A Gathering of Old Men: Analisys 2
by: marisa
The equality of blacks versus white and Cajuns after the Civil Rights Movement was something still to be achieved. Although blacks had most of the same rights whites had, they were still treated poorly. This is portrayed in Ernest Gaines’ A Gathering of Old Men by the character Fix and his friends. They still believed in lynching blacks and treating them like inferiors. There is still hate and disdain towards blacks because of their skin color, even though the Civil Rights Movement brought freedom to them (Joey). Some whites however, treated blacks as equals and friends. For example, Mathu, an aging black man, raised the white woman Candy and lived on her land. During the 1970’s many whites still held on to their dislikes for blacks and still felt the need to carry out their ways of punishment and treatment towards them. Many blacks feared these individuals and would not stand up for themselves. At one point in Pointe Coupee, Louisiana, before slavery was abolished, slaves held a meeting at one of the local plantations to plot a rebellion. In contrast to that, the score of blacks in A Gathering of Old Men stood together at the Marshall Plantation and formed a rebellion after the murder of a Cajun farmer (Slave Resistance). In Louisiana, after the integration of colleges and college sports, many whites befriended blacks who shared an interest of sports and became close. In A Gathering of Old Men, Gil is an All-American star football player who is friends with black, who is also a star football player. Gil comes from a Cajun family who has a strong reputation for leading and organizing lynching mobs against blacks. Gil’s family hated the fact that not only he played football side by side with a black man, but also was best friends with him. Some whites, including Gil’s family, thought that the integration of schools would lessen the quality of white schools and result in miscegenation that would lead to mongrelization of the human race (McGuire).
The equality of blacks versus white and Cajuns after the Civil Rights Movement was something still to be achieved. Although blacks had most of the same rights whites had, they were still treated poorly. This is portrayed in Ernest Gaines’ A Gathering of Old Men by the character Fix and his friends. They still believed in lynching blacks and treating them like inferiors. There is still hate and disdain towards blacks because of their skin color, even though the Civil Rights Movement brought freedom to them (Joey). Some whites however, treated blacks as equals and friends. For example, Mathu, an aging black man, raised the white woman Candy and lived on her land. During the 1970’s many whites still held on to their dislikes for blacks and still felt the need to carry out their ways of punishment and treatment towards them. Many blacks feared these individuals and would not stand up for themselves. At one point in Pointe Coupee, Louisiana, before slavery was abolished, slaves held a meeting at one of the local plantations to plot a rebellion. In contrast to that, the score of blacks in A Gathering of Old Men stood together at the Marshall Plantation and formed a rebellion after the murder of a Cajun farmer (Slave Resistance). In Louisiana, after the integration of colleges and college sports, many whites befriended blacks who shared an interest of sports and became close. In A Gathering of Old Men, Gil is an All-American star football player who is friends with black, who is also a star football player. Gil comes from a Cajun family who has a strong reputation for leading and organizing lynching mobs against blacks. Gil’s family hated the fact that not only he played football side by side with a black man, but also was best friends with him. Some whites, including Gil’s family, thought that the integration of schools would lessen the quality of white schools and result in miscegenation that would lead to mongrelization of the human race (McGuire).