A GATHERING OF OLD MEN

Author: Ernest James Gaines

Publisher: Ernest James Gaines

• The book consists of 213 pages.
• "A Gathering of Old Men" was published in 1983, set on a 1970's Louisiana cane farm.
• The book addresses racial discrimination.

Ernest J. Gaines was born January 15, 1933 on River Lake Plantation in oscar. The movies he's done were A Lesson Before Dying, The Sky is Gray, A Gathering of Old Men and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.

The novel "A Gathering of Old Men" caught my attention because of the mystery of the book such as murder, the setting and the fact that it deals with racial discrimination.

The novel uses puncuation. Although the characters in the novel use terms "Gram Mon" as Grandma, the puncuation is there and they are in needed places and in the appropiate places.

The main characters in the book are Candy Marshall, Lou Dimes, Beau Bauton and Sheriff Mapes. Candy Marshall is the protagonist in the book, Beau Boutans murder took place on her plantation in Mathu's yard. She immediately takes charge of the situation by gathering all of the men and shotguns from all around the community. Beau Bouton. Although hes dead throughout the novel it is believed that he had alot to do with events that happened in the past such as sons and daughters killed and people being attacked. He represents the order that has subjugated blacks throughout history. Lou Dimes is the most frequent narrator in the novel. He works as a journalist in Baton Rouge. Sheriff Mapes is a 60 year old white man who initially seems to be racist. He uses violence to question the old men, however, he changes throughout the novel.

A Gathering of Old Men takes place on the Marshall Plantation in Bayonne Louisiana. The plantation's Cajun work boss, Beau Baton, has been murdered. Candy Marshall, the partial owner of the plantation, discovers Beau's dead body outside of Mathu's house. This novel is somewhat a mystery because of the murder. It took place in the 20th Century and the novel was somewhat a violent slow paced story. Violent because of the murder and slow paced because how long it dragged to figure everything out because of all the people that confessed to killing Beau. The ending outcome was the trial for all blacks and whites involved in the shooting, which takes place a week after the event. The judge places everyone on probation for five years.

I enjoyed reading this novel because it had suspense and will have the reader guessing whats going to happen next. There were multiple people involved in the crime which made the novel more interesting and suspenceful. Beau was murdered because of innocent people being convicted and crimes being made by him and is which gives him a part in the novel.