Preview

Light in August

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
571 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Light in August
Light in August, by William Faulkner, is a story of racial conflict in a Southern United States town. Faulkner's work is very unique because its structure presents only gradual revelations of information and consists of three different but interconnected plot threads. In this way, the narrative plots are circular because they build frameworks around the other plots. One of these three narratives focuses on the enigmatic character Joe Christmas. One of the most interesting things about Joe Christmas is the way Faulkner makes correlations that tie Christmas to religious ideals. This can be seen early in the book in Christmas' childhood and it continues until his death. Faulkner's treatment of Christianity in relation Joe Christmas is fascinating because Christmas does not seem like a good choice for a character to be described using religious terminology. Christmas does not seem like a very devout person at all. He leads a life of violence and crime, yet Faulkner makes several loose connections that liken him to Jesus Christ. One of the immediate giveaways of Faulkner using religious language to describe Joe Christmas is his initials. Joe Christmas and Jesus Christ share the same initials. Faulkner intentionally makes this symbolic connection. In addition to their initials, Joe Christmas and Jesus Christ have somewhat similar stories about their early childhood through their death. Joe did not go around performing miracles, but he was left at the steps of an orphanage on Christmas day and both Christmas and Jesus die in their early thirties. These connections are very loose, but Faulkner does this for a reason. He wants to describe the story of Christmas in spiritual terms in order to confuse the moral character of Christmas. Towards the end of the novel, when Joe Christmas dies, his death too is described in religious expressions. Faulkner uses the language of rising and serenity when telling of Christmas' death. He even states the bullets from
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Jacob Riis How The Other Half Lives Summary
    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Jacob Riis How The Other Half Lives Summary

    Photography is not just used to show an event; photography is used to capture the details, feelings, and thoughts of something – it provides a compelling representation of the author’s view. All this is done by Jacob Riis’s How the Other Half Lives, where the reader is informed about the hideous conditions that the poor had to face in New York City. Riis uses detailed images, facts with statistics, and examples to create an image to the reader of what these people go through in their everyday lives. Using this process, Riis is able to create an important image, which allows the reader to imagine the conditions of these people, make a change to help these poor people, and to promote and inform the public of these conditions, which allows for…

    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Dialectical Journal For Our Christmas Tree
    • 159 Words
    • 1 Page

    Dialectical Journal For Our Christmas Tree

    “Our Christmas tree was never even an inch under eight feet, and it took the whole family hours to decorate it. Each year one of us was honored by being allowed to place the angel at the top of the tree, while Father help us up in his strong arms.” (Pelzer 22). This passage is a simile because this is how we are in Christmas, our tree would be long and it takes us a whole hour to decorate it. We are allowed to place the star on top of the tree, and that is what’s amazing about it. This brought my attention and interested me because it showed how good the mother was to her children and hoe kind she treated them, because the name of the chapter called Good Times. It also shows that the kid remember how good she was and then how she turned…

    • 159 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Religion In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath
    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Religion In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

    In the novel, the characters and events symbolize the themes presented in Christianity. An example would be Jim Casy, a former preacher who stopped preaching for he had sinned. He accompanies the Joad family to their journey to California, and even though he insists he isn't a preacher anymore, he continues to preach the Joad family.…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Modernists vs. Traditionalists: Sunday's Background
    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Modernists vs. Traditionalists: Sunday's Background

    1. Sunday’s background seems to reveal that he was raised in a family that is very religious and from a place that is not near to the cities as he doesn’t seem to understand why the things that are happening in the cities are happening. His outlook on life and the way he believes that people should work to be better people and work for God reveals his small-town religious types of beliefs.…

    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Richard Rodriguez rhetorical analysis
    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Richard Rodriguez rhetorical analysis

    All can relate to that one special time of the year, Christmas, when whole families unite and spend hours endlessly sharing stories, making memories, and of course, opening presents! What happens though, when all of the sentimental value of Christmas is replaced solely with physical value, the gifts? What would Christmas be like then? Richard Rodriguez takes the readers through one of his annual Christmases and brings to light, through his thoughts, the disconnect that exists between himself, his siblings, and his parents. Rodriguez’ chronological presentation of events with flashbacks, short, abrupt syntax, light-hearted attention to detail and concerned tone contribute to suggest his worried attitude toward his family.…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Why Is Summer Heated In The Summer In Ohio?
    • 215 Words
    • 1 Page

    Why Is Summer Heated In The Summer In Ohio?

    It is warmer in the summer than in the winter in Ohio. When it is summer in Ohio the sun is at its furthest north point and when the sun is at its most southern point it is winter in Ohio. In summer the Earth is inclined toward the sun and sunlight shines almost straight down. The noon summer sun is higher in the sky and the winter sun is lower as it casts longer winter shadows. The summer sun rises in the northwest and sets in the same direction. Thus, the sun spends more than 12 hours in the sky during the summer which is why it is warmer in the summer in Ohio. The sun is almost completely direct on the northern latitudes during the summer in Ohio causing warmer temperatures. Many people believe that the temperature changes between summer…

    • 215 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Black Boy Sepaurin Sparknotes
    • 1484 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Black Boy Sepaurin Sparknotes

    The respective experiences of an African-American child and a White teenager living during the segregated South show one can shape their own beliefs, values and ideas despite of their own family and community. Although Richard comes from a very religious family and a…

    • 1484 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Winter's Light
    • 929 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Winter's Light

    War, violent mass murdering used to accomplish political and government goals, hate crimes, acts of violence or harm to individuals with personal differences, and suicide, the ending of ones own life. All of these unfortunately happen on a daily basis and is considered a norm in today’s news broadcasts, but why are these tragic events simply glazedover and accepted as a common part of the news most people listen to while eating dinner? M. J Hardman, a board member of the American Humanist Association, proposes through her work, “Language and War,” that it is the violent language and war glorifying metaphors used in daily life that has made people accustomed and accepting of violence in speech and reality. Martha Kinkade, author of Winter’s Light, recalls violent experiences from her past in Wyoming highlighting Hardman’s ideas that today’s speech is constructed to unintentionally promote the acceptance of violence. Through Kinkade’s poems “Boots, Sugar”, “Skinning”, and “Snowy Milkweed” Hardman’s argument that hostile language is making violence more acceptable is shown through the metaphors and violent thoughts and action of these poems.…

    • 929 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Snow In August Character Analysis
    • 127 Words
    • 1 Page

    Snow In August Character Analysis

    Reading the novel Snow In August by Pete Hamill made me personally realize the good characteristics of friendship and faith. I choose to make the central point about the main character Michael Devlin. I decided to focus on Michael Devlin because he is a eleven year old catholic boy post World War II and created a strong bond with Rabbi Judah Hirsch. Although Rabbi Hirsch taught Michael yiddish. Michael taught the lessons of how to get through the neighborhood of discrimination and most importantly life. Michael has a significant connection with me because the reasoning behind him somening the golem was to bring peace and happiness in their lives. I am a strong believer of life to the fullest because life is too short for the nonsense.…

    • 127 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Christmas and Women
    • 1827 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Christmas and Women

    “It was not the hard work which he hated, nor the punishment and injustice. He was used to that before he ever saw either of them. He expected no less, and so he was neither outraged nor surprised. It was the woman: that soft kindness which he believed himself doomed to be forever victim of and which he hated worse than he did the hard and ruthless justice of men.” (Faulkner 158)…

    • 1827 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    In His Steps
    • 1404 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In His Steps

    That next Sunday, Henry Maxwell, deeply moved by the events of the past week, presents a challenge to his congregation: “Do not do anything without first asking, ‘What would Jesus do?’” This challenge is the theme of the novel and is the driving force of the plot. From this point on, the rest of the novel consists of certain episodes that focus on individual characters as their lives are transformed by the challenge.…

    • 1404 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    A Lesson Before Dying
    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages

    A Lesson Before Dying

    5. Throughout the novel, Gaines juxtaposes the ideas of religion and justice. This paradox is a main theme found in the novel. These two themes together portray the ways in which two characters develop. Although set up as a paradox the two ideas go hand in hand because they build off of one another. Through the Reverend’s character the reader is able to comprehend the intensity behind religious beliefs and how they can come into use. Being that the Reverend was strong in…

    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Merry Christmas Rhetorical Analysis
    • 165 Words
    • 1 Page

    Merry Christmas Rhetorical Analysis

    Every Christmas, at least in my household, the argument is always brought up that people should just say Merry Christmas instead of saying Happy Holidays. People could spend hours of their day and write thousands of articles that prove which side is the actually correct. This article suggests that there is nothing wrong with saying Merry Christmas because it is two simple words that embody goodwill and goodwill. The author also backs up their belief with the fact that they are Jewish and still enjoy when people wish him a Merry Christmas. Although, the idea that people argue about this every Christmas is just absurd and amusing. Twain also satirized religion by showing how amusing some christians are. For example, Twain comments about Miss…

    • 165 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Liturgy Essay
    • 793 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Liturgy Essay

    The Liturgical Year is devided into cycles : it begins with Advent which starts four Sundays before christmas and it prepares us for the coming of christ among us which signifies that god has kept his promise of salvation, starting with the annunciation of this event by angel Gabriel to Mary. The christmas cycles reaches its climax on christmas day, on 25th december, and ends with the Epiphany – the adoration of christ by the threee kings which signifies jesus ‘revelations’ to all humanity whom he has come to save.…

    • 793 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Light
    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Light

    Below there are three objects a mirror, a glass block and a prism, it shows and tells you underneath each of the objects picture a description of what happens when light ray is shone on it.…

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics