Chapter 29 Summary

This chapter is an excerpt from Jefferson's notebook, which has become a journal. The entries are a series of recollections, dreams and experiences as his execution approaches.

Jefferson writes of sleepless nights and a recurring dream, where he is walking somewhere he does not want to go, and another dream where he approaches a door that he does not want to go through. He wakes before he reaches a destination.

Jefferson recounts a visit with Miss Emma, Tante Lou and Reverend Ambrose. Miss Emma tells Jefferson that all she wants is for him to ask for God's forgiveness, because this will make her life worth living. She begins to cry and Jefferson writes that he is relieved when the visit is over.

During another sleepless night, Jefferson thinks of how Samson, the biblical figure, was angry with God, and wonders why God does...