Themes

There are many themes within A Gathering Light. These include racism, feminism, ambition, education, endurance, responsibilities, realisation, crime, death, dreams and hope, love and sickness. The two themes I have chosen to look at are racism and sickness

Racism

Racism can be cruel and degrading, and can get people into trouble. One event in A Gathering Light where racism is shown as dangerous is when Weaver gets into a fight with 3 drunk men over being called 'nigger'. The following is part of a conversation between John Denio, Cook and Weaver;

''"Three men came out of the Summit Hotel. Trappers. They were drunk. They said some things. Weaver answered back. One of them hauled him out of the seat and all 3 of them beat him. I heard the noise, ran out, and broke it up." "Three to one, Weaver? For God's sake, why didn't you just keep quiet?" "They called me nigger"''

This is a perfect example of how racism can be dangerous and how it can lower self esteem. Another example from the fight that Weaver was in, is when Mattie realises what Weaver went through;

".....And I imagined what Weaver must have seen. White hands on black skin. So many white hands....."

This shows what it's like for a white person to realise what it must be like for a black person to be lower down in the ranks of society.

My second example of racism in this novel is when Weavers mammas house gets burned down buy the three same men who beat Weaver up. It was like revenge to the men, who had been put in jail for beating Weaver. But not only did they burn the house down, they also stole the money that Weaver had been saving up to go to university in Columbia. This is Weavers mamma saying what happened;

''"You think I give a damn about an old shack?" She lifted her face. Her ancient eyes were bloodshot from tears and smoke. "They found your college money, Weaver," she said "they took it all. Every last nickel. It's gone, it's gone. Lord Jesus, it's all gone."''

This is example of how racism forces black people into a lower rank in society.

Sickness

Sickness is a sad and miserable piece of life that can affect more than just a small group of people. The first example of sickness in the novel is when Mattie's family becomes ill while she is working at the Glenmore. She has to race out of her job to get home to make sure no one dies. This is where Tommy is telling Mattie what he saw when she went her her house;

''"It's your Pa and your sisters Matt. They're powerful sick..." I dropped the knife I was holding. "I went over early to see if Lou wanted to go fishing, and I knocked and knocked but no one came. The cows were bellowing, so I went in the barn. Daisy's real bad. She ain't been milked. Ain't none of them have. I didn't know what to do Matt. I went inside the house...They're all real bad. I found Lou in the grass by the out-house, I got her inside but-" I didn't hear anything else for I was already running."''

This shows how badly a sickness can affect a group of people very quickly, how it have an affect on the people or animals (cows) around them, and how important it is for family to be together during hard times such as this.

My second example of sickness is when Mattie is remembering her mothers best and last moments with her. She describes all the good times they had together, and then moves on to explain what happened after the cancer began to take its toll, and she remembers what she looked like and the pain she must have been in;

"I saw her as she looked right before she died, her body wasted, her face hollowed out. I saw her as she wept and moaned with pain. And as she screamed and threw things at us, her sunken eyes suddenly bright with rage. I saw her as she pleaded with the doctor and Pa and Aunt Josie and the Reverend Miller not to let her die"

This is an example of how sickness can drastically change the appearance and personality of a person, and how scary the thought of facing death would be. The thought of leaving everyone and everything behind becomes too much for a person and they become a lot more emotional towards the whole situation, and pain would eventually become too much to bear, to a point where the victim can't stand it anymore, causing a drastic change from a usually kind and caring person, to an unpredictable person who could randomly lash out at you for no reason, which can cause problems within the family bonds. After the person finally moves on, family can fall apart, and connections can be broken, and people can leave all together.