Humanism

By Jordan Forest

General Context

Humanism refers to a philosophical and ethical approach to life that centers human agency and the rights of man. Developed within a Judeo-Christian and white European framework, early humanism defined man according to western values and a western view of civility and reason. Humans who did not fit neatly into a western ideal of man were viewed and treated as other. The notion of a Great Chain of Being perpetuated this belief in a pre-existing hierarchy among humans, and Winthrop Jordan argues that the consequence of “admit[ting] the possibility that Nature was hierarchically ordered was to open the door to inherent inferiority” (496). Thus, humanism was often appropriated for racist means, differentiating between kinds of human: civilized man versus uncivilized other. Writer and philosopher Sylvia Wynter writes that man was distinguished “between the European settlers classified as by nature a people of reason… and the non-European population groups ‘Indians’ and ‘Negroes,’ classified as ‘brute peoples without ‘reason’ who were no less naturally determined to be so” (304). By perpetuating the idea of “kinds of human,” white oppressors discursively justified the acts of violence and mistreatment they perpetrated against the so-called other, making prejudice and racism appear natural and even pre-determined.

Connection to Novel

One of the most prominent questions in A Lesson Before Dying is, “What is a man?” In the opening scene of the novel, Jefferson’s white defense lawyer tells the jury, “[L]ook at this– this– this boy. I almost said man, but I can’t say man. Oh sure, he has reached the age of twenty-one, when we, civilized men, consider the male species has reached manhood, but would you call this– this– this a man?” The novel exposes a hierarchical and racist view of man, one which mirrors the use of humanism to stratify types of humans. In the aftermath of that court hearing, Jeffersons’ family and friends seek to make Jefferson “a man” before he dies, which is why they enlist the help of Grant, an educated schoolteacher. However, even Grant, though educated and “civilized” according to the ideals of white society, is still forced to enter through the back door of Henri Pichot’s estate and repeatedly belittled in white-dominated public spaces, revealing the underlying prejudice in white society’s construction of “man.” Throughout A Lesson Before Dying, Gaines asks us to consider what truly defines a man and who makes this determination.