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?