CR Post #3 – A Lesson Before Dying
As I read the novel, A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest Gaines, there were many recurring details such as the hog, the chair and religion. Alongside those three, there was another object, the Pecan tree. At first, it simply felt that these Pecan trees were mentioned because they often grew in the south. However, that does not seem to be the case. A matter of fact, my personal count of the word Pecan in the story is so far at twenty-eight. That alone is enough to cause anyone to wonder why this tree is being constantly brought up. For what reason is Ernest Gaines using this tree in his story?
As already stated, there are numerous mentions of the Pecan trees. One of the most notable one to me is when our protagonist is driving Ms. Emma to Jefferson and out of all the things he sees while looking out of his window, is the Pecan tree. The bark of a Pecan tree is a brownish, grayish tone. It is very similar to the skin of quite a few African-Americans. Pecan trees also require to be planted in spots with tons of sunlight exposure. To me, these Pecan trees are exactly in the opposite situation than Jefferson. Jefferson was located in a cell, so horrendous that Ms.Emma and the Reverend did not want to meet Jefferson there, but in a dayroom. The cell was described as cold, and dark. Obviously, Pecan trees would not be able to grow in that. Near the end, in the cemetery, there is the last mentioning of the Pecan tree. This one is said to be tall, and presumably fully grown. This symbolizes the growth of Jefferson and how is now a grown man, and not a hog just like the tall, fully grown Pecan tree.
Other instances of the Pecan tree include being used as a ingredients for meals for the Pichot family, or being grown under the property of a white family. To me, the Pecan tree symbolizes a black human. Not only are their barks similar in color to a black human’s skin, they too require to be out of the dark, cold rooms to grow. They are also powerless, and serve the powerful white members of society.
So I really like your wanting to focus in on the Pecan tree. I think it is a piece of the landscape that is also very integral to the emotional and symbolic work Gaines is trying to do.
There are some good things going on in your post, but I do sense a reticence to get into the close reading. The first paragraph doesn’t really do anything except tell us you want to focus on the pecan tree, which I would know if I just started reading the second paragraph. Secondly you start like you are trying to do a follow the trail method, but you really only spend time talking about one example. You mention other moments but your reading of the pecan tree comes from that on example, which would make it more like an archaeological dig method of reading, except that you don’t really examine multiple literary choices in that passage. What you do is try to think about the pecan tree abstractly. You say I think this is a symbol and then you try to think of things it might symbolize. You’re mostly doing that work in the second paragraph. I think the brain work you’re putting in is good. I think trying to think why this object, why this word is a good process. What I need to see from you though is that you’re basing that what if in the text.
So for example if the narrator compares the skin of a pecan tree to a black person or if the narrator compares a black person to a pecan tree (or if anyone else in the story does) or if anyone even implies as much (i.e. calling a young boy a sapling or refering to the trunk of someone’s torso) then I would say yes go for your reading. Without that textual link it’s hard to necessarily just map out a brown tree is the same color as African Americans. One) not all black people (even in the story) are pecan brown 2) there are people who are not African American but pecan brown in skin color and 3) pecans are not the only brown tree or the only tree in Louisiana, so the correlation seems loose.
What you want to do is think about how is Gaines using the Pecan Tree. What does he do with it in the story? Does it do the same thing in the story every time it appears? Does it look or have the same sense about it every time it’s mentioned?
I’m assuming today you’ll be presenting on Pecan trees, which is totally fine, but when you work towards your monster paper, you want to make sure your interpretations are informed both by the history and by the text.