In his inspirational fiction, Ernest J. Gaines has explored the most important qualities of soul. Freedom has been a major theme in his works. In A Lesson Before Dying dignity is lifted up as a value of inestimable worth.

The novel is set in a small Louisiana community during the late 1940s. Jefferson is a slow-witted black man who is a reluctant participant in a liquor store holdup in which three men are killed. He is put on trial for murder. His lawyer tries to convince the all-white jury that Jefferson was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Taking his life would be a senseless act. Says the lawyer, "Why I would just as soon put a hog in an electric chair." The jury finds Jefferson guilty and he is sentenced to death.

Miss Emma, Jefferson's godmother and only friend, wants him to walk to his place of execution with dignity. She prevails upon Grant Wiggins, the plantation community's black school teacher, to meet with Jefferson in order to convince him to walk tall.

It turns out that Wiggins at this point in his life has plenty of troubles of his own. He lives alone in a twilight zone between members of the poor black community and the powerful whites who control the town. Wiggins's love for Vivian, a woman who's waiting for her divorce to come through, is all that keeps him from burnout.

Novelist Gaines's previous works include The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and A Gathering of Old Men. As he did in those stories, he slowly and steadily builds the momentum for change in his characters. Jefferson and Wiggins both feel deprived and devalued. In reaching out to the alienated prisoner, the school teacher retrieves his soul. And on his last day, Jefferson achieves true moral stature. Both men, by doing for others, are heroes in the eyes of the black community.