Joe Christmas, throughout Light in August, had been characterized as a violent being; he displays violence in his sexual relations and towards African Americans. Faulkner had made it obvious that Christmas uses violence against women, with whom he has had sexual relations, in the flashback to Christmas's childhood encounter with his dietician and Charley. Upon the dietician's discovery of Christmas behind the curtain she proclaims him a "nigger bastard" (122). I believe this marks the beginning of Christmas's struggle with his identity. Causing him to lash out towards the African American community due to the fact that he has been seen as inferior because of the mystery surrounding his race.
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10/13/2011
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I think there are many instances of Christmas being judged or punished because of his race. We see this in the scene with the dietician, but also when the police officer accused Christmas of committing the crime, only when he found out he was black.
Posted by: Veronica T. | 10/14/2011 at 09:26 AM