Light In August
Throughout William Faulkner's novel Light in August, the main character Joe Christmas is portrayed as a Christ figure. There are many similarities between the two. Most of the similarities are subtly mentioned, but there is some obvious resemblance as well. For example, Joe Christmas and Jesus Christ both have the initials J.C. Also, both Christ and Joe Christmas were killed when they were 33 years old. The likeness of the two is a large part of one of the apparent themes of the novel - religious fanaticism. By portraying Joe Christmas as a Christ figure, Faulkner portrays him as the victim in the novel. Joe Christmas' appearance is much like that of Christ. Jesus Christ was from the Middle East and most likely had darker colored skin. Christmas too had a darker colored skin, having partial African-American heritage. Being the son of a carpenter, Jesus did not have much money and dressed in low quality clothing. Joe Christmas also dressed in clothing like this. He is first described at the planing mill as, "He looked like a tramp, yet not like a tramp either. His shoes were dusty and his trousers were soi
One avatar of Christ is "suffering servant. Because of Christmas' mixed heritage, he did not fit into either of these. The blacks would not accept him because he looked like a white man and the whites would not accept him because he had "black blood. They were scapegoats for the crimes that were committed against humanity and were also saviors for that same society. When he is getting beaten by Bobbie's friends, he is "Lying peaceful and still. Neither one's death was in vain, though. Christmas seemed to have been put here to put up with the abuse of society, just as Christ did. Joe Christmas and Jesus Christ both lived and died so that others in this world would be saved. " Christmas is also a suffering servant. Faulkner made Joe Christmas a Christ figure to show that he really was the victim in the story, which may not have been completely apparent otherwise. They show the inhumanities that man is capable of committing against his fellow man. Both of their deaths were gruesome and cruel. There was a great similarity in appearance between Jesus Christ and Joe Christmas. In the period of Christmas' life, society was still split into two separate divisions -- black and white.
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Acceptance Essays
