Salt and Pepper in the Same Backfield

I apologize for not not following up the "James Meredith and Ole Miss" post with one on Gil and Cal from A Gathering of Old Men as I said I would. This post will focus on "Salt and Pepper" from Gaines' 1983 novel. Speaking about the violence and prejudice that appears in a novel set in the 1970s, Gaines says, in a 1991 interview, that racism and oppression still exist. He continues by using Gil and Cal as a symbol of progress and hope in the novel. His comments are worth quoting at length:

Another one of the themes running around this story is the idea of working together. The football players are very important in the novel. The only way you can really do things and the only way we are going to be Americans is that we have to work together. While many of the other characters in the novel are trapped in the past, the only ones who live in the present are Salt and Pepper.They're the ones living in the present and they're the ones who must make American work. We've got to block for each other and do all kinds of things to get to the goal. The football players are a symbol for how we must do this together. (Saeta and Skinner 250)

While Gil and Cal represent progress, Cal appears in the novel only once. As Gil prepares to leave LSU after getting word of his brother's murder, Cal tries to console Gil and tries to figure out what happened. At this moment, Gil turns his anger upon Cal: "Then suddenly [Gil] just turned against Cal. Out of the blue, he looked at Cal like he suddenly hated him. It surprised the hell out of both me [Sully] and Cal" (113). Gil leaves, and all Cal can do is just stand "there looking hurt" (114). After this encounter, Cal does not enter the novel again, except as a character removed from the action.

Ultimately, while Gil and Cal represent progress, there is something sort of unsettling about Gil and his role in the groundbreaking duo of "Salt and Pepper." When speaking with his father Fix, Gil continues to intone that if the family does anything to retaliate against the murder of Beau it will hurt his chances of becoming an All American. Here, it feels like Gil's dreams and desires supersede his family as well as Cal.However, this is all part of Gil's awakening, as Sister Mary Ellen Doyle says, because even after Gil rejects Cal and "has accepted rejection himself can he begin fully to see that what he does on the football field has wider implications than his own fame and glory" (184). Russ, the deputy who Mapes sends to Fix's house to keep him and his men there, says as much to Gil.

Upon leaving, Gil tries to decide whether or not he should play in the game against Ole Miss. Russ stops him and convinces him that he should, telling Gil, "Tomorrow you can do something for yourself, and for all the rest of us" (150). Russ begins by saying what Gil can do for himself then he moves on to what he can do for the country and for the next generation of Cajuns in South Louisiana. Russ tells Gil that millions of people will see the game on TV, and most of them will be pulling against LSU because "Salt and Pepper" are in the same backfield; however, that makes Gil and Cal that much more important. Gil doesn't respond to this argument, and Russ move on to argue how Gil can help his family: "You want to do something for your dead brother? Do something for his son's future--play in that game tomorrow" (151). Gil then asks about how this help Fix, not realizing that Fix possibly can't be helped. Russ concludes by reinforcing that Gil can help Tee-Beau, the country, and himself by playing in the game.

There is more to Gil in the novel, but this provides a good starting point for discussing not just Gil's role but also the role of sports in the novel. Football, and other sports, serves as a tool that bring together social change. Just take a look at Jim Brown for an example of this in the NFL or Jerry LeVias at SMU (a video of him is below). In the comments, let's continue this conversation. How do you see sports affecting social change? How do sports play into other novels, not necessarily those of Gaines or other African Americans?

Doyle, Mary Ellen. Voices from the Quarters. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2003. Print.
Gaines, Ernest J. A Gathering of Old Men. New York: Vintage Books, 1983. Print.
Saeta, Elsa and Izora Skinner. "Interview with Ernest Gaines." Conversations with Ernest Gaines. Ed. John Lowe. Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 1995. 241-252. Print.