Racism in Light in August - Essay Example

Racism in Light in August When William Faulkner begins his narration of Lena Grove’s ordeal, nothing in the juvenile plot indicates racism. It is essential, however, to highlight that Faulkner sets his book in the 1930’s Southern America. America’s socio-political history highlights the south as a region of racist fundamentalism that the stemmed from the long slavery period. A black person emerging from the context grows up with an inferiority complex that marks one’s place in the society. Similarly, the white person in such a society may adopt a paternalistic attitude towards the black person, of whom one sees as a subordinate human being. Racial politics, therefore, is a major thematic concern of the novel. It is essential to highlight that in Faulkner’s lenses, racism is an endemic disease. In spite of the fact that Joe Christmas is a biracial person, he has the fate of a black person rather than a white person. Faulkner traces Joe’s problems back to his childhood. It is notable that he possesses despicable beginnings that play a fundamental role in his death. Since Joe begins his life in an orphanage, he suffers the fate of a nurse who believes Joe overheard her having sex with a doctor. This plays a role into his adoption by a staunchly religious man who ignites anger into the young Joe by severely mistreating him. Joe’s foster father severely beats him thereby making develop angst. This easily leads him into killing the foster father when a fight erupts between Joe and the father in a dance club. Joe has no distinct place he can turn for safety. He, therefore, decides upon roaming the streets for a better place of residence. It is arguable that the angst in him leads him towards murdering Miss Burden. It is baffling why Joe thinks of himself as a black person and not as a white person. The extent of racism in Joe’s community is so extreme that if a person has a darker skin, he definitely belongs into the blacks’ class. Joe has the option of identifying himself as a white person, but he is hesitant of such a motive for reasons that the plot does not deliver. It is essential to highlight that Joe’s situation is an intricate and complex factor. Faulkner notes that Joe’s situation is a tragedy since he is never aware of his identity. In addition, Faulkner notes that the tragedy manifests in the fact that Joe will never know whoever he is. All the same, Joe is free to define himself in a way that he deems fit. He, therefore, identifies himself as a black person. This creates two possibilities out of the racial situation in the Southern America. To begin with, it could be that the white society of the 1930’s is a patriarchal entity that associates the identity of a person with the identity of the father rather than the mother. Alternatively, the Southern society could be a racist entity that does not accept biracial people as whites. In this sense, Joe was aware of the white community’s rejection had he identified himself as a white person (Thompson 105). The contrast and comparison between Lena Grove’s narrative and Joe Christmas’ narrative point to the fact that race plays a big role into determining the success of an individual in the Faulkner’s society. Both Lena and Joe have contemptible beginnings that offer limited hope into their possible future. The pregnant teenager, Lena Grove, hitches ride to Mississippi in order to search for the baby’s lost father. Joe Brown quickly develops a soft spot for her thereby convincing Hightower to take care of Lena and the baby. When Lena experiences labor, Hightower and Mrs. Hines experience glee in helping the miserable girl. Bunch pursues Lena’s welfare to the point of facing bruises from Lucas Burch, the child’s father. This is unlike Joe Christmas who has to curve his own way out of life. Joe Christmas faces unpleasant beginnings in an orphanage and in a foster father’s house where he faces physical torture from the disciplinarian. In spite of his unclear belonging, he does not receive immediate sympathy from the people around him. In the end, his own grandfather, who should feel guilty of abandoning his grandson, becomes callous with the unlucky Joe. The society, therefore, deems Joe as fully responsible for his situation. In addition, the community deems Joe as a psychotic character whose fate results out of his irrational decisions. This does not take into the fact that circumstances under which Joe is born play a major role in his fate. While both Lena and Joe are born orphans, they end up into two dissimilar circumstances. The theme of a ritualized racism appears in Hines’ character. Hines is the grandfather of Joe Christmas. He unreasonably kills the boyfriend of her pregnant daughter. In addition, he lets the daughter in her childbirth because of what he perceives to be a carnal sin. It is essential to highlight that Joe and his father, both not white, are the only people who die in the novel. Hines is a fanatical racist who does not face justice for killing her daughter’s boyfriend. On the other hand, the Jefferson’s community is eager to kill Joe for murder. It, therefore, seems that in such a society the black people possess the stereotype for criminals. In spite of the fact that the novel does not offer a reasonable clue that validates Joe as the murderer, people are convinced he killed Burden because he is black. Racial conception of justice also manifests in the fact that Lucas Burch does not face persecution for his lucid abandonment of Lena while Joe faces killing of a crime that he is speculated to have done. This is a traditional perception that such characters embody in their judgment of justice. Besides, Hines, in his preaching at the blacks’ churches, constantly highlights the whites as belonging to a superior race. The use of religion in defending racial hegemony seems as an attitude that had been long implanted in Hines’ mind. He unfortunately believes racism is a normal thing that promotes the good of the society. In spite of Hines’ racist preaching in church, the black people still give him food and clothes. With proper conscience, the black people should be angry of Hines’ racism, but they manifest submit to Hines’ attitudes. In this perspective, the blacks have accepted their contemptible place in Mottstown. The novel depicts white people as the only group that are capable of rationality while the black people are heralded as irrational and psychotic. This manifests in the murder of Joanna Burden. When Burch confronts the allegations of having murdered Burden, he says that the Jefferson community would take the matter more seriously had a black person committed the murder. In addition, the sheriff warns the marshal that he should be cautious of his statement in case he is accusing a white person of Burden’s murder. This reveals the difference in perception that arises between when a white person murders another white person and when a black person murders a white person. When the marshal receives the news of Joe’s possible involvement in the murder, he says that he knew Joe would eventually participate in something ugly (Faulkner 41). The marshal mentions Joe’s foreignness and muteness as a pointer to a possible murderous streak. While the marshal was slow in accepting Brown’s involvement in the murder, he quickly links Joe’s antisocial behavior with his black heritage. In as much as the townspeople had taken long in deciphering Joe’s identity, they quickly sum up his character when they realize he could be involved in Burden’s death. It is crucial to underscore the fact that in spite of Joe’s biracial, the community always strive to define people within given distinct racial lines. This enables the assignment of privileges and establishment of socio-political relations that benefit the dominant community. The identity and personality of Joe builds tension until the townspeople eventually define him as a black person. The white community, therefore, defines any person different from them as a nigger (Faulkner 21). The community hurriedly defines Joe as a black person due to his suspected involvement in murder. Hines does not respect the fact that Joe has his blood. The ontological difference serves his sermons and the greater attitude towards the black people as evil and the white people as good. Indeed, racial politics is a core thematic concern in the novel. Racism is an endemic disease that follows a person from birth up to adulthood. This plays in the contrast between the development of Lena’s life and the development of Joe’s life. Joe initial biracial identity does not help him since both he and the community classifies him as a black person. The community, therefore, creates a racial hegemony that promotes dominance in the socio-political realm. Racism holds as a normal thing whereby the black people play a subservient role to the white people. This even plays in the perception of justice as Joe faces quick crucifixion out of mere speculations while Hines walks scot-free in spite of having murdered Lilly’s boyfriend. In turn, the discussion of race in assigning identities and fate is an inevitable subject in such an intricate society. Works cited Faulkner, William. Light in August. New York, NY: Random House, 1972. Print. Thompson, Carlyle V. The tragic black buck: racial masquerading in the American literary imagination. New York, NY: Lang, 2004. Print. Read More