IntroductionAccording to his biography, Ernest J. Gaines grew up in Oscar, Louisiana on a plantation in the 1930s. He worked picking potatoes for 50 cents a day and in return used his expertise to write six books, including A Lesson Before Dying. Although the novel is fictional, it is based on the hardships faced by blacks in a post-Civil War South, under Jim Crow and "de jure" segregation. In A Lesson Before Dying, the main plot is a sad story in which a young black man named Jefferson is wrongly convicted and sentenced to death. Grant Wiggins, a teacher, is convinced by Jefferson's grandmother, Miss Emma, ​​to help Jefferson become a man before his execution. Grant's struggle to convince Jefferson to cooperate and Grant's internal development are major plot points; however, the underlying commentary on systems of racism is the main theme. Summary and Review The story opens with Grant recalling the trial and the events leading up to it. Jefferson was going to a bar when two young black men offered him a ride. The trio went to rob a liquor store to get drinks, but they didn't have enough to pay. The two men ask for drinks on credit and a shootout ensues, leaving Jefferson in a panic afterwards. He takes the money behind the counter, grabs a drink and starts running when two white men enter the store. Of course, a young black man who is tried after the Civil War until the end of Jim Crow is bound to be wrongly convicted. Black men, even today, are sometimes treated as guilty until proven innocent. The prosecution tells the story, saying the three men went to the store with the intent to rob and kill Alcee Grope, the store owner. Jefferson was also accused of taking money and celebrating... middle of paper... execution by the state, Blacks also faced vigilante justice via lynching. According to statistics provided by the Tuskegee Institute, 3,446 blacks were lynched between 1882 and 1968. Lynching was not a court-sanctioned execution, it was mob justice. Jefferson was accused of murder and robbery and his fate was sealed. Works Cited DeWitt, P. (2008). Scottsboro and its legacy: Cases that challenged American legal and social justice. History: Reviews of New Books, 36(3), 89-92. Gaines, E. (1993). A lesson before dying. (1st ed.). New York City: Vintage Books. Ernest James Gaines. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 01:34, November 10, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/ernest-j-gaines-9304930. "Lynchings: By State and Race, 1882–1968." University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. "Statistics provided by the Tuskegee Institute archives."