A Gathering of Old Men is a novel with a large historical sweep. Like the aged main character of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, the twenty old men in A Gathering of Old Men, who are in their seventies and eighties, carry history in their first-person memories. The men gather to provide protection to a man they all admire, Mathu, by each claiming to have murdered a Cajun they suspect was killed by Mathu. Mathu in turn is shielding another man, Big Charlie, who finally admits the murder, earning the respect of Mathu and the others. All are afraid not only of...
Source: Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults, ©1999 Gale Cengage. All Rights Reserved. Full copyright.
(The entire page is 220 words.)
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