Blog Post #5: - Back in New Orleans - Finished reading A Lesson Before Dying
There are many lessons you can learn in life. You can learn them from almost anything and in all parts of the world, even small towns in Louisiana. I would have to say that my favorite book that we have read on this trip is A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines. This book was such an incredible read and it was even better to combine us reading the book along with us seeing the town Bayonne was based off of, New Roads.
Intertwining the book and Ernest’s life made the bookpacking experience so much more special. The first place we got to visit was the courthouse in New Roads to see the jail cells and although they were the old ones that they don’t use anymore, they still showed so much. They held and showed so much history and as the woman who was showing us around told us about how everything was run and what was in each cell back then, I started to piece together how everything would have looked in the past. I even started to picture Jefferson in one of the cells talking to Grant, I pictured Grant walking through the metal cell door. Then I started to hear some of the conversions they both had that I read in the book. There was this unusual feeling that came over me as I was walking through the cells, and I don’t think I could have ever felt this feeling anywhere else. It had to be at that moment, in that cell, and while also reading the book for everything to hit me that way.
The next day we went to see Ernest Gaines’ house. At first it looked like a simple but beautiful house behind a huge perfectly cut green lawn with the letters “E” and “G” on the front gates. It seemed like such a normal house until I was told the history of it. It was very interesting to learn that the house was a plot that is a part of a plantation that still stands today. Ernest bought a plot of land on the plantation that his ancestors used to work on. On the plot with his house, he put a church and an extra smaller house behind his to replicate the houses that slaves lived in back then. Along with that, he fixed up the grave site near his house where slaves used be buried because he knew that his aunt and possibly other slaves were in there somewhere under unmarked graves. Today many of his family members, including himself are buried there.
“Nietzsche said without music, life would be a mistake. To me, without books, life would be a mistake.”
The next day, our last day of learning more about Ernest Gaines and A Lesson Before Dying, we got to visit the Ernest Gaines Center. The coolest part was when we got to read original manuscripts of the book, even some parts that weren’t in the published version. We saw a lot like how he originally wrote the book, his side notes on the manuscript, and which parts of the book were so significant that he wanted to keep. It was like getting a glimpse into his head.
Although I didn’t know Ernest and I unfortunately didn’t get to meet him, I feel like I know so much about him and I am in awe of everything that he strived to do and has done for his people. When learning about his life, I started to realize that there were a couple of similarities within his life and Grant’s. They both had close relatives that worked on the plantation, they lived on plantations when they were young, and most of all, after leaving the plantation where they grew up, they both came back. It’s like something is bringing both of them back there, as if they’re connected to their homeland. Ernest did spend the rest of his life living there and the fact that he chose to be buried where he grew up says a lot. Not just himself, but his ancestors, his bloodline is connected there and it was truly an honor to be there and see just what he has done with the land he bought. One of the things that I think really stood out to me about A Lesson Before Dying and the way the book was written is that it seems no naturally realistic and I think that is because Gaines lived during that time and experienced some things mentioned in the book. I know that I will read some of his other books later on in the future and I really look forward to it.
I walked away learning a lot from this part of the trip. Even though Ernest Gaines is no longer with us, I would say that he himself has taught me a lesson; a lesson on the history of his life, the history of life in New Roads, Louisiana during the 1940s, and that no matter where you are or who you are, you can always gain more knowledge even on things you may have thought you knew a lot about. I think that all of these things were very important for me to learn. May he rest in peace.