In the novel A Lesson Before Dying, Grant and Jefferson are black men in the era of a racist society; but they have struggles with a greater dilemma, obligation and commitment. They have obligations to their families and to the town they are part of. They lived in a town were everybody knew everybody else and took care of each other. "Living and teaching on a plantation, you got to know the occupants of every …showed first 75 words of 855 total…

…showed last 75 words of 855 total…did not have faith in themselves and have a devotion for their families, they would not have been able to surmount their circumstances. Jefferson would not have gone to that chair as a man and Grant would not have been able to appreciate what a man really is. This is how Grant and Jefferson are able to honor the debts they owe to Miss Emma, Tante Lou, and everyone else who is in their lives.