Gathering of Old Men essays

Gathering of Old Men essays The book, A Gathering Of Old Men, is set in the 1970's and is heavily based on the ownership of black slaves in the south. Referring to racist and abusive acts towards blacks, the book also has a reoccurring theme of justice. Justice can be described many different way depending on the circumstances in which it is being used. Justice can best be described as the purposeful attempt to re-administer wrongs by a person, as shown in A Gathering Of Old Men. The individual by which justice is the most clearly observed in the book, is Charlie. Charlie, a black, worked for Beau, but being a racist, Beau cared little as to the well being of Charlie. Charlie told Mapes that all his life, all he ever did was run from people. He did what blacks and whites wanted him to do, and he would get abused if he did something either the right or wrong way. No matter what Parrain tried to do to make Charlie a man, it took 50yars of abuse for Charlie to say he had enough. Beau told Charlie that he wouldnt just cuss him, but beat him as well. Feeling that after 50 years, he couldnt allow that anymore, Charlie decided to get justice. In this case, it resulted in a murder. Two types of justice are represented in A Gathering Of Old Men. Charlie wanted personal justice, or to get revenge personally, for something someone has done. The court scene in the last chapter of the book showed legal justice, or justice for an individual though the courts. Justice is important to A Gathering Of Old Men because as Charlie said, hes now a man. Im a man,he said. I want the world to know it. I aint Big Charlie, nigger boy, no more, Im a man. Yall hear me? A man come back. Not a nigger boy. A nigger boy run and run and run. But a man come back. Im a man. (Page 187) Charlies justice for himself by standing up to Beau, gave him self respect, freedom, and respect from his friends and Mape...