light in august

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.