How does grant define a hero

He is above other men. No matter who those other men are, the hero, no matter who he is, is above them. A hero is different from …show more content… Throughout the novel, Grant undergoes psychological changes that allow him to become a hero. Eventually this rage becomes self-loathing and cynicism, because he feels he is taking the unjust treatment from whites lying down.

This downward spiral causes him to alienate himself from people he loves and feel that the community is helpless. During a conversation with Vivian, Grant says, he cannot face Jefferson because he cannot face himself and his own life. Vivian helps Grant realize that he has left the South in the past, has returned, and still has not left. This helps him realize that he is there for a reason.

Another change happens when he accepts the task of helping Jefferson. At first Grant is angry and believes that Miss Emma wants him to perform a difficult and maybe impossible task of convincing Jefferson to die with defiance and character.

After accepting this task and dealings with Jefferson, Grant realizes what a hero is and he can have an impact on the community. Finally when Grant breaks down in front of his students he realizes that he is ready to connect with the children that he has been so strict with.

Many heroes have to overcome an inner struggle to realize their potential for greatness. I know my people. I know what they gone through. I know they done cheated themself, lied to themself—hoping that one they all love and trust can come back and help relieve the pain.

Jefferson continued to look at Paul, a long, deep look, and the deputy felt that there was something else he wanted to say. Murphy and the other deputy were still waiting. And his eyes were speaking, even more than his mouth. The deputy looked back at him.

Murphy and Claude did too. Paul nodded. Several feet away from where I sat under the tree was a hill of bull grass. I doubted that I had looked at it once in all the time that I had been sitting there. I probably would not have noticed it at all had a butterfly, a yellow butterfly with dark specks like ink dots on its wings, not lit there.

What had brought it there? There was no odor that I could detect to have attracted it. I watched it closely, the way it opened its wings and closed them, the way it opened its wings again, fluttered, closed its wings for a second or two, then opened them again and flew away. I watched it fly over the ditch and down into the quarter, I watched it until I could not see it anymore.

But tell them he was the bravest man in that room today. Tell them so. A Lesson Before Dying. Plot Summary. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts.

Grant proved himself a hero, not only by overcoming struggles with racism, but with overcoming struggles within his own mind. Grant explains to Jefferson that a hero is above other men because he thinks of others before himself. Although he understands the definition, he does not live it. He wants to live for himself. He can chip away at the myth of white superiority and show everyone — both white and black — that he is a man. He used to be bitter and believe that nothing would ever change; now he has seen, before his very eyes, Jefferson turn into a man who stands up straight and tall.

To reinforce his lessons, he relates them to Jefferson's life experience, thereby demonstrating how these seemingly abstract concepts apply to him personally. For example, to illustrate the concept of friendship, he points out what Jefferson can do to be a friend to his nannan; to illustrate the concept of heroism, Grant points out that a hero is not an extraordinary person, but an ordinary person who does things for others, such as taking a stand against injustice; and to point out that human beings have the power, potential, and responsibility to create their own lives, Grant reminds Jefferson of the slingshot handle that Mr.

Farrell made for him out of scraps of driftwood. Consequently, as we listen to Grant, we realize that he is finally becoming a teacher in the true sense of the term — that is, he is beginning to awaken and nurture in others the desire to learn, rather than being someone who attempts to force others to learn through fear and ridicule. In effect, Grant teaches the same lesson on moral obligation and personal responsibility that he attempted to teach earlier see Chapter But this time, because Grant takes time to develop a personal relationship built on trust and respect, to establish solid connections between his lesson and Jefferson's life experience, to use simple everyday language, and to present Jefferson with a frame of reference that makes the lesson relevant and applicable to him personally, Jefferson understands and responds.

In short, by getting through to Jefferson, Grant has also "gotten through" to his own innate ability to teach through example and practical application. Unfortunately, Grant still has a few hard lessons of his own to learn, as we discover in his encounter with the two mulatto bricklayers at the Rainbow Club.

Having just explained to Jefferson the merits of personal choice and responsibility, he allows his anger toward the two bricklayers to overrule his better judgment. To make matters worse, instead of admitting his mistake, he attempts to rationalize his behavior to Vivian and becomes angry when she points out that, by endangering his life through his reckless behavior, he was not being considerate of her feelings. Despite her explanation, he fails to see the connection between his behavior and Jefferson's, and to realize that, had Claiborne and Vivian not been there to defuse the situation and intercede on his behalf, he, too, might have ended up in jail for murder.

Their forefathers said that we're only three-fifths human. Grant's comment refers to the "three-fifths compromise" in the United States Constitution. According to this compromise, designed to placate both the North and the South, it was agreed to determine representatives and direct taxes "by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.