Essay Questions

What is the significance of the novel’s title?

The novel’s title is a reference to just that; a literal gathering of old men, but it also alludes to something bigger and more sinister than just a gathering of elderly individuals discussing life in general. The gathering of old men in the book refers to the old African-American men congregating at the home of Mathu where they plan to avenge themselves from an elderly racist, Fix, who had been tormenting them for many years in various ways. The novel’s title is also self-referential to how the story unfolds; it is told through several different old--and some not so old--men. Despite the various speakers and viewpoints all converge to tell one story; that is, that it is the collective story of a community of African-Americans living in difficult times and facing it, best as they can as a community.

How is the theme of power tackled in the novel?

All of the major themes within the novel--race relations, gender roles, class distinctions--are tied up to the theme of power, or as in many cases in the story, powerlessness. Power is a concept that isn’t necessarily connected to socially created constructs like the legal system because often the legal system leans heavily in favor of those with means and influence. The issue of race and racial relations are only significant as it relates to social power, effectively creating a very clear division of who has power and who doesn’t. Even concepts relating to gender, such as the idea and definition of masculinity and femininity, are ultimately tied up to power. Many of the slaves working on the plantations were men but are treated barely better than livestock or farming implements, completely stripped any that defines them as men and by default all the dignities that come with that identity. This idea of power as not being equally distributed among men is what white slave masters use to justify the culture of brutality and abuse against black men in the American South.

What do shotguns symbolize in the novel?

The character Gil reports to his bigoted father, Fix, that there is a gathering of old, black men each armed with a shotgun waiting for him. This is something that literally no white person living in Louisiana has ever witnessed and the old racist, perhaps for the first time in many years, is genuinely stunned. Fix has been living under the impression that being a white man in the American South has conferred upon him a measure of invulnerability. Seeing a significant number of men--old, black men--toting shotguns, in similar manner that a lynch mob would, tells him that things are no longer as they used to be. Shotguns therefore become more than just a weapon, it becomes symbolic of change, a shift in power. The shotguns also tell him, very clearly, that not only has power shifted, it also no longer in his hands.