The Structure of Oppression in Ernest Gaines’ “Of Love and Dust”

When teaching Ernest Gaines’ Of Love and Dust (1967) this semester, I asked students to think about the hierarchy within the novel. When constructing the hierarchy, students constructed in a horizontal manner, with Marshall Hebert at the top, Sidney Bonbon on the rung beneath him, Louise beneath Bonbon, Pauline beneath Louise, then the Black residents of the plantation on the bottom rung. On the surface, this layout works because Marshall, the wealthy, white landowner does rest at the top of the hierarchy. His wealth and race allow him to this; however, while Marshall sits atop the hierarchy, the lower rungs become less clear. In fact, a linear hierarchy does not exist beneath Marshall; rather, we need to think of the structure as a triangle with multiple characters forming the wide base.

When we think about the power structures in Of Love and Dust as a triangle instead of a ladder, we realize that things are not nearly as clear cut as we initially suspect. Instead, we begin to see the ways that Marshall, who sits at the top of the triangle, uses his position to manipulate and pressure everyone beneath them. His machinations lead to the tensions between Bonbon and Marcus or Bonbon and the Black community. Marshall pits those beneath him against one another so that their fighting will increase his power and ultimately also increase his…