Of Love and Dust / 0-679-75248-XWhen a young black man is forced to work on a white man's farm to "work off" his prison sentence, he astonishes his more moderate peers by entirely refusing to accept the situation. Rather than capitulate, accept the situation, and "make the best of it", he chafes under the cruelties of the landowner, even though his stubborn refusal causes him intense pain and fatigue. Our narrator is at first surprised and then horrified as the rebellious young man continues to rebel - even to the point of seducing the landowner's wife, and running off with her in the night.Racial relations are explored carefully in Gaines' novels, and "Of Love and Dust" is no exception. The landowner is not explicitly evil; he is friendly to the narrator, and he has a relationship with one of the women who lives on his land. He loves the woman dearly as well as the two children he has with her, but he refuses to acknowledge that his position of privilege leaves the narrator no room to refuse his friendship, nor his "lover" any room to refuse his advances. At the same time, our young protagonist is no angel: he is rude to the narrator and brusquely brushes aside the narrator's attempt to help the young man. His seduction of the insecure lady of the house is marked with violence and revenge, only later blossoming into a rough-edged love. Like all of Gaines' novels, there are no easy answers here. The young protagonist is undoubtedly guilty of manslaughter. Some penance should be made, but it does not seem right that the black prison members should be sent out to work white-owned fields as their "punishment". And yet, the produce is necessary and needed and the prisoners are given more freedoms than they would have in prison; on the plantation they have access to their women friends, as well as other luxuries. The situation is clearly wrong, but it is unclear how it can be ultimately fixed. Perhaps the answer is hidden in the title: only love and time can remedy this situation.~ Ana Mardoll
Not far into this book, it´s easy to tell that Marcus will be killed and his presence at the plantation will wreak havoc on its residents. Still the writing is engaging, beautiful, and painful. The bad judgments of its characters seem so obvious that they would be easy to avoid, if only there were better options in their lives. The relationships presented seem stronger as the novel closes than throughout its course.
What do You think about Of Love And Dust (1994)?
Whew, couldn't put this one down! I had no idea it was written in 1967, until I was almost finished with it. I would imagine this is a fairly accurate account of life on a plantation. This book delves into the thought processes of the older generation blacks and a younger generation man (Marcus). So much of how the older generation reacts to situations is based on fear and the repercussions one person's actions could have on all of them. Marcus' views are completely opposite. His life experiences have lead him to believe only in himself and to put himself before all others. While this attitude can seem selfish, Jim Kelly can't help but eventually admire Marcus. Marcus does eventually show a softer side and that he is capable of loving someone besides himself. This book also deals with the power games that are played out, whites vs. whites, blacks vs. whites and blacks vs. blacks. The older generations knew "the code" that would keep them safe, but a young, high-spirited black man shakes the very foundations on the plantation and there is hell to pay!
—Cindy
It was such a good novel! It was1948 a long time past the Civil War.Mr. Hebert owned a plantation in SouthernLouisiana. He was "old school" and workedhis black tenants like slaves. He hada Cajun overseer,Sidney Bonbon who followedorders to work them hard. A young black man Marcus, was bondedout of jail to work off his time to thetune of 10 years. He resented Bonbon'sauthority and had a will of his own. It was considered o.K. for Bonbon tolive with a black woman from the "quarters",but Marcus was not allowed the same whenhe started seeing Mrs. Bonbon a white girl.Remember this was 1948. The fields anddirt roads were covered in a layer ofwhite dust,ankle deep. The flies andmosquitoes buzzed through the hothouses as the worn out folks wavedthem away.
—Mary
