Abstract
This paper is an in-depth literary analysis and synopsis of "Light in August", the novel by William Faulkner. The author examines the themes of the book, contrasting between the old, pre-Civil War South and the new South. The paper specifically discusses the character Joe Christmas, how he represents Christ, and looks at the deep Christian undertones in the novel.

From the Paper
"Joe Christmas is created by Faulkner to represent a twentieth century allegory of Christ that is in s is in some ways different from Christ. Another of the novel's central characters is the Reverend Gail Hightower, who is haunted by memories of his grandfather, who died fighting in the Confederate cavalry. Incidentally, Faulkner's great-grandfather, William Clark Faulkner, was also a Civil War veteran, who later wrote several books, including a popular romance "The White Rose of Memphis" in 1882. Light in August is a weave of many themes. The foremost of course is the theme of racism that is central to the novel. Joe Christmas' foremost dilemma is his ancestry and his identity. The people's attitude towards him depends on what they perceive of his race."

Tags:joe, christmas, racism, south, civil, war, faulkner, william, lena, grove, gail, christ, hightower, black, religion, christianity, literature, freedom, american, slaves, Nietzsche

Abstract
This paper examines William Faulkner's novel "Light in August." The book mostly revolves around the main character Joe Christmas whose unusual last name is both significant and deliberate. This paper discusses the similarities and differences between Joe Christmas and Jesus Christ as well as how Christmas becomes a dichotomy of Jesus and the Anti-Christ by embodying characteristics of both good and evil in one person.

From the Paper
"The life of Joe Christmas, and certain facts about him, are directly related or connected to the life of Jesus Christ. Since the word "Christ" appears in his name, which he carries proudly through the novel, he becomes the "Christ" bearer. Another similarity is that Joe's initials are J.C., which are also the initials of Jesus. According to the Bible, Jesus was born to the Virgin Mary and was raised by her along with Joseph."

Tags:novel, literature, review, jesus, christmas

Abstract
This paper provide a thorough review of Faulkner's novel. It focuses on the theme of crises and shows how these are prevalent along most of the story line. The writer shows how in "Light in August" the main characters move through their individual crises and accompanying changes in their circumstances with no alterations in their personalities. The crises of each character is discussed while analyzing their personalities and how these were effected by the changes.

From the Paper
This statement is especially curious when it is studied along side the main characters of Light of August, for though Faulkner has created in this novel a hero, a coward, someone tender and someone cruel, he forms their nature in them at birth or early childhood. He then allows them to pass through their lives more as a victim of their own nature than their circumstances. Tender Lena Grove, cruel Joe Christmas, cowardly Gail Hightower and heroic Byron Bunch are not "capable of almost anything" but are subject to the innate disposition with which they are disposed in early life, and not even in a crisis are they allowed to change."

Tags:crisis, character, leno, christmas, joe, grove, gail, byron

Abstract
This paper examines how the novel, "Light in August," represents two groups of people who clearly hold different viewpoints on free will and the role of God in their lives. The religious fanatics, like Doc Hines and McEachern, see themselves constantly influenced by the will of God and, at times, guided by His very hand. It looks at how Faulkner projects existentialism's philosophy through the characters of Christmas and Hightower, who represent a dramatic transformation at the end of the novel.

From the Paper
"Christmas' life is not without the influence left upon him by the essence before existence philosophy. The District Attorney, Gavin Stevens, states, "the black blood drove [Joe] first to the negro cabin. And then the white blood drove him out of there" (449). Stevens fully accepts the notion of the "one-drop rule," and represents the mindset of those who would have an influence upon Christmas in regard to his racial identity. During much of the novel Joe is following this rule and the notion of maintaining the purity of white women by telling the prostitutes he is with that he is part black and expects their disgust."

Tags:christmas, hightower, hines, mceachern

Abstract
The paper states that this selection relations to the novel as a whole and provides immense awareness of the character of Joe Christmas in Faulkner's "A Light in August". The paper examines the image of Christmas as an eternal outsider of mixed heritage with a conflicted self-image, which plays itself out in the novel through his relationships with others.

From the Paper
"The selection begins with Christmas, once again, on the run. "He went down the road fast" when Bobbie tells him she has her period. He takes this as a sort of betrayal, that her menstruating was something that made her imperfect or unclean somehow. When Joe hears one of his more experienced peers describe the"physical ceremony" with nauseating detail he views it as some kind of dirty secret women use against men:"They all want to," the boy had said. "But sometimes they can't." "

Tags:outsider, judged, mixed, heritage, conflicted, self-image, women, relationships

Abstract
A paper which shows how the image of windows serves as a divide between the innocent and the not so innocent William Faulkner's "A Light in August". It shows that those who dare to go outside the windows through which they gaze, are subject to the gossip and hypocrisy of society and those who remain inside are subject to this same torture as well. It discusses the character Gail Hightower chooses to stay inside, while Lena Grove chooses to venture outside. Lena is innocent because she has not experienced the falsehood of society while Hightower is not.

From the Paper
"Windows play a major role in the first seventy- six pages of William Faulkner's novel, A Light in August. Faulkner first mentions a window on page five. It is through this window that the young Lena Grove climbs through during the night in order to see her boyfriend, Lucas Burch. Faulkner again mentions a window on page fifty-seven, while describing the daily life of former minister, Gail Hightower. According to Faulkner, by staying inside windows people are just as likely to be victimized by society as those who venture outside. The only thing that separates those who stay inside or go outside, is experience."

Tags:burch, grove, lucas, pregnant

Abstract
This paper explores the structure of "Light in August", which results in numerous unfathomable motivations and questions regarding Joe's life. Essentially, Faulkner is respectful of characters' reality.

Abstract
This paper looks at how both Ernest Gaines and William Faulkner utilize the idea of a metaphorical Christ-figure in their respective novels "A Lesson Before Dying" and "Light in August." Though the type of Christ-figure portrayed in each novel differs dramatically, the writer shows how both tie into the Biblical story of Jesus in a unique way and impart in the reader a better understanding of overall themes and morals that the author attempts to convey.

From the Paper
"Clear evidence exists in both A Lesson Before Dying and Light in August to indicate that Jefferson and Christmas are intended by the authors as Christ-figures. In Lesson, Gaines frequently refers directly to religious times like Easter in connection with Jefferson's execution. Even more blatantly, Jefferson says to Wiggins while in jail, "Me, Mr. Wiggins. Me. Me to take the cross?" This establishes beyond reasonable doubt that Jefferson's character has some religious significance in the context of Christ. Faulkner also clearly alerts his readers to the connection between Joe Christmas and Christ. Christmas' name alone, which contains within it the name Christ and the initials "J.C.," provides enough to establish the relationship. Further evidence exists in numerous references to crucifixion and wooden poles that may serve as metaphors for the cross."

Tags:analysis, comparison, jesus, biblical

Abstract
This paper discusses and analyzes both Faulkner's and Toomer's works, which include characters who are in some way alienated from society because of their differences from the mainstream. It offers examples from the texts, highlighting characters affected by racism and sexual identity.

From the Paper
"Fern's identity, however, lies much deeper than her eyes and beauty for "like her face, the whole countryside seemed to flow into her eyes" and "through her eyes she is filled, informed, and incarnates the mystery of the universe." Her complex identity also comes from the mixture of African, Georgian and Judaism. Because of the way that men viewed Fern, they "were everlastingly bringing her their bodies," as well as other gifts and money, instead of love and care. They see her a part, separate, untouchable as a virgin"

Tags:literature, sexual, racial, identity, character

Abstract
This paper focuses, not on Faulkner's potential bisexuality, but on the textual examples within Faulkner's novels to demonstrate the use of homosexuality in exploring the themes of male homosocial pressures and homosexuality. The author points out that William Faulkner also uses blacks, women, the insane, and the mentally retarded as launching pads for Faulknerian creativity; and, despite being guilty of measures of racism and misogyny, he has an agenda, which is more progressive and egalitarian than his time and place dictated. The paper relates that homoerotic desire in Faulkner's work provides character layering, which adds motive, validity, and realism, and homoeroticism provides frameworks and parallels. Many literary examples.

From the Paper
"The author created concepts of gayness to stimulate notions of anti-homophobia in Hightower, Joe Christmas, and Percy Grimm. Light in August concludes with the castration of Christmas by Grimm, which is a focus on the white Southern male's sexual crisis regarding black males, Now you'll let white women alone, even in hell (LA 464). "But a homoerotic subtext also is at play in this moment" (Duvall, 62). Hightower exclaims that Christmas was with him on the night of the murder and Grimm furiously states, Has every preacher and old maid in Jefferson taken their pants down to the yellowbellied son of a bitch (LA 464). Christmas becomes doubly threatening to Grimm; in addition to violating the taboo against miscegenation, Christmas (as well as Hightower) is perceived as a pervert."

Tags:gender, race, sexuality, character, framework