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A Gathering of Old Men Unit of Study
Church and Faith in A Gathering of Old Men Lesson Plan
By Marshall Surratt
The church is a presence in the African-American community in Gaines’ stories. Here is a quote from Gaines on why he took up writing:
I wanted to see on paper those Louisiana black children walking to school on cold days while yellow Louisiana busses passed them by. I wanted to see on paper those black parents going to work before the sun came up and coming back home to look after their children after the sun went down. I wanted to see on paper the true reason those black fathers left home not because they were trifling or shiftless but because they were tired to putting up with certain conditions. I wanted to see on paper the small country churches (schools during the week), and I wanted to hear those simple religious songs, those simple prayers, that true devotion ... And I wanted to hear that Louisiana dialect that combination of English, Creole, Cajun, Black ...I wanted to read about the true relationship between whites and blacks, about the people I had known.
From Gaines, "Miss Jane and I," Callaloo No. 3 1:2338 (May 1978): 28.
In A Gathering of Old Men, there is talk of where the church once stood now given over to weeds, as the land has been wrested away from the black people. And, there is the language of the church still felt. One of the men, seeing the opportunity late in their lives to take a stand, says to another, "He works in mysterious ways, don’t he?" There is a lot of biblical imagery in Gaines’ stories, too. In annotating A Gathering of Old Men, for example, I noticed that these two men with a relationship like brothers are fishing when called, and that, as Snookum and Candy go up and down the quarter collecting the old men, about a dozen are "called."
Yet the preacher in this story is more passive than other black men. In A Gathering of Old Men, the preacher alone does not take up a gun with the other older men, and the preacher is physically weakest when confronted by the white sheriff. Here perhaps, the preacher is used as a symbol of the traditional passive reaction to the power of whites. (This is something that Gaines has since said he perhaps should have rethought. When the movie version was made, the actors refused to make the pastor as weak as originally depicted.)
Sojourners magazine had an interview with Gaines in the September-October 2002 issue on the topic of faith and the church. It’s titled "A Lesson for Living." He was interviewed by the director of Calvin College’s Festival of Faith and Writing, where Gaines had spoken. As noted in the interview, part of the influence of faith on Gaines is that he tries to write with understanding of all involved. Students can find this interview online through a search at http://www.sojo.net. (They have to register to view the article, but it’s free.)
Suggested Activities
- Examine biblical imagery and allusions in A Gathering of Old Men and, possibly, A Lesson Before Dying.
- Examine the relationship between religion and slavery, and the role of churches during the Civil Rights Movement.
- Read Gaines’ interview, "A Lesson for Living" and discuss with the class how the church and faith has influenced his writing. What other factors contribute to a person’s thought process and creativity?
Possible resources
Dodds, Elreta. What the Bible Really Says about Slavery. Detroit, Michigan: Press Toward the Mark Publications, 2000.
Raboteau, Albert J. Slave Religion: The Invisible Institution in the Antebellum South. Oxford University Press, 1980.
Smith, Timothy L. Revivalism and Social Reform: American Protestantism on the Eve of the Civil War. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980.
Stewart, James Brewer. Holy Warriors: The Abolitionists and American Slavery. 1967. New York: Hill and Wang, 1976, rev. ed.
The Church in the Southern Black Community, 1780-1925
http://www.ibiblio.org/laslave
Note: The book by Elreta Dodds is not the work of an academic, but it but shows valuable research. It is the work of an African-American woman who has studied the misuse of the Bible in defending slavery. Also, about a dozen years ago, I wrote an article for Christianity & Crisis (now defunct, it was begun by Reinhold Niebuhr and originally reflected the social gospel movement) on the role of churches in the Civil Rights Movement. I had visited the place in Tennessee where much of the training for the freedom schools and other Civil Rights work had begun and heard from several participants who had gathered there one weekend. I could post that article.
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