Light In August

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.