Faulkners Light in August - Themes :: Light August Essays

cleverness in August - Themes 1. RACISM The Southern fix with racial identity is one of Light in Augusts central themes. When multitude think that Joe Christmas has even a trace of black ancestry, they treat him all told differently from the way they treat white people. Many of the characters in Light in August seem twisted by their preoccupation with race. Joe Christmas, Joanna Burden, Nathaniel Burden, commercialism Hines, and, ultimately, Percy Grimm are among these. But even many of the characters who dont share this mania suck up that treating blacks inhumanly is acceptable. The Jefferson sheriff, Watt Kennedy, seems a decent man, yet he whips a every which way chosen black in an interrogation that was unnecessary in the outset place. 2. THE SOUTHERN PAST Two of Light in Augusts five major characters live in the shadow of their dead ancestors. But you could interpret their congeneric to these forebears in different ways. On the one hand, you could point t o a recitation of decline and say that the present doesnt live up to the heroic years of yesteryear. On the opposite hand, you could say that the problems of the present come from a stroke to shake off the burdensome grip of the past. Here is how you could argue apiece point of view. a. The Heroic Past Gail Hightowers grand preceptor was a robust buff of life, and his father was a helper of his fellow human beings. But Hightower fails two his wife and his congregation and spends the rest of his life cut off from other people. Though Joanna Burdens forefathers were not originally from the South, their emigration to Jefferson makes them part of the Souths history too. And want Gail Hightower, Joanna compares badly to both her father and grandfather. They were rebellious wanderers and vigorous family men. She spends most of her sentence in her house, feels homesick whenever she leaves Jefferson, and never marries or has children. b. The Burdensome Past Gail High towers problems shank from his obsession with his grandfather, who was not even worth this worship. After all, he died larceny chickens. Likewise, Joanna Burden is the victim of the stern religion and patronizing racism that her father taught her and that he learned from his father before him.