Light in August Essay

In the novel Light in August, Joe Christmas and Joanna Burden are extremely damaged individuals. Both characters were raised in turbulent environments with an emphasis on religion. The sins they committed had a profound impact on them. They knew that their behavior was wrong but they were compelled to continue. Religion became a mental prison for them. A prison that they created but that they would never escape alive. Although Joe and Joanna viewed religion in completely different ways, they both

William Faulkner’s Light in August portrays the social alienation of African Americans in the South during the 20th century. The novel was based in the American South, during the 1930s, when racial tensions continued to surge. Faulkner exploited Joe Christmas, a biracial orphan, to represent the social prejudices African Americans faced. Christmas continuously struggled with his racial identity throughout the novel. Along with the internal conflict, Christmas also faced an external conflict with

William Faulkner's Light in August William Faulkner’s study of 20th century’s man search for self, in the novel Light in August, shows us the darker side of humanity – the sense of being alienated. Among many of his books, he uses alienation as one of his major themes. Alienation occurs in humans when there is a sense of isolation, depersonalization, disenchantment, estrangement, or powerlessness. Alienation has been considered an especially important issue during the twentieth century

 Isolation in Light In August   In William Faulkner’s Light In August, most characters seem isolated from each other and from society. It is often argued that Lena Grove is an exception to this, but I have found that I cannot agree with this view. Consequently, this essay will show that Lena is lonely too, and that the message in Faulkner’s work on the issue of human contact is that everyone is essentially alone, either by voluntary recession from company or by involuntary exclusion

Light in August by William Faulkner Light in August, a novel written by the well-known author, William Faulkner, can definitely be interpreted in many ways. However, one fairly obvious prospective is through a religious standpoint. It is difficult, nearly impossible, to construe Light in August without noting the Christian parallels. Faulkner gives us proof that a Christian symbolic interpretation is valid. Certain facts of these parallels are inescapable and there are many guideposts to

Edward de Bono once brilliantly stated, “Most of the mistakes in thinking are inadequacies of perception rather than mistakes of logic”. In other words, we individuals tend to view things incorrectly with our perceptions, rather than use our own common sense to determine the truth. In a society nowadays plagued with immoralities and injustices, it may indeed be plausible to say that Mr. Bono is absolutely correct after all. Prejudice is now an everyday occurrence, found everywhere from schools to

Light in August - Hightower's Epiphany           Most criticism concerning Faulkner's novel, Light in August, usually considers the character of Joe Christmas. Christmas certainly deserves the attention paid to him, but too often this attention obscures other noteworthy elements of the complex novel. Often lost in the shuffle is another character, the Reverend Gail Hightower, who deserves greater scrutiny. A closer examination of Hightower reveals Faulkner's deep concern for the South and

inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance."  -William Faulkner, Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, 1949         William Faulkner illustrates many dimensions of prayer in Light in August: his characters avoid it, abuse it, embrace it, and blame it. In every case, Faulkner portrays prayer's power on the psyche. His fictional world seems Godless, yet his characters' struggle to prevail through prayer. Joanna Burden, Gail Hightower

A Study of Joe Christmas in Light in August         Joe Christmas's eating disorder and antipathy to women's sexuality (or to the feminine) in Light in August also can be traced back to the primal scene in the dietitian's room.  However, the primal scene is not the final piece of the puzzle in the novel.  The primal scene is already given as a working condition for a further analysis of Joe's psychology.  Readers are first invited to interrelate the scene and Joe's behavior in the rest of the

Faulkner's Light in August          "Blood" is considered by many to be one of the most important ties between human beings; it is therefore frequently used as an image that defines a character or a relationship between characters in a novel. For example, a prince might be defined by his "royal blood," or a weak man described as having "thin blood." Close friends may be "blood brothers," or families may have a "blood feud." In William Faulkner's Light in August, the