Grant's inspiring speech chapter 24

In chapter 24 of A Lesson Before Dying, Grant delivers a truly inspiring speech (technically they are having a conversation but I saw it more as a speech). For the first time in the book, Jefferson is truly moved by Grant's words as we see him engaged. When Grant asks him to look up, Jefferson looks up and is crying. Throughout the book he had been disconnected from Grant as he didn't show any level of attention to what Grant said and seemed to be in his own little isolated world. Jefferson's willingness to eat the Gumbo that Miss Emma has made, along with his tears show us that he is internalizing Grant's words and wants to heed his advice to become a hero of sorts and chip away at the myth that white people are better than everyone else. At the end of the chapter, Grant says that Jefferson looked at him with a "great pain" and that something inside of him was touched.

I found the speech to be especially inspiring myself. I thought that Grant's ability to address his own issues and talk about how he has made mistakes too, made everything he talks about easier to relate to. I’m sure Jefferson feels more comfortable talking about these feeling with someone who is going through the same sorts of identity struggles and who is also fighting the racist culture that has made both of them unable to pursue their own interests. Grant doesn’t make himself seem like a perfect person who has always done everything right. This would be problematic for someone like Jefferson who struggles with his own self-esteem and he might not listen as carefully. Thus by telling Jefferson "I need you to tell me and show me what a hero looks like", he is putting the weight on Jefferson’s shoulders and giving Jefferson a responsibility to act in a certain way and prove all the white people wrong. This is a great strategy to motivate Jefferson and get him to change his behavior.

At the end of the day, Grant’s actions in chapter 25 don’t really align well with what he lays out for Jefferson in the previous chapter. In chapter 24, Grant says that a “hero does anything for the people he loves because he knows it will make their lives better”. At first glance, I thought that Grant’s actions align well with his overall vision for how Jefferson (or any respectable black man) should act because he is standing up for his friend. On second thought, Grant also says in the same chapter that the last thing white people want is for black people to “stand and think, and show that common humanity in us all”. By mindlessly getting into a fight while drunk and punching first, Grant contradicts himself completely and doesn’t use his head at all.