NCHS AP English Language

(Time and character Intersection) Light in August by Tyler Smith

Time is the uncontrollable constant, in which our entire being is created. Time, gives one their past, present, and future aka their Life. Through time, ones true self is unvealed, not only in the eyes of those around, but also in the persons own heart. For through time one can truly find himself/herself, find their true meaning of life. And in a Light in August Joe Christmas, Joanna Burden, and Joe Brown are introduced in the first chapters, through time over 3 or 4 chapters. These characters changed dramatically, Their pasts are revealed, foreshadowing ocurs which in time can predict the future of the character. In chapter 4 we learn the past of Joe Christmas, Well at least as much as he knows, which isnt much. Joe is one of many adults who does not know anything of his ancestry, for he is half black and half white. This brings about 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. And also when Joe goes to the city, with all the fellow black men, they call him white. Joe Feels secluded and lost within himself and within society. In a way, one could say that this represented slavery in the olden days, in a sense that Africans were born and seperated from their parents, never to see them again, and never to know anything about them. Joe Brown is the father of Lina's baby. However, Joe changed him name from Lucas to Joe, to escape the responsibilities of fatherhood. Joe Christmas and Joe Brown both lived in Joanna Burden's nigger house in the backyard. Joanna Burden is a female abolitionist who is shunned upon for the caring of the Blacks. She is referred to as one of "them" by society. She is thought of being morally wrong and insipid, for the thought of helping blacks is unheard of in the eyes of the community. The characters are all similar in way, for they all are running away, running away to escape their past, a past they are shamed of. One can only run so far, and their past will catch up to them, causing them to face reality, to face the real world in which they have ran away from.

posted by NCHS AP English Language III @ 10:43 PM