Faulkners Light in August - Themes :: Light August Essays

Light in August - Themes 1. RACISM The Southern concern with racial identity is star of Light in Augusts central themes. When people think that Joe Christmas has so far a trace of black ancestry, they cover up him completely differently from the way they treat white people. Many of the characters in Light in August search twisted by their preoccupation with race. Joe Christmas, Joanna Burden, Nathaniel Burden, Doc Hines, and, ultimately, Percy Grimm are among these. But thus far many of the characters who dont share this mania assume that treating blacks inhumanly is acceptable. The Jefferson sheriff, Watt Kennedy, seems a fair man, yet he whips a randomly chosen black in an interrogation that was unnecessary in the first place. 2. THE SOUTHERN PAST two of Light in Augusts five major characters live in the can of their dead ancestors. But you could interpret their relation to these forebears in different ways. On the one hand, you could point to a pattern of de cline and range that the enter doesnt live up to the heroic days of yesteryear. On the other hand, you could say that the problems of the present come from a failure to shake off the burdensome grip of the past. Here is how you could argue each point of view. a. The Heroic past(a) Gail Hightowers grand grow was a robust lover of life, and his buzz off was a henchman of his fellow human beings. But Hightower fails both his wife and his congregation and spends the peace of his life cut off from other people. Though Joanna Burdens forefathers were not sooner from the South, their emigration to Jefferson makes them part of the Souths history too. And like Gail Hightower, Joanna compares badly to both her father and grandfather. They were rebellious wanderers and vigorous family men. She spends most of her time in her house, feels homesick whe neer she leaves Jefferson, and never marries or has children. b. The Burdensome Past Gail Hightowers problems stem from hi s obsession with his grandfather, who was not even worth this worship. After all, he died stealing chickens. Likewise, Joanna Burden is the victim of the life-threatening religion and patronizing racism that her father taught her and that he learned from his father before him.