Each person makes many choices per day. These choices could affect your life in a big way, or hardly at all. However, you never know the exact outcome of your choice until after you have already made the decision. Every choice you make could be important, so you always need to be careful what you decide.
Choices play a large role in our lives, and in the novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J Gaines, a book where the main character, Grant, is tasked with trying to humanize a wrongly convicted man, Jefferson, before he is executed. A single choice can affect your life and the lives of the people around you. This phenomenon is demonstrated in the novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J Gaines when one of the characters, Jefferson, makes a very important choice when he finally expresses an opinion, saying he wants ice cream, as it is a choice that greatly affects the rest of his life and his relationships with the people around him. This choice occurs at a point when Jefferson has essentially lost all hope and feeling after his trial, when he was convicted of death. He sees himself as nothing more than an animal, and does not really believe he is worthy of anything, not even life. He also does not really have any opinions on anything, saying, “Anything y’all want. Don’t matter to me,” as the answer to most questions asked of him. (Gaines 139) Jefferson believes what he thinks does not really matter, as he is going to die either way.
The main character in the novel, Grant, began to visit Jefferson as an attempt to turn his attitude around, but had not seen very much success. Jefferson almost always seemed rather detached from any emotion. Yet, one day, almost out of the blue, Jefferson finally chooses to answer one of Grant’s questions with a real answer, as opposed to treating everything as unimportant. This moment occurs when he says “I want me a whole gallona ice cream”. Although this request seems rather insignificant, and not that great of a deal, it is a very important moment in Grant and Jefferson’s relationship, as it shows both Jefferson’s first time showing any emotion, even if it was just wanting, and it was the first moment in Grant and Jefferson’s relationship when they were really able to connect. They now had something to really talk about and discuss.
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Additionally, this first question was the spark to a whole conversation between Grant and Jefferson, which led to more and more conversations, and which finally led to them having a good relationship. This relationship had a very large impact on Jefferson’s life, as it was what led to him being able to go to his death having learned, and believing fully that he was a man. Finally, in addition to greatly impacting Grant and Jefferson’s relationship, this choice Jefferson made had a lasting impact on Miss Emma’s life. All Miss Emma wanted was for Jefferson to die as a man, and, after this choice, it sparked the changed in him that allowed that to happen. This one, simple choice made by Jefferson had numerous impacts, and goes to show how one small choice can have such lasting repercussions. In addition to small choices having lasting impacts in the fictional world, a single choice can also have a great influence on people in the real world. An example of this occurred in my life, when I was only four years old. At this point in my life I was taking dance lessons yet, for a reason I no longer remember, I had decided I also wanted to try figure skating. After this new revelation I told my parents of my new plan, to take figure skating and dance lessons. However, my parents quickly saw a flaw in my plan. Both figure skating and dancing take place at the same time.
Therefore, they sat me down and told me that I had to choose which interest I wanted to pursue. After some deliberation, or possibly not very much, as I was only four years old, I decided I wanted to give figure skating a try. This decision, at the time, did not seem like that great of a deal. I had taken dance lessons for a year, and now I wanted to give figure skating a try. However, this one small choice made when I was four years old ended up greatly impacting my life and the lives of the people around me. I have been taking figure skating lessons on and off for about ten years now, and that has definitely affected my life. Without this one choice I probably would not be the person I am today, as I would not have had many of the experiences, such as competitions, that I believe have shaped me into the person I am today. These competitions taught me the value of working for something and that if you put enough effort in you will be able to achieve great things. Additionally, this choice has impacted the lives of the people around me. As a result, my parents have had to drive me to figure skating lessons, competitions, volunteer for the show, and do countless other things. My brothers were also impacted because, especially when they were younger, they had to spend many nights waiting around at the ice rink, counting the minutes until my lesson was over.
This impact on other people is what I believe is the biggest similarity between my choice and the choice Jefferson made in A Lesson Before Dying. Both choices changed other people’s lives to a degree, and both choices seemed rather insignificant at the time of the choice. However, the choices did have many differences. They were both different types of choices, Jefferson’s just expressing a want, and mine choosing an extracurricular activity. Nevertheless, the main theme tying these two choices together is that they both show what a lasting impact a single choice can make. To conclude, no matter how insignificant a choice can seem at the time, it is unknowable the type of affect the choice will have until after it is made.
Choices are everywhere, both in our lives and in literature, and it is important to take these choices seriously, and make connections between them. Making connections between novels and our lives is such a major event, because it leads to a better understanding of the novel, and sometimes of the world around us. By connecting with literature we are able to broaden our horizons and become a more accepting person. This is a result of knowing ourselves better, by evaluating our own choices, and becoming empathetic, as we are able to connect our experiences with the experiences of others. We each make around 35,000 choices per day, and we never know what choices will be the important ones. Consequently, we must treat every choice with importance, and ensure that with every choice we make we are trying to be the person we aspire to be.
