Beginning of Essay
Inner and Outer Images in A Gathering of Old Men In the novel A Gathering of Old Men, Ernest J. Gaines, portrays the Novel through the eyes of individual narrators involved on the events of the day. The novel focuses on a group of cowardly black men who finally s ....

Middle of Essay
.... his use of the Christian names, given by their ancestors slave owners; and their nicknames. Before each black person narrates they are introduced, "Grant Bello aka Cherry" (41). Throughout the entire novel all black people have a nickname in which they only allow the "inner world" to refer to them. When Yank is confessing the crime of killing Beau Griffin begins to take down the name "Yank. Y-a-n-" and is corrected "Sylvester J. Battly . Be sure to spell Sylvester and Battly right, if you can" (99). The name he wants printed to the outside world is his real name, not the silly nickname his inner ring of friends refer to him as. These nicknam ....