light in august
Light in August by William Faulkner is a story about three character's lives-Joe Christmas, Lena Grove, and Rev. Gail Hightower- blended together to show the consistent struggles. A theme of Light in August, a man's past experiences mold his present and future, is concentrated on Joe Christmas and his racial identity. Joe Christmas is perhaps the most controversial character in Light in August. He is labeled as a victim because of his plights with Doc Hines, the orphanage, his adoptive father, Simon McEachern, and his waitress girlfriend Bobbie Allen. At every major mile stone in Christmas's life he was put down, shut out, or beaten by people that should have cared about him. His racial grandfather, Doc Hines, gave him up for adoption. Mr. McEachern tried to force religion on him. Bobbie Allen abused his trust. "Why, I committed murder for her. I even stole for her" (Faulkner 217). Christmas progresses through his life as at first only a little knowing child, then an angry adolescent still capable of some h
Her abolitionist views take on her actions toward him when she tried to convince Christmas to admit he is part black and be in the black law firm. "He thought that it was loneliness which he was trying to escape and not himself" (226). Given up by his grandfather, Christmas lived in an orphanage. Race reinstates the theme, past actions determine the present and future. In order to keep blacks inferior to whites, white Southerners convinced themselves that blacks were a threat, not only to the men, but most importantly to the women. Thus, when Jefferson hears that Christmas is part black, he is automatically assumed to be guilty. Joanna Burden also victimized Christmas; although she cared about him, she reacts to him as not a distinct individual, but as a member of the black race. Even though Joe Brown has almost no credibility, he still can be trusted more than Christmas because Christmas is black. Another racial issue, maybe the most important, is that Christmas is a victim of racist mythology. I said all the time that he wasn't right. Throughout his life, Christmas was punished for having a black father. He is very anti-social at the mill, and he lives in the woods. By the time he is arrested for killing Joanna Burden, he is so confused about his own identity that he doesn't know why he killed her.
Common topics in this essay:
Joanna Burden,
Joe Christmas's,
Bobbie Allen,
Brown Christmas,
August Race,
Light August,
Jefferson Mississippi,
Doc Hines,
Christmas Christmas,
Joe Christmas,
light august,
joanna burden,
christmas black,
racial identity,
doc hines,
joe christmas,
bobbie allen,
joe brown,
black race,
black father,
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Acceptance Essays
