Could Christmas Be Merry in Jefferson?

William Faulkner’s treatment of the question of race in Light in August

Turgay Bayindir

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the ways in which William Faulkner represents the

nature of the predominantly Puritan society of the American south, through the tragic story of

the character of Joe Christmas in Light in August. The theme is going to be discussed from an

anthoropological point of view since Faulkner’s book can be taken as aptly reflecting the

structure, values and prejudices of the American south; the town of Jefferson in this particular

novel at the beginning of the twentieth century.

The white puritan society of the deep american south functions on clearly-defined, socially-

constructed binary oppositions: white-black, male-female, southern-northern, etc. It not only

distinguishes between the two parts of the oppositions by imposing definite boundaries

between them but also discriminates by favoring one over the other: white over black, male

over female, southern over northern. Thus it defines itself as white, patriarchal and puritan. In

doing so it otherizes those who are not white, male and southern and forces them to accept the

roles assigned to them. Like any strictly structured society it is intolerant of deviations from

norms. The intolerance of the society against those who do not conform to ready-made

categories results in ostracism of these individuals: they are pushed to the margins of the

society and ultimately become criminals.

The character of Joe Christmas represents the in-between position in southern american

society. He is the illegitimate son of a white mother and a father whose racial origins are

uncertain. Although there is no direct evidence as to his black origins, he is convinced that he

has mixed blood, which in Puritan society is considered worse than black blood. Due to his

grand-father’s racial hatred which leads him to kill his own daughter, Joe Christams learns to

hate himself as he is made to belive by Hines’ constant gaze in the orphanage that he is an

accursed creature with white skin and black soul. Later, when he is adopted by McEachern, he

acquires the complementing aspect of the southern American society: Puritanism. Racial and

religious indoctrination causes him to develop a schizoid-self. The self-inflicting aspect of his

character makes him a Christ figure, as is also implied by his name. He suffers for the sins of

his society; namely, racial, religious and sexual discrimination.

As there is no definite subject position assigned to him in society, he is considered someone

who has to be eliminated for the good of the society. He cannot express his identity either in

white or in black discourse as both societies reject him on racial grounds: whites reject him

because the rumor that he has black blood follows him like his shadow, and blacks reject him

because his physical appearance does not fit the norm of “blackness.” Only with the tragic

execution of him at the end of the novel is he given a subject position: that of a black man

who has raped and killed a white woman, so the society legitimizes its final destructive action

against Joe Christmas by going back to one of its prejudices commonly held both by the white and the black sides.