Essay On Louisiana In A Lesson Before Dying

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Louisiana: Catalyst of Creation The southeast region of the United States of America is a true place of imagination. Many travel to this region due to its long history and intense culture. Specifically, the state of Louisiana is a very intriguing place to many. Most people have heard about Mardi Gras or the Louisiana swamplands, but the “Pelican State” is much more than that. Many artists, authors, filmmakers, etc., have used Louisiana as the setting for their art. Two authors in particular display the magnitude of Louisiana’s tradition and culture in American society. Two novels that our class has read this semester stood out to me and led me to better appreciate my home state. Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer and Ernest Gaines’s A Lesson Before Dying show Louisiana in a different light than many normally see the state. The novels take place in different parts of the state, all the…show more content…
Jefferson’s wrongful conviction and status of “a hog being fattened for slaughter” is an example of the hate still present in the Louisiana community during that time period (Gaines). Gaines shows examples of this through character relationships. Sheriff Guidry is a blatant racist, and shows no true remorse for Jefferson’s situation. However, Gaines shows harmony between Grant Wiggins, Paul Bonin, and Jefferson at the end of the novel. Grant’s desire to please Tante Lou and Miss Emma is an example of societal courtesy. He visits with Jefferson not by personal choice, but by pressure to achieve a good for the entire African-American community (especially Tante Lou, Miss Emma, and Reverend Ambrose). Through this quest, Grant finds meaning for his life. Both novels give the reader a glimpse of the strains of society in the early 1900s. Grant and Bolling, two completely opposite men, share the same goal throughout the novel: to please society, while finding life’s meaning along the

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