While reading Light in August by William Faulkner I began to really think about Joe Christmas and what he was feeling. When I think of Christmas' experience, isolation immediately comes to my mind. I can't imagine how he felt being biracial in a town that was so racially divided. It seems as though Christmas felt like he would never fit in with either race and the only place he felt comfort was alone in the forest.
While analyzing this further, I found that Joe Christmas is similar to many characters that we have studied from past novels. He embodies the popular theme that individualism often times leads to isolation. Just like Meursault and Edna, Joe Christmas feels like he can't fit in with anyone and everyone views him as a psychotic outcast. He does not live up to society's expectations just like Edna and Meursault. While individualism is initially invigorating, after awhile characters feel the pang of isolation. Isolation is hard to come back from and I think Joe Christmas is beginning to realize this. He knows that he will never completely fit in with the white neighborhood or the black neighborhood and I think this takes a toll on him. This inner struggle and realization that isolation is bound to happen fuels Christmas' reckless actions and frequent outbursts.
I think a lot of what you're saying about individualism resonates with movements in pop culture today. We see rugged athletes and celebrities paving their own roads to success, heeding no advice, listening to no one, needing no companions. Great.
ReplyDeleteBut whether you achieve what you set out to achieve or not, losing the friends and family along the way is never worth it.