NCHS AP English Language

Light In August (Time) by Libby Negron

Time, an everchanging constant, yet the most inconsistant piece of our lives makes up our past, future, and present. Within itself, time unfolds who we are, who we are to become, and who we should be. Without a doubt, every motion made by even the most insignificant part of our bodies predicts our future. In example, while sitting in my chair, shaking my leg back and forth, may register conflict or mobilize other motions within my body, or perhaps, even irritate others around me. In this novel, the pasts of the four characters, Joe Christmas, Joanna Burden, and Joe Brown are unfolded in the first chapters. They signify how the characters came to be. Joe Christmas, is one of many adults who does not know anything of his ancestry. This causes conflict within himself of who he is. When one of the workers in the mill comments on how he had never heard of any white man with the last name of Christmas, this illustrates the point of how blacks are mainly the ones without knowledge of their past families. Joanna Burden is a female abolitionist who has very strong beliefs as to why slavery and racial segregation is wrong. This affects the people who live within the town because it is unheard of. They almost create a seperate category for Joanna as an outsider, or one of "them." Joe Brown is the father of Lena's baby. He like the other characters are running away. They are all running as if they were running from their past. These characters are somewhat ostracized by the surrounding community. "The past is forever lost to us; it cannot be recovered, relived, or changed. Yet the past can determine our present." This quote from our prompt illustrates how one cannot run from the past, what had been created in the past is forever remaining in the past. Although it does, and is proved to affect its future. I believe they will discover their past will catch up to them and running will no longer be an option.

By: Libby Negron

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