Critical Reading Post #3: Women In A Lesson Before Dying

Martyrdom in A Lesson Before Dying is an massive theme, apparent in the Christ mythos that pervades the novel and the comparison that Gaines draws between the Savior and Jefferson. Less overt, however, is the running compliment of the Virgin Mary mythos which is mapped onto the women in the black community. Although it is two men, Jefferson and Gaines, who are at the heart of the novel, the women who form the ensemble of secondary characters are deeply important centrifugal forces in the role they play as custodians of faith, both religious and political. Aside from the Reverend, the religiously devout characters in the novel are all women and include not only Grant’s Aunt Lou and Miss Emma, but even the more educated and pragmatic Vivian who, in sharp contrast to Grant, retains her faith in God despite her experiences and education. In one notable scene, when Grant introduces Vivian to his aunt and her friends for the first time, Vivian’s access to this group of women is made largely through this shared faith. It is interesting to note that the most direct interaction between Vivian and Aunt Lou occurs when Grant is standing outside on the porch, liminal to the setting but listening in as Aunt Lou urges Vivian not to loose her faith. Grant’s position during this scene is symbolic of the divisive spaces occupied by men and women in the novel; wherin women occupy an unseen space of stewards of hope which, while not shared by men inevitably effects them nonetheless.

In this context, it must be observed and underscored that Grants actions are entirely catalyzed by the women in his life. It is Aunt Lou and Miss Emma who drive him to see Jefferson both initially and for the better part of the novel, and Vivian’s company which preserves him and gives him the strength to continue. It is even implied that it was only through Aunt Lou’s efforts that Grant was able to obtain his advanced education. This begs comparison the Virgin Mary, present in the novel in the school Christmas play, which features a juvenile reenactment of the birth of Jesus. Like Mary, the women of Gaines novel do not have an directly active agency in affecting change, however they are integral to it in that it is only through them that change can occur. Although this current is subtle on through the majority of the novel, the sacrifices made by women bubble to the surface on a few instances: once when Vivian breaks down and confronts Grant about the discrepancy between give and take in their relationship and again when the Reverend and Grant’s micro-conflict reaches its climax and the Reverend pushes Grant to consider the pain that people like his Aunt Lou hide as they support the black men they love in hopes that he will be the one to return and “relieve the pain”. The reverend’s impassioned speech against draws parallels to the Mary mythos (in sharp compliment to the Christ figure represented by Jefferson — and nominally other black men as failed saviors); like Mary the women in the novel are not themselves the savior, however they are the body of faith through which the savior may be delivered.