A Lesson Before Dying, Entry #1

I have decided to read A Lesson Before Dying for my first independent reading book in American Lit. So far, Jefferson has been sentenced to death, and Grant has been charged with making him a man before his execution. Grant does not want to, but he will try, as long as the sheriff gives him the okay, which he has.

Being that i have only read about 50 pages, and this is my first book analysis blog, please don't expect too much.
Grant is a young man who, after living in the deep south on a plantation, is very eager too leave his childhood home. he has been to University, but is still kept under the hoof of oppression. although an educated man, he is still expected to talk and act like a typical black servant or worker. i believe that he wants to run away from this place because he is one of the few people that defies the plantation owners' image of a black man. being an educated person, he is looked up to and respected in his community, but he has been given a higher level of responsibility, which is not something that he wants.
The woman he wishes to marry, Vivian, understands how he feels, and tries to help him make the right choices for himself, because she wants him to be a more responsible person. If they are ever to be married, then he will have to help her raise her children and still have a job.
Grant does not wish to talk to Jefferson about becoming a man. Grant teaches school kids how to read, write, and do math, but feels uncomfortable about teaching someone how to be a man. This is because Grant does not know what being a man means. He is clearly not much of a man himself. he bickers with his aunt, shows childish temper problems, and shirks from responsibility. he cannot teach what he does not know.