Teaching Masculinity in A Lesson Before Dying

Abstract: Although Ernest Gaines's A Lesson Before Dying (1993) is centrally concerned with the work of teaching and learning, its implications for educators in particular remain largely underexplored. This essay discusses how A Lesson Before Dying might serve as a resource for the theory and practice of pedagogy. Specifically, I am interested in how the main character's changing understanding of his own manhood impacts his work as an educator. I show how his students' interventions help Grant to slough off the "saviroist" model of pedagogy he has previous embraced and adopt a more effective pedagogical praxis. Ultimately, I argue that as Grant begins to challenge his prior understanding of what it means to be a Black man, his pedagogy changes in ways that have positive repercussions for his students' academic and personal outcomes.