Cecil Gaines grew up on a cotton farm in 1920s Macon, Georgia. His father got shot when he was a kid in front of his eyes because his father spoke up to the farm owner when he raped Cecil’s mother. The mother of the overseer, Miss Annabeth, then escorted the shocked child to the kitchen and ordered him to do duties of a servant. He got trained to be a houseman and got thought how to serve. After learning that, he escaped from the farm leaving everything behind him because he was scared that the farm owner would kill him too so he ran away hoping for a better life. At first it was hard for him to start off with a new life because he didn’t know where to go. He was all by hisself and had no home and no food. thats when he saw a bakery of a hotel and broke the window to look for some…show more content… Louis is also a freedom rider and black panther member and a radical activist. His younger brother Charlie decided to fight for his country in Vietnam but got killed during the war. tensions grew at home as his oldest son become affected by the social and political upheaval. there was the main conflict between father and son during the civil rights movement. Cecil had mixed feelings about his son being and civil rights activist and was scared to loose his son because he got arrested and putted hisself in serious danger various times. Cecil is a stubborn person and rarely jumps over his shadow. You can see that when he was mad at his son for years and didn’t talk to him until his wife told him to. Getting older and older Cecil finally realized that he was wrong all along and it was not right that he didn’t talk to his only son for years. He realized that his son needs him as a father and supporter and not only lost Charlie but Louis too. He came to his senses and quitted his job and decided to reconcile with his son and joined his
