The events in A Gathering of Old Men take place in October in the late 1970s in Louisiana, and although the novel primarily occurs in a day with funerals, as well as a trial, held several days later, because of the memories of the old men the novel's sense of the past goes back sixty to seventy years. Beau Boutan, a Cajun who has leased the Marshall plantation and instituted mechanized farming, is discovered killed in an eighty-year-old black man's front yard. Since this black man, Mathu, has never bent to the will of white or Cajun, he is thought to have killed Beau to protect a friend of his, Charlie, from a beating. No one suspects Charlie of killing Beau, because he never seemed to have the nerve to stand up to Cajuns or hostile.....
This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 356 words. This
study guide contains 41,306 words (approx. 138 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Literature Guide with our A Gathering of Old Men Access Pass.
