Quote 1
"Y'all asking a lot, Mr. Wiggins, from a poor old n***** who never had nothing." (28.63)
Jefferson refers to his race to explain why he has such a limited capacity. For him, being asked to stand on his own two feet as a man is a lot to ask, even though he is twenty-one years old. This shows us just how much racism can affect whether or not people can imagine a different life.
Quote 2
"Just a old hog they fattening up to kill for Christmas." (11.55)
Jefferson has identified himself with the hog that the defender compared him to during the trial. In the same way that you don't get too attached to a hog you're going to kill and eat, Jefferson won't let himself feel anything because it will hurt to lose himself in the end.
Quote 3
"That's how I want to go, Mr. Wiggins. Not a mumbling word." (28.77)
Jefferson often compares his own death to Jesus'. They were both executions, and both happened right around Easter time. He decides to take Jesus' silence, his lack of protest, as a model for his own behavior.
Quote 4
"'Cause I'm go'n die soon? That make me a man, Mr. Wiggins?" (28.96)
Jefferson brings up a good, but difficult point. Mr. Wiggins wouldn't have paid any attention to Jefferson if he hadn't been sentenced to death. He would just end up like all of the other kids that graduated from Wiggins' classes. But his circumstances are extraordinary, so that requires Jefferson to mature extraordinarily.
Quote 5
"Me, Mr. Wiggins. Me. Me to take the cross. Your cross, nannan's cross, my own cross. Me, Mr. Wiggins. This old stumbling n*****. Y'all axe a lot, Mr. Wiggins." (28.86)
Jefferson has become a symbol, not just a person anymore, and that puts a lot of unfair pressure on him. He's just a kid who has been wrongly convicted of murder and will soon be executed for it. Why should that mean that he has to give hope to everyone he knows as well? It's unfair, just like any sacrifice, but he finds the strength to do it anyway.