الفهرس 
Three Castes of Race and GenderOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
This thesis is an evaluation of the works of Ernest J.Gaines in terms of the quest for identity through a study of a number of his most prominent novels: Catherine Carmier, Of Love and Dust, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, A Gathering of Old Men, and the most recent one, A Lesson Before Dying. The study has attempted to analyze the conflicts among the different groups, White, Cajun, Creole, and African- American, of the large American society through concentrating on the ethnic struggles and problems found in the small rural Louisiana with its unique mixture of different cultures and traditions. An introductory chapter shows that Gaines’s writing reflects an area in which he has lived, and a people he loves and has lived among. He related, through the use of fictional characters and towns, stories about life in rural Louisiana as he observed it to be a true Louisiana with its common people, bayous, and incidents which are craved in the minds of a people trying to survive, endure, and prevail with pride and dignity.