What does Miss Emma mean by saying she wants Jefferson to die like a man?

She does not want Jefferson to die like an animal, a hog specifically, because the attorney call him less than a hog, but like a man. She does not want him to give anybody the satisfaction of seeing him as less of a man and not let anyone hold that type of power over him.

Why does Grant want to leave from Bayonne with Vivian?

Grant wants to leave Bayonne with Vivian because he is tired of the community and the expectations and roles he has to play to fulfill those who desire them. He feels that his teaching accomplishes nothing and wants to get out of his hometown, leaving these responsibilities behind,He feels like he is dead and not living. He wants to go somewhere where he feels like he is living. And the only reason he has not left yet is because of Vivian.

What does Grant believe of about the idea of going to visit Jefferson?

Grant does not like or approve of the idea of going to visit Jefferson because he believes he cannot help him. However Miss Emma and his aunt Tante Lou persuade and pressure him into going having hopes that he can change Jefferson's thinking of himself and give him a lesson before dying.

Why might have made Grant's parents leave Bayonne, Louisiana and have him stay with his aunt?
Grant's parents may have left Bayonne, Louisiana to California for an escape for because they could not changed the community that had repetitive cycles of high hopes of change. His parents left to California, leaving him to be raised by his aunt who has give him opportunities to better the unequal community.