How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
But he was talking to a dead man. (1.4)
This moment, when Mr. Gropé changes from being a wounded man lying on the floor of the liquor store into a dead man, decides Jefferson's fate. Jefferson is talking to him because he is the only one with authority to defend Jefferson and explain what really happened, but his death takes away any chance of freedom for Jefferson.
Quote #2
Death by electrocution. The governor would set the date. (1.20)
And with that Jefferson's life is magically transformed into a ticking time bomb. He doesn't know when, but he knows with certainty that he will be put to death and will spend his time up to that moment in prison. In a way, his life ends in the courtroom with this sentence, not in the electric chair.
Quote #3
"Do I know how a man who is supposed to die? [. . .] Am I supposed to tell someone how to die who has never lived?" (4.105)
This question shows that, even if Grant doesn't know what it is, there is a proper way to meet your death and face your mortality. The problem is that death is the end of a life, and he doesn't consider that Jefferson has really had much of a life at all.