A Gathering of Old Men | Social Concerns
In Gaines's most popular work since The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1971), A Gathering of Old Men documents one day in the life of a southern community through the voices of multiple narrators. Although set in the 1970s, the novel shows that racism and the social abuse of blacks are still very much present. The catalytic event is the murder of an abusive Cajun in self-defense. Candy Marshall, the niece of the white owner of the plantation where the killing occurs is especially concerned that Mathu, the old black man who has raised her, may be jailed for the killing. She decides...
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