In the book Gathering of Old Men by Earnest Gaines the setting is a big deal in this book. I believe that that the setting is so strong that it can be another character. I say that because without the setting then the story would be completly different. The setting is down in the south and the time is when racsim is technically over but most of the white people still have problems with African Americans. So if the setting was not in the south where there are racist people then the story of the book would not make sense. So thats why the setting is so important in this book.

The setting of A Gathering Of Old Men By: Ernest J. Gaines plays an important part of the story and it helps develop the story almost as a character would. The setting of A Gathering Of Old Men is on a Louisiana sugarcane plantation in the 1970s. This is a little bit after the African Americans got there rights; however, they were not in full throttle yet. This is shown when Gaines says, "Like now they are trying to get rid of all proof that black people ever farmed this land with plows and mules-like if they had nothing from the starten but motor machines" (92). This shows that African Americans rights were not in full throttle yet and the white people are still trying to take everything they can from them. It helps build the story because it shows us that even though African Americans have their rights, attitudes towards them are still very racist. If this wasn't present in the story they would have no reason to ban together in the first place. Another example of how the setting develops the story almost as a character is this farmland is a small community where everyone has grown up together and everyone knows each other. This is shown when Gaines says, "You can't see Red Rider with Job, Jack with Diamond. You can't see the church with the people and you can't hear the singing and the praying. You had to be here then to be able to don't see it now and don't hear it now "(92). This shows anyone who isn't part of the community can't understand those little things because they weren't there like the rest of them were. This helps develop the story almost like a character does because it shows that they all have each others back and it shows they all had motives to kill Beau.

Setting!

Ernest J. Gaines does make the setting a complete character in this novel. This novel takes place in the 1970s when black men and women were basically free people. The exception is that they were treated badly and had little say in things that went on. Ernest exemplifies the setting throughout the novel which creates an image in the readers mind to portray how it was back then. An example of Ernest's characterization of the setting is when he says "The one or two old clapboard houses seemed deserted, causing the place to look like a Western ghost town" (117). This along with knowing that the black folks live on a sort of plantation one would expect the clapboard houses to be occupied. Seeing that they aren't, one would suspect something was happening. Which there was something happening. The black people were tired of being pushed around so they are standing up for something.

A gathering Setting

Ernest J Gaines really does paint a permant image in your mind with all of the great detail he gives.the setting of the story begins in the 1970 where blacks were free but still mis treated. The men in the book strive to stand up for some thing in this would they live in because they have been getting picked on and harassed there whole lives."Griffin was probably afraid of anyone younger"(Gaines). Mapes said this because griffin has bee scared all of his life and that is why he is still getting picked on when hes eighty years old.

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I believe that the author does a great job of just describing the scenery and the settings in the book. He makes everything seem as though it is alive and has human like characteristics. This is shown when he states "Everything was quiet-the weeds, the fields, the swaps-everything quiet"(96). He makes all these objects that aren't alive seem as though they all have the human-like characteristic of being quiet. Which in a sense makes the reader feel like all this non bionic things are really alive, creating a new character. Another way the author makes the setting seem like another character is when Ernest states "A light breeze had just risen up from the river, and I caught a faint odor from the sweet-olive bush which stood in the far right corner of the garden"(21). This is another case in which ernest uses such vivid imagery to the setting it makes you feel as though the things are coming to life. By Ernest using such great imagery and personification to this novel it makes the reader feel as though the setting is almost another character. I can't wait to read to more to see if he will put in more great insight on his setting decscription.

A Gathering Of Old Men (setting)

In A Gathering of Old Men, Ernest Gaines creates a very specific, and extremely fitting setting for the story. He does such a great job of involving the setting with the characters that he even goes to an extent where he starts to develop it AS a character. This is shown when Tucker says, "Everything was quiet-the weeds, the fields, the swamps-everything was quiet, quiet. Waiting for him to go on" (96). The way he describes the silence he makes it seem as if even the fields, weeds, and swamps were waiting for him in silence. This is also shown when Johnny Paul thinks about past, "He was just thinking out loud, the way a man talk to himself plowing the field by himself or hunting in the swamps with nothing but a gun, not even a dog" (90). This shows how when he was thinking of his past greatest memories, he didn't even have any people with him. It was just him and the environment, and he still loved it. The setting plays a huge role in this book because all the the characters have a strong connection to it in some way, and if the setting had been different, the story wouldn't even be close to being the same. Ernest Gaines realized this and worked the setting to perfection, developing it in such detail and meaning that it was developed even like a character.