Vivian Baptiste is Grant’s beautiful girlfriend in A Lesson Before Dying. Vivian is also a teacher and a faithful Catholic. She encourages and supports Grant in his visits with Jefferson, even when those visits affect their relationship.Feb 21, 2022Characters: Grant WigginsAuthors: Ernest J. Gaines
How does Grant describe Vivian?
Grant describes Vivian’s appearance in detail. He is in love with her, and he depends on her for stability, affection, and understanding. After his aunt and Miss Emma insist that he visit Jefferson in prison, he goes to Bayonne and meets Vivian at a bar.
What does Jefferson call Vivian in A Lesson Before Dying?
Vivian is not as dark-skinned as Grant and her first husband (at one point, Jefferson calls her “yellow”). And the community she is from takes that to mean that they are better than darker people.
Where is Vivian from A Lesson Before Dying?
Grant’s beautiful girlfriend, Vivian Baptiste, is a schoolteacher in Bayonne, the nearest town to Grant’s home. Vivian is also a mother, and has a husband, though they are in the process of getting divorced.
What do you think aunt Lou means when she refers to Vivian as a lady of quality ‘?
The ladies description of Vivian as a “lady of quality” includes elements of both praise and a mild resentment. Tante Lou says, “quality ain’t cheap,” degrading Vivian as an object for sale even while she puts her on a pedestal.
Why does Vivian come to Grant’s house?
After some time, they return home. Vivian says that she hopes Grant’s family will like her. She comes from a light-skinned mulatto community called Free LaCove, but she married a very dark-skinned man whom she met while attending Xavier University. She kept the marriage secret because she knew her family would object.
What does Vivian whisper to Miss Emma?
Vivian whispers something into Miss Emma’s ear and Emma looks pleased. At the Rainbow Club, Grant and Vivian drink brandy, and he tells her why he thinks his aunt and Miss Emma ask so much of him. He says they want to take pride in him, just as Miss Emma wants to take pride in Jefferson.
Why does grant stay in Bayonne?
Unlike Jefferson, Grant has had numerous opportunities to leave Bayonne and change his life, but he has decided to stay and teach at the plantation school, not because he is a dedicated teacher who cares about his students, but because he feels that as a black man living in a racist white world, he has little or no …
Why is Grant’s relationship with Vivian important to him?
Grant’s relationship with Vivian appears to be rather one-sided. Grant expects her to be there for him, but he thinks of her only in terms of his wants and needs. Vivian is there to satisfy his need for sex and conversation. She is there to support him and to nurse his wounds.
What is Grant’s relationship to Jefferson?
The relationship between Jefferson and Grant was a negative relationship that slowly transformed into a positive one, on both sides. Both men come from different backgrounds in the same black community and both feel the oppression by the white community.
What does Vivian reveal to grant at the end of Chapter 12?
The fact that the whole school is suspicious of their relationship, and that Vivian proudly accepts and announces that they suspect it, indicates that she foresees their ultimate union with one another. Her comment here at the end of Chapter 12 shows that she enjoys the thought of living with Grant in the South.
What is Reverend Ambrose’s termination song?
When Grant and Vivian left the house Reverend Ambrose started singing his ‘Termination song, “Amazing Grave.”
Why does Tante Lou not like Vivian?
Tante Lou is not too happy with Vivian because she’s from Free LaCove, where they don’t like dark-skinned people, and because she’s a Catholic. She asks them what they’ll do about religion since Grant doesn’t go to church.
What is the tie between Miss Emma and Henri?
What is the tie between Miss Emma and Henri Pichot? How does this tie figure in to the ladies’ scheme? Miss Emma worked for Pichot on his plantation in his house; she wanted to ask him a favor since she’s done so much for him and his family.
What happened to Grant’s parents in A Lesson Before Dying?
Family Life
For example, Grant was raised by his mother’s aunt, because his parents are out in California. Tante Lou raised his mother, too, when her mother took off. Jefferson is raised by his godmother, Miss Emma, because his parents aren’t around.
What was Grant’s relationship with Matthew Antoine the former teacher?
Just do the best you can. But it won’t matter. Matthew Antoine, Grant’s primary school teacher, was a defeated, bitter man whose attitude affected Grant’s perception of Southern society. In Chapter 8, Grant recalls visiting Antoine on his deathbed and hearing him say these words.
What is Gaines primary message in A Lesson Before Dying?
By focusing on the Afrocentric view of history, Gaines emphasizes the worth and dignity of everyday heroes like Jefferson, an uneducated black field worker, and Grant Wiggins, an educated black man whose education makes no difference to the white community, which treats him the same way that it treats uneducated blacks …
What is the Rainbow club in A Lesson Before Dying?
The Rainbow Club is a restaurant and bar in A Lesson Before Dying that is owned and frequented by Black Americans.
