Catherine Carmier (Masterplots II: American Fiction Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Ernest J. Gaines
- First Published: 1964
- Type of Plot: Historical realism
- Time of Work: The early 1960’s
- Setting: The former slave quarter on a plantation in rural Louisiana
- Principal Characters: Jackson Bradley, Brother, Raoul Carmier, Catherine Carmier, Charlotte Moses, Della (Johnson) Carmier, Lillian Carmier, Mary Louise, Madame Bayonne
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism, Domestic realism
- Subjects: African Americans, Teaching or teachers, 1960’s, Parents and children, Love or romance, Biracial people, South or Southerners, Education or educators, Creoles, Cajuns, Farms, farmers, or farming, Fathers
- Locales: South (U.S.), Louisiana
The Novel
There is a strong autobiographical strain in Catherine Carmier. Like the novel’s protagonist, Jackson Bradley, Gaines moved to California to get a decent education and a stronger foothold on a better life than he could find at home, in the poor rural area around New Roads, Louisiana, which, fictionalized, is the novel’s setting. He also faced a similar personal dilemma, whether to return home to teach or to seek a more promising life elsewhere.
By the time he finished Catherine Carmier, Gaines knew that writing was his life’s work, but...
[The entire page is 2733 words long]
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