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Masculinity
A black man’s masculinity during the 1970’s in rural South Louisiana is defined by courage, potential, self-actualization and advocating for their own humanity while a white man’s is defined by dominance, power and violence. The black men in the Quarters slowly unearth their courage and represent their own development of manhood when they arrive to defend Mathu. Each man comes with a gun, with that gun comes their potential to encompass that masculine nature they’ve been missing in their lives. To these men, masculinity is establishing their own voices and defending themselves. They establish their voices by speaking up on their own behalf, defending themselves. They are fighting against their own past decisions to ascertain their own masculinity.
In reference to another white man who contradicts Luke Will’s manhood, Suzanne Jones describes the development of Gil’s masculinity in her article. She states, “A young white man comes to maturity when he rejects his society’s equation of masculinity with violence, while the old black men become men when they enact this definition” (Jones 30). The black men fulfill the definition of masculinity when they reject what is expected of them as defined by a white man. According to white men, black men should submit to the white man’s authority. Rejecting this predicted behavior, in turn, allows a black man to become a man. Jones discusses Gil in relation to this idea. Gil, a young white man, denies what is expected of him. He is meant to respond to threats and dilemmas with violence. Gil does not do so, instead he advocates for a new method to resolve disputes without violence or death.
Gil’s white counterpart, Luke Will, directly reacts with violence characterizing the conception of toxic masculinity. To him, masculinity is discernible through violent behaviors. Jones describes this concept by stating, “He can define masculine bravery as fighting not as refusing to fight” (Jones 35). Luke Will represents the downfall of masculinity while Gil illustrates the future generation of masculine equality. This toxic masculinity exhibits the manipulation of authority selfishly. Although the black men act with the same violence as Luke Will, Gaines shows the difference between how violence can define masculinity. In Luke Will’s case, an act of violence shows the exploitation of his authority enacting his toxic masculinity. He fights and by doing so he fulfills the expectation of a white man encompassing his masculinity with direct violence. He brings his gun to enact his violent aggression. He and his gang show the dishonorable dichotomy of fighting. In the final shootout, Luke Will shoots Mapes and Sharp says, “Luke Will hadn’t intended to kill him when he shot him, only to stop him” (Gaines 203). From this, it is evident that Luke Will was responding to the shootout with aggression and excitement, not with defense of himself or his people. He was participating in the shootout for his own entertainment.
In the black men’s case, the act of violence they ensue shows the opposition of their expected behavior toward white men. They reject society’s definition of masculine fulfillment by fighting against white authority. They bring their guns in order to defend themselves, their guns are brought in defense of their lives showing the honorable dichotomy of fighting, a fighting that allows them to show their voices as opposed to Luke Will’s fight of violence, anger, and entertainment.
Through Charlie, Gaines shows how self-actualization and masculinity work together. When Charlie returns to the Quarters, he gains the courage to accept his responsibility of facing his mistakes. He realizes his potential as a man and claims his masculinity. He tells Mapes, “Sheriff, I’m a man. And just like I call you Sheriff, I think I ought to have a handle, too — like Mister. Mr. Biggs” (Gaines 187). He embodies this masculinity by displaying courage. He doesn’t want to be treated like a boy any longer. He definitively states that he is a man and he should be called Mr. Biggs to show his maturity into manhood. His importance in the novel spikes as he shows a direct transformation into what the black men claim as masculinity in their own community. Mathu’s masculinity is different from Charlie’s. Mathu is the epitome of a man to Charlie and the other black men because of his fearlessness toward white authority. The novel constructs masculinity of the black man in terms of bravery and daring. Mathu was never afraid to assert his influence throughout the novel, he is shown as a strong and bold black man. Adversely, Charlie is afraid of his consequences until the end of the novel when his character transforms to his ultimate masculine self through the facet of courage and self-actualization. Unlike the white man’s emergence of masculinity through violence, as Jones suggests, Charlie gains his masculinity by asserting himself and discovering his own contentment.
A Gathering of Old Men was published in 1983 and set in South Louisiana in the 1970s, a time when the Civil Rights Movement was coming to a close. Throughout the novel, Gaines constructs his own view black masculinity by appropriating contextual events in history where the masculinity of black men was questioned. When Charlie states, “I’m a man” to Mapes, this closely resembles the historical event of the Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike of 1968 (Gaines 187). Melonee Gaines, a journalist from Memphis, writes on the Memphis Strike and interviews a man named Elmore Nickleberry, who participated in the strike in which they demanded wages that were fair for all men (Gaines 19). The sanitation workers held signs stating, “I AM A MAN” which soon became unforgettable. Nickleberry was a veteran of the Korean War and comments on the strike by saying, “I fought for my country. I love my country. I served my time and I came out as a man. But they didn’t call you a man. They called you a boy, but I knew I was a man” (Gaines 20). Charlie Biggs understands this same transformation. He was treated like a young boy all of his life. But he was a man, by the end of the novel he realizes his potential of manhood and claims it. Mr. Nickleberry has a similar realization, he believes that “participating in the Memphis sanitation workers strike was an opportunity to be seen as a man who deserved life, liberty, and happiness” (Gaines 23). Gaines reaches across many different boundaries showing the true effects of how black masculinity has been tested through time. He shows the strength men can have in times of adversity.
Through each character’s narration, Gaines exposes the truth of how masculinity is defined in terms of race and social class. He uses his characters to contradict one another and give a glimpse of what masculinity looked like in rural South Louisiana communities in the 1970’s. Gaines hoped to expose injustice while attempting to help people see the complexities of what fueled and man and how he determines masculinity.
Gaines, E. J. (1983). A Gathering of Old Men. New York, NY: Vintage Books.
Gaines, Melonee. “The March of Man: Memphis Sanitation Workers Remember 1968 Strike.” Crisis (15591573), vol. 125, no. 2, Spring 2018, pp. 18–23. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=141816564&site=ehost-live.
Jones, Suzanne W. “New Narratives of Southern Manhood: Race, Masculinity, and Closure in Ernest Gaines's Fiction.” Critical Survey, vol. 9, no. 2, 1997, pp. 15–42. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41556067. Accessed 6 Oct. 2020.
Withers, Ernest C. (American, 1922-2007). I Am A Man, Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tennessee from the portfolio: I Am A Man. March 28, 1968, printed 1994. Artstor, library.artstor.org/asset/AWSS35953_35953_28267514