"I want you to show them the difference between what they think you are and what you can be" (191). Here, Grant, a school teacher and the narrator of this novel, reflects the newly-found respect and confidence he has for Jefferson, a simple-minded man who has been unjustly accused of murder. Grant has been sent by his family to teach Jefferson how to be a man before his day of execution. Throughout the course of the novel, Grant changes Jefferson's life, Jefferson unknowingly causes Grant to become a better man himself, and in the process the entire community is affected. .
"I don't want them to kill no hog I want a man to go to that chair, on his own two feet" (13). Jefferson's godmother, Miss Emma, desires to help her godson regain his sense of masculinity after being called a hog during his court case. She persistently beseeches Grant Wiggins to change Jefferson's self-image even though she knows that Grant will refuse initially. Grant finally agrees to visit Jefferson in jail but only to appease Miss Emma and his concerned aunt, Tante Lou. The first three visits are utter failures but on Grant's fourth trip, Jefferson asks for a gallon of ice cream which symbolically breaks the barrier between the two men. They begin to have conversations and Jefferson is given a notepad and pencil to write all of his thoughts down onto. These interactions mark his recovery and show that Jefferson now feels a sense of self-worth, regains his masculinity, and realizes the effect his situation is having on their society. All Grant did was believe in Jefferson and persist in his teachings and one-way conversations with him and due to that, Grant changed Jefferson's life in a significant way.
Grant Wiggins is a faithless and very bitter man who refuses to accept the responsibilities and commitments that he has been given. He has a great amount of anger inside due to the racial injustice that surrounds him.