I need to write about the character "Gates" in Michael Malone's Handling Sin. Although I have read the book, I still don't understand it.

The best
way to understand the character of Gates in s novel is to
understand who he is not:  He is not his older half-brother Raleigh Whittier Hayes, who, in a
brief , the author describes as a paragon of virtue, a man so respectable that hes basically
boring: 

. . .a decent citizen and responsible family
man named Raleigh Whittier Hayes, who obeyed the law and tried to do the right thing.

Everyone who knew him called him reliable Raleigh, hardworking Raleigh,
fair-and-square Raleigh, and, in general, respectable, smart, steady, honest, punctual, decent
Raleigh Hayes.

Malone is piling it on thick for a
reason.  Handling Sin is the quintessential buddy story,
involving two or more individuals on an impromptu road trip during which all manner of mishaps
and peculiar encounters will inevitably occur.  Raleigh is destined to become the €˜fish out of
water among the eccentric and occasionally threatening individuals he and his...