In the novel, 'A lesson before dying', there are many inter-related and intricately woven themes that highlight the predicament of a black man in 1940s Louisiana. Convicted of a crime he never committed, Jefferson is treated like an animal and when the public attorney tries to defend him for being a man without thoughts and feelings, this deeply distresses Jefferson and his mother. The novel then becomes a tale of responsibility towards self and community. A person owes something to his community despite his ill-favored circumstances. Jefferson's psyche is so negatively influenced by the comments made by the public defender ''I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this'' (8), that he starts seeing himself as an animal. The hog label has had a strange impact on him which alters his personality and makes him believe that "Just do the best you can. But it won't matter" (66) because eventually something will happen to "make you the nigger you were born to be" (65). Jefferson's friendship with a schoolteacher Grant Wiggins teaches him about responsibility to community and human dignity as he explains "`No matter how bad off we are . we still owe something'" (p. 139). Wiggins teaches Jefferson about being a hero and feels that it's only the one who shows strength in adversity who can qualify as a hero. He believes that Jefferson must act with dignity to give dying Miss Emma someone "to be proud of" and tells him that a hero is someone "who does something for other people . something that other men don't and can't do" (p. 191). In the end, Jefferson is transformed as he is described during his execution as the ''the strongest man in that crowded room'' (253). This is exceptionally intense example of responsibility that we owe to ourselves and our community. Every person who comes to his world can act as a hero for someone else provided he recognizes his own strengths and uses them to the advantage of his community.