themes in a gathering of old men

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Out of all the themes in A Gathering Of Old Men the greatest was reaffirming self worth by taking action. The most crucial character that made this theme so strong was Mathu. Without Mathu reaffirming self worth by taking action would not be a major theme. Things such as Mathu being the only one to ever stand up for himself and everyone going to Mathu's house support this. Every man in A Gathering Of Old Men seemed weak and wanted to run away when they heard about the killing of Beau. Mat had said "seventy one and a half. I ain't got to much strength to go crawling under that bed like Fue said" (Gaines, 30) This shows that Mat always ran away from everything. Along with Mat saying this, Chimley said it to. when the men thought it was Mathu that killd Beau they knew they had to go. They wanted to show that they were still men regardless of age and they wanted to prove that they were still worth something and thought if they stood up for Mathu it would truly show there worth. Earlier I talked about how everyone wanted to go because they thought Mathu did it. If it was anyone else they would not have been so inclined to go. Mathu was the only one who ever stood up for himself when everyone else was to afraid to. Everyone felt like Mathu deserved people to stand up for him. The men did not feel like they were with something when compared to Mathu. This is shown by everyone gathering at Mathu's house. In Lou Dimes chapter we finally meet Mapes. Of course he was there to find out what had happened and who did it. He started calling the men over one by one to find out what really had happened because he knew Candy did not do it. All the men said "I did it" (Gaines, 67) Mapes could hit them all he wanted but it did not matter. the men felt like they had to do it for Mathu and for themselves. They showed they were worth something and it did not matter that they

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