African-Americans were still being treated with little respect. In the novel Grant says "Since emancipation, almost a hundred years ago, they would do any kind of work they could find to keep from working side by side in the field with the niggers. (Chapter 25)". This quote shows that even biracial people with half black in their blood did not want to be black because of the way they were treated. These people were stuck in the middle because they did not t hink of themselves as black, yet the whites did not consider the biracial people as part of their community. In conclusion the writer shows obvious and subtle points about racism and discrimination in the community of Louisiana in the 1940's, making me feel that the most important conflict in the novel is Person versus Society. Works Cited Gains Ernest J - A Lesson Before Dying HYPERLINK "https://tdsb.elearningontario.ca/d2l/le/content/12379002/viewContent/100286751/View" https://tdsb.elearningontario.ca/d2l/le/content/12379002/viewContent/100286751/View