Racism In John Steinbeck's A Gathering Of Old Men

In life there will always be a time that you must stand up and justify a cause. You will be put in a position where you can either stand and defend this or continue to be a bystander and watch as things never improve. The choices you make will either push to better yourself or others People often stand up for themselves or others to help justify a cause. In the book “A Gathering of Old Men” a group of Black men stand up against racism. A white man is murdered due to his prejudice actions, when the group of men stand to defend each other they all claim they killed him. These men stand up against racism at a time where to do so could cost you your life. A tremendous amount of courage is shown, where most would sit back to watch the calamity.

These group of men have waited until they become old and have nothing rest to lose. They have waited their whole lives being pushed around and waiting for the right moment to fight back against the white men who have caused them so much pain. They have lost family members and close friends to the white peoples barbaric actions and they are sick of taking it. By fighting for this cause, white men will make them all suffer. As a group they all receive the same fate, but still do not give in to the temptation of continuing to live their lives. There is a extensive amount of bravery in this situation. As individuals their loyalty to the friends and family around them is preeminent, but as a group they show their devotion to making their mark on the community they live in. In the past, they have been treated unfairly because of

To do this they all gather their shotguns and number 5 shells and meet at Mathus house. He was the first to stand up for the cause and they back him up. Once they get there they all claim the same story, that they shot Beau “I shot him. But all of a sudden Mathu said he shot him. Johnny Paul was nowhere around here. But after he came here and saw what had happened, he said he had as much reason to shoot beau as anybody”(16) They all claim that they killed a white man in a time where race could decide whether or not you are