Separation Anxiety

One of the biggest challenges faced by Jack in his process of assimilating into society is his separation anxiety. Separation anxiety, the excessive fear or worry about separation from home or an attachment figure, is a normal stage for infants to go through as they learn about their relationships. Separation anxiety is normally self-treatable and is common amongst five-year-olds. Jack, however, isn't a "normal" kid (normal based on society). 

Jack has spent nearly every second of his life within 11 feet of his mother. Throughout the story, we've seen this separation anxiety from Jack. For example, when Ma is having her first shower, Jack is with her. At first, Jack doesn't want to get in the shower (an example of his disposition against change). When Ma gives up on getting Jack into the shower, she shuts the door so that the water doesn't leak out. Unable to see his mother, Jack panics and hits the door to get it open. In addition, he's also crying, showing the emotional turmoil he is going through (Donoghue 172). 

This separation anxiety will be something Jack needs to overcome in the future (ex. when he leaves for school, etc.). 

What's less obvious though, is Ma's separation anxiety from Jack. Although it isn't as obvious, there are some signs that Ma is extremely attached to Jack and worried about him. When they first arrive at the precinct, Ma asks for Jack to stay by her side the whole time. When her parenting is questioned, she gets defensive. When talking to her father, she says that "He's [Jack] the world to me," (Donoghue 226). 

Sure, Ma's separation anxiety isn't as bad as Jack's, but I believe it'll take time for her to become comfortable with Jack being independent. Up to the point we're at in the story, Ma has literally spent 5 years of her life taking care of Jack, and most importantly, protecting him from Old Nick. We see her become super protective of Jack whenever Old Nick is around, telling him not to touch Jack or look at Jack. She will almost certainly carry these protective instincts with her on her return home. 

Ma even explicitly states that she needs to work on being herself again, instead of being Jack's ma. 

Breaking the Cycle

In A Lesson Before Dying, the idea of the "cycle" is mentioned multiple times.

We're first introduced to it when Grant is looking out of his window and watching the children cutting wood. He thinks to himself: "What am I doing? Am I reaching them at all? They are acting exactly as the old men did earlier. (...) Is it just a vicious cycle? Am I doing anything?" (Gaines 62). The cycle that Grant is referring to is the cycle that Jefferson is experiencing: African American children grow up and then get thrown in jail or given a death sentence.

This cycle has been around for a long time. Grant's old teacher, Matthew Antoine, tells Grant to "Just do the best you can. But it won't matter." when Grant asks him for advice (Gaines 66). Antoine is referring to the cycle and how Grant cannot change it as a teacher. It's clear that this cycle is quite difficult to break.

Later in the story, Vivian asks Grant whether the cycle will be broken, and he responds with "It's up to Jefferson, my love." (Gaines 167). At first, I found this phrase quite confusing. Jefferson can't really do anything in jail, so what can Grant be possibly talking about? Shouldn't Grant have more responsibility to change the cycle, since he is a teacher who can be a positive influence for the African American children? I thought of this response from Grant as evidence of his want to leave everything behind.

After reading Jefferson's journal, however, I think I've realized how Jefferson is going to break the cycle. In Grant's journal, we see the community's bond with Jefferson. Children to old folks all came and visited Jefferson in his last days. These visits are really the only time in the book where we get to see the entire community come together. They also could imply that Jefferson is moving them emotionally and influencing them to treat each other better.

Jefferson's journal also provides us insight on Grant. When given a pencil, Jefferson said that he didn't need the eraser because Grant had told to him to just scratch out his mistakes and keep writing. This is a chiller version of teaching compared to Grant's drilling at school. Additionally, the text is unaltered, possibly suggesting that Grant doesn't want to change it nor criticizes it. Jefferson's journal also shows the growth of him as a person; he calls himself a man. After reading this phrase: "tell them im strong tell them im a man," Grant could realize that his way of teaching Jefferson works, which could lead him to change his teaching style. By doing so, Grant would be reaching his students more effectively and could lead to the breaking of the cycle.