Faulkners Light in August - The Measure of a Man :: Light August Essays

"Light in August": The Measure of a Man  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the most influential people in the world during the past two thousand years may be surprising to some people. He is the center of controversy after controversy; nations have risen and fallen because of his name. Year after year, men and women are persecuted and killed because of their devotion to a man who walked this earth before any of them can even trace their ancestry, Jesus Christ. One might say that Joe Christmas, William Faulkner's unforgettable version of a rebel without a cause, is the complete opposite of Jesus. Yet the main character of Faulkner's 1932 book "Light in August" is not that different from God's Son. There are many similarities and differences between Jesus Christ and Joe Christmas. A major difference between Joe Christmas and Jesus is the character of each man. Joe Christmas has been walking along a path filled with debauchery since a very tender age. When he is five years old, he is caught eating toothpaste in a closet while two employees at the orphanage where he lives make love. While this is not his fault, he is still indirectly punished for it, by being sent away to live with the McEachern's. His adopted parents are strict Presbyterians, and Joe literally has the Bible beaten into him by his stern stepfather. By the time he is a teenager, he cannot stand being forced to have religion, so he frequently sneaks away from his adoptive family's house in the middle of the night. One fateful night, he goes to go to a dance with a prostitute, and ends up killing his stepfather, who has chased him to the school where the dance is being held. From then on, Joe is his own person, going wherever the wind takes him. Jesus, on the other hand, has been holy and perfect s ince the day He was born. He is the "son of the Most High God." (Luke 8:28, NIV) He has never done anything that is not morally right, or let himself be blown around by life's breezes. Faulkner probably made this change because he understood a lot about human nature. He knows that someone perfect would be incapable of committing murder. It is difficult to believe that Jesus would murder anyone, be it his adopted father Joseph or even someone who threatened to kill him first. Faulkner's Light in August - The Measure of a Man :: Light August Essays "Light in August": The Measure of a Man  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the most influential people in the world during the past two thousand years may be surprising to some people. He is the center of controversy after controversy; nations have risen and fallen because of his name. Year after year, men and women are persecuted and killed because of their devotion to a man who walked this earth before any of them can even trace their ancestry, Jesus Christ. One might say that Joe Christmas, William Faulkner's unforgettable version of a rebel without a cause, is the complete opposite of Jesus. Yet the main character of Faulkner's 1932 book "Light in August" is not that different from God's Son. There are many similarities and differences between Jesus Christ and Joe Christmas. A major difference between Joe Christmas and Jesus is the character of each man. Joe Christmas has been walking along a path filled with debauchery since a very tender age. When he is five years old, he is caught eating toothpaste in a closet while two employees at the orphanage where he lives make love. While this is not his fault, he is still indirectly punished for it, by being sent away to live with the McEachern's. His adopted parents are strict Presbyterians, and Joe literally has the Bible beaten into him by his stern stepfather. By the time he is a teenager, he cannot stand being forced to have religion, so he frequently sneaks away from his adoptive family's house in the middle of the night. One fateful night, he goes to go to a dance with a prostitute, and ends up killing his stepfather, who has chased him to the school where the dance is being held. From then on, Joe is his own person, going wherever the wind takes him. Jesus, on the other hand, has been holy and perfect s ince the day He was born. He is the "son of the Most High God." (Luke 8:28, NIV) He has never done anything that is not morally right, or let himself be blown around by life's breezes. Faulkner probably made this change because he understood a lot about human nature. He knows that someone perfect would be incapable of committing murder. It is difficult to believe that Jesus would murder anyone, be it his adopted father Joseph or even someone who threatened to kill him first.