Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- How would this novel be different if it were set in the present-day? What if it were set in 1940s New York, Los Angeles or Chicago?
- What is the effect of including Jefferson's diary, errors and all, towards the end of the novel?
- In A Lesson Before Dying, who do you think is supposed to be learning the lesson?
- Is it possible to make someone else grow from a child into a man (or woman)? How would one go about doing so?
- The novel is told in chronological order, without too much flashing back or forward. How does that affect the reading experience and how we relate to the characters and themes?
- Why do you think that Grant cries at the end of the novel? Has his outlook changed?
- Grant always talks about running away, but never does. Why do you think he sticks around?
- What are the ways that the country's history of slavery comes up in the present day of the book?