Georg Engel's Ernest J. Gaines: A Lesson Before Dying To understand or not to understand, that is the question...

Visits to the jail

Part III:

Chapts 9-12

In these chapters the development of the main action of the novel is taken up again: now Grant is allowed to visit Jefferson in jail. There is a series of four visits, three of which are quite similar whereas the fourth is very different.

The visits are a catastrophe: Jefferson is absolutely unresponsive and neither Grant nor his nannan get through to him.