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Why doesn't anyone listen to Reverend Jameson on page 53 of A Gathering of Old Men? Why do you think Gaines chooses to make the minister an...

The situation you are referring to is likely when Beulah tells Reverend Jameson to go home and Rooster asks Dirty Red if he should shoot Reverend Jameson. As the question points out, no one in the community respects the reverend, even though he is a clergyman. The reason that people don't respect him is that he doesn't want the African-American community to stand up for themselves against white plantation owners such as Fix Bouton. Instead, Jameson is afraid whites will burn his parish down if his community starts to protest. He would rather meekly accept the status quo, even if it means that African-Americans are constantly harassed and abused. Perhaps by making Jameson weak, Gaines is suggesting that religion as it is usually practiced has not helped African-Americans in their quest for justice and equality with whites. Instead, the African-Americans in the novel must turn to community solidarity to gain justice.

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