Heart of Darkness, Part Three

1. voraciously (page 124): having a huge appetite, ravenous.

2. The Russian tells Marlow that he needs to get Kurtz home quickly as he has helped Kurtz through to illnesses but he does not have any supplies or medicine to heal him this time. The trader also tells him about the time he and Kurtz spent in the jungle together, and then he gives Kurtz credit for enlarging his mind simply by listening to him. Then, Kurtz is brought out on a stretcher and boarded on the ship to leave. The manager tells Marlow that there is nothing that can be done for Kurtz and that they are cutting him off from the company. Marlow sticks up for Kurtz, therefore isolating himself. Marlow also tells the Russian that the manager has talked about having him hanged, therefore he departs on a canoe after gathering supplies from Marlow. In the middle of the night Marlow is awakened only to find that Kurtz is gone, so he decides to search for him. He finds Kurtz crawling through the jungle towards the natives, and then he realizes that Kurtz could order the natives to kill him if he ventures any further so he convinces Kurtz to turn back and they board the ship to leave the next day. Kurtz's mistress cries out to him as the ship leaves. On the journey back to civilization the ship breaks down, but the work is hard on Marlow considering he is ill. Kurtz admits that he knows he is going to die, so he gives Marlow papers for safekeeping. As Kurtz dies he yells, "The horror! The horror!" Marlow leaves Africa and returns to Brussels where he recovers from his illness. Men from the company come to take the papers Kurtz gave to Marlow but Marlow will not give them everything. Marlow then decides to visit Kurtz's fiance without really knowing why. The two of them mourn Kurtz, and Marlow lies and tells her that his last word was her name.

3. I think that it is very interesting that the man that Kurtz actually is and the legend of Kurtz are two different men, but they also have some similarities. Although in real life Kurtz was empty and hollow, the natives and the Russian trader built him up and put him on a pedastool. Many times throughout part three the Russian gives credit to Kurtz for enlarging his mind, but what does Marlow give him credit for doing, if anything?At first Marlow cannot see why these people respect him so much, at the moment of Kurtz's death Marlow realizes that both Kurtz in real life and the legend of Kurtz are remarkable. Marlow thinks this because of the fact that when Kurtz died he had something to say, and Marlow realizes that when he dies he might not have anything to say.

4. a) Why does the Russian choose to align himself with Kurtz?

b) What is the point of having Kurtz's mistress described as being covered in ivory? Does it represent death or Kurtz's success?

c) In the beginning of part three why does Marlow choose to stick up for Kurtz and isolate himself from the company if he does not believe that Kurtz is a great man?

Heart of Darkness, Part Two

1. sagacious (page 54): obsolete, keen in sense perception.

2. Part two begins with Marlow overhearing the conversation between the manager and his uncle talking about Kurtz. The manager thinks that Kurtz wishes to take over his position. The manager also remembers when Kurtz sent a large load of ivory and a note to him saying that he should stop sending incompetent men along like his clerk, the clerk then tells the manager that Kurtz is ill. The manager and his uncle then discuss the trader, who they are unsure about, so the uncle says to go ahead and have him hanged because nobody here will question the manager's authority. Marlow was angered by this conversation, so he reveals himself to them but they are unphased by his presence. Marlow sets off on a two month long journey on the river to get to Kurtz, and on the journey he brings with him a group of pilgrims whom he realizes are not that different from himself, but he is too busy keeping the ship running smoothly to think anything of it. As they are getting closer to the Inner Station they discover a hut with firewood in it and a note who they conclude must be from the Russian trader as there appeared to be a special code on the side. There is bad weather on their journey as they are trying to reach Kurtz, from the shore they hear screaming and the voices of natives, the whites on the ship are scared, however, Marlow does not think they will attack. Soon after this though the natives bombard the ship with arrows, and the helmsman is shot with one and dies. The other men on the ship begin to comment on Marlow's strange behavior, as he has thrown new shoes overboard, but Marlow does not care he is just disappointed that he may never meet Kurtz. He also concludes that Kurtz has gained some kind of power among the natives and that sacrifices must have been made in his name, but that he might not be worth the lives lost. He also reminisces about the navigator's death, blaming it on the fact that the navigator fired at the natives. When they arrive at the station the Russian greets them and first tells Marlow about himself and then that the natives probably attacked the ship because they do not want Kurtz to leave.

3. The helmsman's death was a tragedy for Marlow and his crew both figuratively and literally. Literally, the crew is in trouble because they no longer to have anybody to guide them or steer the boat on their journey down the river. Symbolically, they no longer have the navigator to guide them on their journey into venturing deeper and deeper into the knowledge of the truth. The truth is that the whites are not so different from the "savages" that they came there to imperialize. Also, I thought that the shoes that the helmsman was wearing could possibly represent protection from the truth. When Marlow threw the shoes overboard he was showing that since he was dead he no longer was in need of protection from the knowledge that the rest of the characters would soon gain.

4. a) What is the significance of the Russian trader's appearance?

b) Why do the natives idolize Kurtz, but resist his imperialistic ideals?

c) Why does the manager feel threatened by Kurtz?

Heart of Darkness, Part One

1. estuary (page 3): a water passage where the tide meets a river current.



2. The novel starts off with men on a ship called The Nellie which includes Marlow, an accountant, a lawyer, and a company director. As they are waiting to set sail they recall several ships that have set sail on the Thames and never returned. Marlow remembers when he was a fresh water sailor, and he went on a long journey through Asia and he saw a map of Africa with blank spaces that fascinated him. He also recalls when his aunt got him a job with a Belgian company who wanted to send him on a trading journey on the Congo River as the captain of a steamer boat died in a fight with the natives. While Marlow is in the company's waiting room he meets two old ladies knitting black wool, who send him in to see the doctor who measures his skull and remarks that he never sees most of his patients again. Marlow's aunt comes to see him off on his journey saying that she hopes he will help the uncivilized people in Africa. When he arrives at the mouth of the Congo, he is boarded on another ship until he reaches the company station which is in a horrible state. He is told that he will meet Kurtz who he is told is one of the best at bringing back ivory. The general manager of the company takes out the steamer that Marlow was supposed to take but he tore the bottom out on rocks, Marlow suspects that this is intentional to keep him from getting to Kurtz who is ill. Marlow also meets a brick layer who tells him that he will provide him with the rivets he needs to fix his ship. Instead of the rivets showing up, the Eldorado Exploring Expedition shows up and they intend to take all of the treasure.

3. I think it is interesting that the story is told from an unnamed narrator through Marlow through Kurtz. I think that Conrad does this because in the novel there are views about imperialism and at the time that this was written it was a very controversial issue. So therefore, he speaks through these narrators so that he cannot get in trouble, if he does not use his voice then therefore they cannot be pinpointed as his views. Also, I find it interesting that the company that Marlow works for feels that they are qualified to help the "savages". On this journey they act very superior towards the natives and want the natives to do exactly what they do in order to take over land and gain power. Who are they to go and push their ideals on other people? It is like in the novel Siddhartha, if the company are all the enlightened people that they claim to be then they should know that in order for others to become enlighted they need to take the journey themselves as opposed to having other people's ideals thrusted at them.


4. a) Is there a reason that the lawyer, accountant and the director are unnamed?

b) How can Ivory represent death even though it is white and pure?

c) Why does Faulkner choose to set up Kurtz as a very mysterious character?

Light in August, Ch. 19-21

1. recapitulated (page 445): to restate briefly; summarize.





2. The Hineses are sent on a train back home, and are told that Joe's body will soon be sent also. It is revealed that Joe was hiding in Hightower's house where he was recaptured and killed. The story of Christmas' capture was then told through the perspective of Percy Grimm, a racist. He had them stand guard of the town square, upon hearing the news he chased him to Hightower's house where he found him in the kitchen. Hightower tried to tell Grimm that Christmas was with him on the night of the murder, but he wouldn't listen. Grimm shot him and then castrated him. Hightower then looks back on his own past and remembers his father and grandfather. His father fought for the Confederate army, although he did not believe in the cause and never fired his gun, he learned to be a medic instead. Later on in his life he joined the seminary and married, hoping to be a preacher at a church in Jefferson. He then reflects on his adulterous wife and his downfall from grace. Hightower thinks he is dying, and he imagines that he hears his grandfathers army passing by. In the last chapter a furniture dealer is recalling to his wife how he met Byron, Lena, and the baby who were on a journey to no specific place. The furniture dealer learns that the baby is not Byron's and they are on the search for the baby's father. When Lena goes to sleep in the truck, Byron tries to climb in next to her but she gets angry and sends him back to the fire. The next morning he does not return, so she continues on without him until they find him wandering by the side of the road, and pick him up. Lena believes that she has never been so far as she has been in the past two months.




3. In this section especially I was again reminded of Faulkner's cyclical narrative structure, and circle imagery used throughout the novel. The story begins and ends with Lena's travels. Also, Lena herself could be considered part of Faulkner's circle imagery considering the shape of her belly (before she had her son). Also, Lena's son is her way of continuing life much like a circle and bringing something else into the circle of life. One thing that I don't like about the way that Faulkner writes was the timeline of the story. It was constantly jumping from character to character and from past to present, making it very confusing and hard to follow.

4. a) When I was thinking about why Joe Christmas wasn't accepted into society, but Lena was. Could it be because he didn't accept himself or life, so how could the community accept him?

b) Was there something in Doc Hineses' past other than the man that his daughter ran away with that caused him to hate blacks?

c) Why is Byron still traveling with Lena, if she is on the search to find the father of her child/man she wants to have a family with?

Light in August, Ch. 17-18

1. ludicrous (page 398) : amusing or laughable through obvious absurdity, incongruity, exaggeration, or eccentricity.

2. In this section Lena is about to have her baby and Byron asks Hightower to assist Lena in labor. By the time that they arrive to the cabin, the baby is already being held by Mrs. Hines. Mrs. Hines is very confused and she mistakes Lena for her daughter Milly, and the baby is Joe Christmas as an infant. Byron realizes that he must tell Joe Brown everything that has happened, and Hightower decides to walk home, make breakfast and read when he dozes off. When he wakes up he decides to go to the cabin where he finds Lena alone with her baby. Hightower tells Lena that Byron has arranged for Brown to be released from jail for a day to see his newborn son. Hightower leaves the cabin to go to the mill, where he discovers that Byron has quit his job and he is probably at the courthouse. As promised by Hightower, Byron has arranged for Brown to see his son that evening. Byron watches as Brown is taken to the cabin and then packs his things to go start a new life. However, as he is leaving he turns to look at the cabin where he sees Brown running from the cabin to the woods and he heads back to the cabin. Then it switches to Brown's point of view and he reveals that he was scared and shocked at the sight of his child. He tells Lena that he sent money to her, but that he should have known better because the man he sent it through was shady. Brown leaps out the window, and leaves a man a note to give the sheriff about the reward money. Byron and Brown meet only to end up fighting, and after the fight Brown jumps on a train to town and a man passing by reveals to Byron that Christmas has been killed.

3. I mentioned briefly in one of the class blogs about how I find it very interesting that Lena's son does not have a name. In this novel, Faulkner has deliberately chosen the names for his characters. So then I was thinking that there must be a reason why he has not named Lena's child. Some characters such as Joanna Burden and Joe Christmas were hindered by their names or in Joe's case the lack of a name. The name Joanna Burden was chosen for the burden of her past and the duty that her family placed upon her to equalize blacks and whites. Joe Christmas has never really had a name or a true identity, and throughout the novel he struggles to figure out who he is which ultimately leads to his death. So perhaps Faulkner intentionally did not name the baby in order to give him a clean slate.

4. a) Is the scene where Brown leaps out the window after realizing the reality that he has a child Faulkner's way of posing a gender stereotype against men?

b) Is there a reason why Faulkner chose the names Byron Bunch or Joe Brown?

c) Prior to being the suspect for murder, most of the people in the community never paid any attention to Joe Christmas, but the second he is wanted for murder he is the talk of the town. Is this Faulkner's way of saying that community thrives on the drama?

Light in August, Ch. 15-16

1. paramour (page 364): willingly, for the sake of love.

2. In this section a couple named the Hineses are introduced, they have lived in Mottstown for years. Doc Hines used to hold a job in Memphis, although nobody knows what it is. He preaches at a black church, and sends the message that they should just accept the fact that they are inferior to whites. The Hineses are only able to eat because black women take pity on them and send food to their house. On the day that Joe Christmas is captured Doc Hines comes up to him and tries to hit him with his cane, although he does not succeed. Mrs. Hines and several other people in the town begin to speculate about the possibility of Doc Hines and Joe Christmas having met before. Mrs. Hines then asks whatever happen to a baby that belonged to a woman named Milly. The town is talking about Christmas' capture and Doc Hines behavior when he demanded that Christmas be killed immediately instead of being taken to Jefferson. Mrs. Hines then goes to visit Joe in jail but it is too late, he is being hauled off to Jefferson. They try to have a car take them to Jefferson, but it is too expensive so instead they catch a train. Byron arrives to tell Hightower that Joe Christmas has been found, and finds him sleeping in a yard. Hightower says he is taking advantage of the situation so Byron leaves and returns with the Hineses. They are revealed to be Joe's grandparents and Doc Hines talks only of his daughter Milly's sins and mistakes. Milly tried to run off with a man who lied about his black roots, but Doc shot and killed him, and also tried to find a doctor that would abort Milly's baby. Because of this he found a church where he could preach of the evil blacks. Milly died while giving birth to Joe, leaving the Hineses to take care of the baby. One day, they found a note saying that the baby was gone. It turns out that Doc took him to an orphanage to live while he worked there, when questioned about it he told his wife that the child was dead. Meanwhile, Byron asks Hightower to lie and say that he was with Christmas on the night of the murder.

3. I find this section very interesting because Hightower who has isolated himself all throughout the novel is now involving himself with all of the other characters. The other characters however, are all very individualistic people. They are only concerned about themselves as opposed to being collectivistic and caring about their community as a whole. Hightower has befriended Byron and helped him through his love with Lena, and also he was there for Lena when it was deliver the baby. Hightower realizes that while living in the town of Jefferson, there is no way to avoid suffering. Therefore is Faulkner foreshadowing to his death and saying that he finally accepted life and found peace right before his end?



4. a) What caused Hightower to suddenly find his peace and no longer deny himself of the opportunity of life?

b) Does Byron really love Lena? Or does he desire to be the hero of Lena who he perceives as a damsel in distress?

c) Why does Byron ask Hightower to lie and say that he was with Joe Christmas when the murder took place?

Light in August, Ch. 13-14

1. catafalque (page 294): an ornamental structure sometimes used in funerals for the lying state of the body

2. The people of the town of Jefferson gather around Joanna Burden's burning home as the sheriff brings her dead body out of the home. The sheriff interrogates a black man about the two most recent occupants of the cabin, the sheriff beats him with a belt until he says that two white men were living there, soon to be identified as Joe Brown and Joe Christmas. Burden's nephew offers a reward for the capture of the killer, and Joe Brown steps forward saying that Joe Christmas was the killer. At that, the sheriff sends out a search party, but they have no luck finding Christmas. Meanwhile, Byron and Hightower are discussing Lena's situation. Byron wants Lena out of the boarding house, although Hightower thinks she should stay. Lena wants to visit the cabin that Joe Brown has been staying at, and Byron plans to tell Brown that Lena is in town hoping that this will cause him to flee from Jefferson. Lena then stays in the cabin because she believes that it is the home that was promised to her for their family. The sheriff decides that she is causing no harm and will be allowed to stay there. The sheriff was told that Joe went crazy at a black church nearby, considering he attacked one of the elders and when his grandson tried to get back at Joe, he knocked him out and again went on the run. He is completely disoriented because he is starving and only sleeping where he can. He only vaguely remembers a black family feeding him a meal before a wagon stops and takes him to Mottstown.

3. I find it very interesting that Lena and Joe Christmas never meet throughout the novel, even though they are two of the main characters. For instance, the smoke rising from the Burden home signals Lena's arrival to Jefferson and Joe Christmas' departure. Later on Lena decides to stay in the cabin on the Burden property, only after Joe Christmas was forced to leave because he was wanted as a fugitive. Throughout the novel these two characters are kept completely seperate, but yet their stories are so intertwined. Then I started to think about why Faulkner would choose to do this. I believe that the two characters are each others opposites and that is why they cannot meet. Lena represents life, and nature and is accepted into the community almost right away whereas Joe Christmas represents death and has been struggling to fit in with society since he was born.

4. a) Does Lena really believe that the cabin is for her, and that Joe Brown really was raising money for the family, or does she know what is really going on and she just chooses to ignore it?

b) Why does Hightower want Byron to tell Brown that Lena is in Jefferson?

c) If Hightower is so isolated from the community then why is he involving himself in the affairs of Lena and Byron?

Light in August, Ch. 11-12

1. fortitude (page 234): strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity or courage.





2. At first chapter eleven takes a look at the strange relationship between Joanna Burden and Joe Christmas. She leaves him food on the table, but rarely visits him while he is eating. The two of them are sexually involved, but Joe is disgusting with her strength and masculine qualities. He even starts to refuse her meals. He still lives in the cabin on her land, but he doesn't visit Joanna for a long time, until she is waiting for him one night on his bed. She proceeds to tell him her entire life story including the fact that her grandfather and brother were killed due to a disagreement over the voting rights of blacks. In turn he then reveals to her that one of his parents was indeed part black. They become intimate again, although Joe still seeks sex from prostitutes in Memphis. Joanna tells Joe that she wants a child, and Joe does not. One day four months later, Joanna reveals to Joe that she is pregnant. Meanwhile, Joe Brown comes to stay with Joe Christmas in the cabin and when he inquires about the affair Christmas hits him, therefore chasing him off of the property. Joanna summons him into her house to tell him that she would like to send him to a black college so that he can prepare himself to take over her affairs. He does not want to do this, and he is angered at the idea so he hits her. She again asks him to come to her house, this time he goes with his razor in his hand to find Joanna praying, she reveals a gun that fails to shoot when she pulls the trigger. Christmas finds himself on the street waving down a car, not realizing that he has the gun in his hand. He opens it to see that there are two bullets, meaning she was going to kill him, and herself.



3. After reading this section I could not help but to think about how strange the relationship between Joe and Joanna really was. They were both considered to be outcasts of the town, but not by choice. Joe because he is biracial and Joanna because of her Yankee roots. I know that Joe's hate comes from Joanna's desire to control him and change him, and he does not want to have to change he wants to be accepted into a community the way that he is. But, why does Joanna hate Joe to the point that she wants to murder him? Is it because Joe helped her abandon her religious values because she became addicted to sex? Or by bringing attention to all of the similarities between the characters is Faulkner trying to suggest that they saw so much of themselves in the other one, and that is what motivated them to kill?


4. a) Why does Joanna tell Joe that she is pregnant?

b) If the two of them already discovered their hate for each other, the why do they pursue their sexual relationship for a second time?

c)Why did Joe Brown come to stay with Joe Christmas?

Light in August, Ch. 9-10

1. pandemonium (page 204): the infernal regions; hell.



2. One day Mr. McEachern realizes that the suit that Joe bought has been worn, which leads him to believe that Joe has been sneaking out. So he follows Joe and ends up at the dance that he went to with Bobbie. McEachern beats Joe, and Joe smashes a chair on him and killing him. Christmas rides McEachern's horse back to the house and takes what is left of the money Mrs. McEachern had been saving. He then rides the horse to Max and Mame's house where Bobbie is packed and ready to leave. A strange man is at the house also, and he asks Joe if he thinks that he really killed his father. Bobbie is angry at Joe for putting her in this situation and compromising her business. He takes the stolen money and gives it to Bobbie as a proposal of marriage, she declines angrily and the men beat Joe, until Mame stops it. Joe eventually wakes up from unconsciousness and flees from town. He then works wherever he can find a job and has a habit of sleeping with prostitutes and making efforts to not pay for it. Soon he ends up in the town of Jefferson where he learns of Joanna Burden's land and decides to break into the kitchen to get something to eat. He is caught by Joanna, but instead of getting angry at him she tells him that it is okay to finish eating.



3. When I was reading this section I was reminded of the nature vs. nurture concept that I learned about in psychology. Is Faulkner trying to suggest that Joe Christmas' violent nature is due to his upbringing by Mr. McEachern or merely a result of living in the South at the time when blacks were treated so poorly? Mr. McEachern never hesitated to beat his adopted son whenever he saw fit, so therefore did Joe learn to result to violence when he felt threatened by watching McEachern? Also, he is very skittish around women, although I do not think that it is due to nurture. I think it all goes back to when he was a young child and he got caught in the closet by the dietician and he was expecting to get in trouble for stealing, but instead she rewards him. This confused him and lead to his belief that women are confusing and unpredictable, which scares him. Later on in his life when Mrs. McEachern brings him food, he tosses it to the ground thinking that everything that women do is evil, and has the intent to make him cry.

4. a) I know that Christmas is one of the main characters in the novel, but why does Faulkner choose to talk about him, and his past for several chapters?

b) Is Christmas a religious man? I know that he refuses to read the catechism when McEachern asks him to, is that him refusing religion or refusing his adoptive father?

c) Is Joe attracted to Bobbie because she is somewhat masculine, and not the stereotypical woman that he is skittish around?

Light in August, Ch. 7-8

1. volition (page 177): the power of choosing or determining, will.

2. The story is now three years after McEachern adopted Joe, and he is very angry with Joe because he has not memorized his catechism. He whips Joe many times before he eventually passes out. Joe wakes up with Mr. McEachern at his bedside who forces him to kneel, and pray for forgiveness before he leaves for a church service. During this service Mrs. McEachern brings Christmas a plate of food, but he threw it on the ground. Only several hours later does he decide to eat it off of the ground. A few years later, Joe and a few other boys convince a woman to go to the shed to have sex with them, but instead of having sex with her, Joe beats her. Joe then realizes that he is going to be punished for not getting his daily chores done. A couple of years after that, Joe sells his calf and buys a suit with the money. Mr. McEachern finds the suit hidden, and Joe lies about what happened to his calf. Mr. McEachern punches Joe in the face and Mrs. McEachern in an attempt to help Joe says that she bought him the suit with her butter money. Mr. McEachern knows she is lying and forces her to ask for forgiveness. Joe then sneaks out of his house and waits for a woman to come pick him up, he then remembers the first time he met her when Mr. McEachern brought him to town. He takes Joe to a shady restaurant in an alley, and then after eating he tells him that he is never to go there again. However, on the next trip he goes there and orders food. He discovers he does not have enough money to pay for his food and the waitress pays for him. He learns that the woman's name is Bobbie and they continue to see each other until he learns that she is a prostitute. Meanwhile, he has been stealing money from Mrs. McEachern and she has figured it out.

3. Faulkner is providing memories from Joe Christmas' past to explain why he does some of the things that he does. Joe's memory haunts him because it is full of shame, abuse and anger. He was not used to any act of kindness being done for him, which is why when Mrs. McEachern brings him food, he tosses it to the ground. He loathed Mrs. McEachern, even though she was only trying to help. On page 168 it says, " It was the woman who, with a woman's affinity and instinct for secrecy, for casting a faint taint of evil about the most trivial and innocent actions... 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." Joe Christmas cannot break free from his memories and ideas that everybody, especially women, were out to hurt him. This leads to his anger which cannot be tamed, that could possibly get him into trouble in the future.

4. a) If Mr. McEachern is such a religious man, then why does he resort to violence whenever Joe commits an even minor wrongdoing?

b) If the money from the calf was Joe's then why did Mr. McEachern punch him for spending it how he pleased?

c) Joe believes that Mrs. McEachern is doing every act of kindness out of pure evil, and that it is with the intent to make him cry. Does Faulkner believe that women are not as innocent as we think, and they have other motives for doing what they do?

Light in August, Ch. 5-6

1. chiaroscuro (page 111): pictorial representation in terms of light and shade without regard to color

2. In chapter five it goes back to two nights before the fire and the murder to a night where Joe Christmas is unable to sleep because he was awakened by Joe Brown, the two of them are drunk and sharing stories. Christmas suddenly becomes annoyed, and beats Joe Brown. Brown is calling him many racial names, but eventually he falls asleep. Christmas cannot sleep because he is only thinking about how angry he is at Joanna Burden for lying about her age and trying to get him to pray with her. He goes out to the side of the road and decides to take off his clothes and scares a woman who goes past him. Then he decides to go into the stable to sleep. The next morning he wakes up and shaves and reads a magazine. Later that night he eats in a restaurant where through the window he can see Brown being shaved. He then ventures through the white and black parts of town and eventually through the forest. He realizes that he has a razor in his hand when he goes towards Joanna's house he sits in the lawn and when it was midnight all he could think about was that something was going to happen to him. Then in chapter six it is a flashback to Joe Christmas' life when he was five and living in an orphanage. One day, he sneaks into the dietician's room to steal some toothpaste, when the dietician enters he runs and hides in a closet. The dietician and an unknown man begin to have sex. When Christmas vomits loudly from eating the toothpaste, he is discovered. The dietician scolds him but then becomes paranoid that he will tell somebody what he saw so she bribes him with a silver dollar. The dietician finds out from the janitor that Joe is both black and white and she intends to turn him in. The janitor quickly takes the child away with him to be adopted by a strict, very religious man named McEachern.

3. I found reading about Joe Christmas' past very helpful in understanding him as a character. He is never quite sure about his own roots, or his name. So I am under the impression that thus far in the novel he is searching for an identity. He desires to be a part of a community that will accept him for who he is and not force him to conform. In the book, when he is sent to live with the McEacherns, he is told he must pray. Joanna Burden has tried to get him to conform to her religion, and also get a job. He does not want any of these things, he needs to find a society where he fits in in order to figure out his true identity.



4. a) Why did Joe decide to take all of his clothes off on the side of the road?

b) Who was the janitor who wanted to conceal the fact that Joe was part black?

c) Faulkner sheds a very negative light on the community and those who are isolated from it, could this possibly mean that Faulkner was in some way isolated?

Light in August, Ch. 3-4

1. dubious (page 61) : giving rise to uncertainty.



2. In chapter three we get a look at the past of Gail Hightower. Gail is a former minister who was driven out of the church after the town discovered that his wife had been cheating on him and she was found dead in a hotel where she had been staying with another man. People in the town also accused him of sleeping with a black woman, and because of this he was beat up by the Ku Klux Klan. He lives in a tower isolated by himself, he is constantly watching out over the town. One Sunday, he finds it strange that Byron Bunch is walking the streets even though he is never in town on Sundays. In chapter four, Byron is disturbed by his feelings for Lena so he goes to Hightower for advice. They convince Lena not to go in search of Brown right away, and to stay the night in a boarding house. Byron tells Hightower that when he went to Burden's house he discovered Joe Brown drunk at the bottom of the stairs, and upstairs they found Burden who was brutally murdered. Burden's nephew offered a reward for the capture of the killer, Joe Brown showed up to claim the rewards claiming that Joe Christmas was the murderer. The police weren't quite sure if they should believe him, but then when they revealed that he was part black, they sent out a search for Joe Christmas.


3. I think it is really interesting how Faulkner named all of his characters. It is clear that he intentionally made their names stand for something. In Joanna Burden's case it is her last name that represents the burdens of her past. She comes from a long line of abolitionists, and they made it her mission to help equalize blacks and whites. Lena's last name is Grove, which is a part of nature and that is supposed to represent the fact that she is in tune with nature and she then represents life. Gail Hightower lives in a high tower by himself-- in isolation from the community. Since Christmas is a religious holiday, and he has the initials JC, I am lead to believe that he is supposed to represent a christ-like figure. If he does not symbolize that, then why does Faulkner choose to use that name?


4. a) Since there is a parallel between Lena and Hightower in the fact that they are both gossiped about in the town and are outcasts from the community, is Faulkner then suggesting that there is a relationship between life and isolation?


b) Faulkner implies that women are confusing and unpredictable, does he then think that nature is also confusing and unpredictable?


c) Why doesn't Byron tell Lena about Joe Brown turning in Joe Christmas as the murderer of Joanna Burden?

Light in August, Ch. 1-2

1. effigy (page 21): an image or representation especially of a person.

2. Lena Grove is an unmarried pregnant teen traveling alone to the town of Jefferson. She is looking for the father of her child, Lucas Burch. After traveling for a very long time, she stops to rest at the side of the road where she meets a man named Armstid that gives her a ride into town on his wagon. He discovers that she and Lucas are not married, and knows that his very religious wife will not be happy about having her stay the night. Lena convinces herself that Lucas is indeed in Jefferson trying to make money for the baby, although the Armstid's try to tell her she is being naive. The Armstid's give Lena money, she uses it to buy food, and then she catches another ride into Jefferson where she discovers that a house is on fire. In chapter two, Byron Bunch who is a worker at the mill in Jefferson remembers back to when a man named Joe Christmas came to work at the mill. He lives in the cottage in the back of Joanna Burden's land where he makes and sells illegal whiskey. He also remembers Joe Brown who quickly developed a friendship with Christmas and wonders why the two of them are living on Burden's land. Just as Bunch realized that a house was on fire, Lena comes into the mill telling him she is looking for Lucas Burch. Byron instantly falls in love with her and then insists that there is nobody in the town named Burch. She tells him the whole story about her journey searching for the father of her baby, and Byron tells her about Joe Brown and Joe Christmas. When she finds out that Brown has a small white scar on his face, she discovers that Burch and Brown are the same person.

3. My first impression of the novel was that it is very confusing. Faulkner uses either very long drawn out sentences with little to no punctuation or very short sentences. In addition to this he uses compound words when they should not be compound words. For example, on page 11 in one sentence he uses the words "manlooking" and "bleacheyed". I have to wonder why Faulkner chooses to do this, is it simply to make his novels more complex or is there another reason?

4. a) In this section I find that Faulkner describes a lot of random things, or the surroundings of a character. However, he scarcely describes the appearances of the characters. After I read the first section I knew a lot of information about Joe Christmas, but at the same time I did not know if he was white or black. Is there a reason for doing this?

b) If people in the town of Jefferson know that it is morally wrong to be having a baby before marriage, then why is Lena so easily accepted into the community?

c) What is the significance to the color blue, or the shoes that Lena keeps putting on and then taking off?

As You Like It, Journal 2

1. ipse: an assertion made but not proved.




2. Orlando appears for one of the meetings in the forest very late, Rosalind (Ganymede) is angry. Nevertheless, Rosalind has Celia "marry" her and Orlando. She then proclaims how deep her love is for Orlando. Silvius appears in the forest to deliver a letter to Ganymede, it is from Phoebe. At first the letter is accusing Ganymede of being a man without manners, but then it is made evident that Phoebe thinks that Ganymede broke her heart. Ganymede tells Silvius to tell Phoebe that he will never love her unless she loves Silvius. Meanwhile, Orlando finds Oliver in the forest and just then a lion appears. At first he was tempted to let the lion kill his brother, but he decided to fight off the lion and save Oliver. Seeing his brother's kindness made Oliver a different person. Oliver delivers the message to Rosalind and Celia, Rosalind was devastated. While this was happening, Audrey and Jove encounter William, a man who is supposedly in love with Audrey and Jove decides to teach him a lesson. Oliver quickly falls in love with Aliena, and promises Orlando that as soon as he and his new found love are married, he will give him all of their father's estate. Orlando expresses to Ganymede that he wishes to be with Rosalind, and pretending that Ganymede is Rosalind isn't working anymore. Ganymede promises to marry Rosalind and Orlando, Aliena and Oliver, Audrey and Jove, and Phoebe and Silvius the next day. Duke Senior asks Orlando if he thinks that Ganymede can do everything that he promised, he brings his friends to the wedding the next day. Duke Senior also notices the great resemblance between Ganymede and Rosalind, Orlando agrees. Rosalind and Celia appear as themselves, and just then Orlando and Oliver's brother appears and tells them that Duke Frederick wishes to find Duke Senior. This news does not phase Duke Senior, as he has just been reunited with his daughter and he is extremely happy. All of the pairs are married, and they all frolic back to the court.

3. I really liked the pastoral aspect of this movie. It was especially prevalent in the end when the characters were "happy bouncing peasants" frolicing through the forest. In fact, some even stated that they were happier living in the forest, despite the fact that they had been hiking through the forest for days, eating little to no food. I still struggle to understand Shakespeare's intent. Especially after watching the last half of the play- I still believe that this play was simply humorous.

4. a) What was the point of Jaques appearing in the movie?

b) In the movie, the people who appear to be fools are actually wise, and those who seem wise are actually foolish- is there a reason for this?

c) Orlando and his brother did not get along, mostly because Oliver was unkind to Orlando. So, why did Orlando decide to save his brother from the lion?