Abstract for THE QUEST FOR BLACK MASCULINITY IN ERNEST GAINES’S A GATHERING OF OLD MEN

In A Gathering of Old Men, Ernest Gaines throws light on the quest for black masculinity which consists in showing their intrinsic qualities as men enabling them not only to resist but also to foil the power of the white administration which dominates and exploits them. They first succeed in overcoming the old social order that marginalises and excludes them from the environment they live in. Having obtained the same rights as Whites, they now challenge and overthrow heroically the white administration to build an egalitarian and harmonious society in which their rights and advantages are guaranteed by the law.