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?