CliffsNotes on Gaines’ A Lesson Before Dying

In this novel, a young man who returns to 1940s Cajun country to teach visits a black youth on death row for a crime he didn’t commit. Together they come to understand the heroism of resisting. This concise supplement to Ernest J. Gaines’ A Lesson Before Dying helps students understand the overall structure of the work, actions and motivations of the characters, and the social and cultural perspectives of the author.