Motionless Journey
Despite the fact that A Lesson Before Dying is about a boy in a jail cell who physically cannot go anywhere, it is still very much a journey. For Grant, there is still a nontrivial physical journey: around 13 miles to Bayonne. However, this rapidly becomes routine for Grant, not remotely heroic. Instead, the journey is a mental and emotional one, that attempts to reach out to Jefferson and inspire him.
At the very beginning, Grant does not attend the courtroom with his Aunt and Miss Emma, instead choosing to distance himself because he already knows exactly what will happen. The first ordeal therefore becomes merely pushing Grant past his attempts to isolate himself from the issue.
In the jail cell, there are more than physical walls that separate Jefferson from the rest of the world. Jefferson is silent, seemingly emotionless and ignoring his visitors. He then turns mocking, seeming not to recognize Grant, perhaps trying to drive away his visitors rather than experience/cause the emotional pain that talking to them would cause.
In order for Grant to fulfill his task and teach Jefferson A Lesson Before Dying, he has to overcome the walls Jefferson has put up. He makes several attempts, with varying degrees of little success. He first tries to just say "you're a human, not a hog" to Jefferson, only to be rebuked by Jefferson eating the food as a hog would. Grant tries to make an emotional appeal, that Jefferson should do it for his Godmother, but this seems to fall flat in face of Grant's own lack of empathy/care for the people in his life. He starts getting closer when he talks to Jefferson about what a Hero is. Jefferson seems skeptical, saying "You all ax a lot" (paraphrased, but basically that), but he does agree to try.
The first moment where Grant really seems to connect with Jefferson is when Grant asks what he wants for his last meal. Jefferson says that he wants a gallon of ice cream, seeming unguardedly honest, maybe even a little childish in this moment. This is a far cry from their early meetings, with a closed-off and vitriolic Jefferson.
When Grant brings Jefferson a radio, this marks a turning point in their relationship. Jefferson and Grant can now be considered (sort-of) friends, rather than Grant as an authority figure. There's also some symbolism of a radio that is capable of transcending the walls of a jail and the music gives the two some talking points.
It's soon after the delivery of the radio that Grant proposes Jefferson use to write down his thoughts, questions, or anything he desires to write. Grant struggles at first with finding things to write about, but with some mentoring and teaching from Grant (hey look! Grant's actually being an effective teacher), Jefferson reflects on himself, his life, an everyone in it.
Even though the physical walls of the prison remain, Jefferson's isolation has been thoroughly broken. Most of the named characters in the book (Grant, Miss Emma, Tante Lou, Reverend Ambrose, Ms. Rita, Bok, the other parents, all the school children, etc.) come to visit him at various times, and it seems almost that Jefferson is now more a part of the community than before. Even the sheriff and the deputies have formed connections to Jefferson ("I know you"), despite their attempts not to.
By the end of chapter 29, Jefferson has reached the end of his journey as his life draws to a close. Repeated journeys into the innermost cave of Jefferson's cell and mind have invoked a transformation in him, and his words (in the form of the notebook) will persist after his death, and potentially bring change back to the "ordinary world" that is the endless cycle of life in Bayonne and the Quarters.
At the very beginning, Grant does not attend the courtroom with his Aunt and Miss Emma, instead choosing to distance himself because he already knows exactly what will happen. The first ordeal therefore becomes merely pushing Grant past his attempts to isolate himself from the issue.
In the jail cell, there are more than physical walls that separate Jefferson from the rest of the world. Jefferson is silent, seemingly emotionless and ignoring his visitors. He then turns mocking, seeming not to recognize Grant, perhaps trying to drive away his visitors rather than experience/cause the emotional pain that talking to them would cause.
In order for Grant to fulfill his task and teach Jefferson A Lesson Before Dying, he has to overcome the walls Jefferson has put up. He makes several attempts, with varying degrees of little success. He first tries to just say "you're a human, not a hog" to Jefferson, only to be rebuked by Jefferson eating the food as a hog would. Grant tries to make an emotional appeal, that Jefferson should do it for his Godmother, but this seems to fall flat in face of Grant's own lack of empathy/care for the people in his life. He starts getting closer when he talks to Jefferson about what a Hero is. Jefferson seems skeptical, saying "You all ax a lot" (paraphrased, but basically that), but he does agree to try.
The first moment where Grant really seems to connect with Jefferson is when Grant asks what he wants for his last meal. Jefferson says that he wants a gallon of ice cream, seeming unguardedly honest, maybe even a little childish in this moment. This is a far cry from their early meetings, with a closed-off and vitriolic Jefferson.
When Grant brings Jefferson a radio, this marks a turning point in their relationship. Jefferson and Grant can now be considered (sort-of) friends, rather than Grant as an authority figure. There's also some symbolism of a radio that is capable of transcending the walls of a jail and the music gives the two some talking points.
It's soon after the delivery of the radio that Grant proposes Jefferson use to write down his thoughts, questions, or anything he desires to write. Grant struggles at first with finding things to write about, but with some mentoring and teaching from Grant (hey look! Grant's actually being an effective teacher), Jefferson reflects on himself, his life, an everyone in it.
Even though the physical walls of the prison remain, Jefferson's isolation has been thoroughly broken. Most of the named characters in the book (Grant, Miss Emma, Tante Lou, Reverend Ambrose, Ms. Rita, Bok, the other parents, all the school children, etc.) come to visit him at various times, and it seems almost that Jefferson is now more a part of the community than before. Even the sheriff and the deputies have formed connections to Jefferson ("I know you"), despite their attempts not to.
By the end of chapter 29, Jefferson has reached the end of his journey as his life draws to a close. Repeated journeys into the innermost cave of Jefferson's cell and mind have invoked a transformation in him, and his words (in the form of the notebook) will persist after his death, and potentially bring change back to the "ordinary world" that is the endless cycle of life in Bayonne and the Quarters.
I would say that Grant and Jefferson do indeed become "friends," and this is an important development in their relationship. Grant says relatively early on that he wants to be Jefferson's "friend," at a time when such a thing seems as impossible as "making Jefferson a man." But by the end, when Jefferson (in his notebook) simply wants to tell Grant he "likes" him but doesn't know how, or when he expresses empathy for how Grant always looks "tired," and especially when he cries upon learning Grant won't be there on his final morning, we see direct evidence of friendship, rather than a hierarchical teacher-student dynamic.
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