Ernest J. Gaines: A Critical Companion

By Karen Carmean

Book Overview

Drawing on his rich Louisiana past, Ernest J. Gaines creates a fictional world representative of the human experience. His work explores the complex racial relationships--so much a part of Southern history and culture--and the unwritten and unspoken conventions of caste and class. Often structured around journeys of discovery, Gaines' works affirm the integrity of the individual and the unequivocal place in American life for Americans of African descent. This study offers a clear, accessible reading of Gaines' fiction. It analyzes in turn all of Gaines' novels as well as his collection of short stories. A complete bibliography of Gaines' fiction, as well as selected reviews and criticism, completes the study.

Following a biographical chapter on Gaines' life, an overview of his fiction explores his work in light of his literary heritage and use of genre. Each of the following chapters examines an individual novel: Catherine Carmier (1964), Of Love and Dust (1967), The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1971), In My Father's House (1978), A Gathering of Old Men (1983), A Lesson Before Dying (1994), and a collection of short stories, Bloodline (1968). The discussion of each work includes sections on plot and character development, thematic issues, and an alternative critical approach from which to read the novel. Carmean shows how each of Gaines' novels focuses on themes of personal value and place and affirms the need for recognizing the value of the individual, regardless of race. This study will help readers to understand the compelling issue of human relationships raised by Gaines and to see why he is one of America's finest writers.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0313302863
• ISBN13: 9780313302862
• Release Date: July 1998
• Publisher: Greenwood
• Length: 184 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

A GAINES PERSPECTIVE

If you have ever watched The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman or A Lesson Before Dying then the name of Ernest J. Gaines is familiar to you. Our author has been selected for inclusion in the series called Critical Companions to Popular Comtemporary Writers. The board composed of high school english teachers and librarians have selected contemporary authors for critical analysis of their works that have become a part of the secondary schools' english curriculums. As with all criticisms the authors' works are examined thematically, analysis of character/plot is given, a point of view and the development of the work's structure. A unique feature to this series is that it gives an alternate reading to the text by using the tools of feminism, historicism, Marxism and psychology. All of Gaines' works are subject to the above scrutiny but we find some interesting challenges in examining Gaines. First, he defies cateogorization. He refuses to pigeon hole himself as a Black author, or southern author, etc. for he moves beyond the stereotypes placed on genres. Second, although Gaines' works show the Black male perspective there is a strong female presence that runs throughout his books. Third, Gaines appears to fall in the tradition of a literary realist. He depicts things as they are rather than what the reader wants them to be. Such a work is helpful in understanding the works of Gaines. The only problem I saw was the use of eurocentric literary tools in analyzing his work. Otherwise this book serves as a good resource on Gaines.