One thing that particularly struck me was just how much more responsive and engaged Jefferson was once the date of his execution was set. In Grant's first visit to Jefferson after the execution date was set, Jefferson responds verbally to Grant's greeting. It's not much, but it's more than before. This is also the same visit where Jefferson decides that he wants a gallon of ice cream for his last meal, and he engages Grant in some conversation about what's happening at the quarter. This interaction is the first time that we see Jefferson doing really human things without prompting, and this only happens once he knows exactly when he is going to die.
It seems odd initially, but it sort of makes sense. When I've had projects with no fixed due dates, I tend to put them off, but when I know I have until a certain date to do something, it gets done. Jefferson may have had a bunch of things he wanted to do, but didn't have the motivation to do them. Now that he knows how much time he has left, he can fit form structured plans rather than being able to put them off saying 'there will be time.'
There was also an implication that until this point, Grant hadn't really been getting through to Jefferson, but after the date of the execution is announced, Grant and Jefferson get a lot done. I have to wonder how much of this progress was from a change in Jefferson's psyche and how much was from Grant changing his teaching strategies. What are your thoughts? What caused Jefferson's seemingly sudden transformation to believing himself to be human?
It's striking how strongly setting the date affects Grant as well. It's maybe not surprising that it affects Jefferson so strongly, for the reasons you list here--the whole thing becomes more urgent and real and immediate. But Grant too is blindsided by the profound arrogance and insanity of the whole thing ("One man sets a date when another man dies," etc.). Of course, Grant has known all along that a date will be set, and he knows this is how executions in general go. And yes, the date is the "deadline" for his "project," so to speak (ghoulish pun not at all intended). But he seems more shaken by the mere fact that people, the government, representatives of him and the whole community (ostensibly) can actually *set the date on which a member of that community will be murdered with the sanction of the state*. The setting of the date is a pivotal moment for both "heroes" in the narrative.
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