A Critical analysis on the life of Joe Christmas in William Faulkner’s “Light in August” Chris Clark English 11 Honors In William Faulkner’s “Light in August,” religion plays a large part of the story, but an even larger part in the traits of the main characters and their actions and appearances. One of, if not the main characters of the novel is Joe Christmas, also known as Joe McEachern. Part of the book tells …showed first 75 words of 1028 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1028 total…still other readers can’t attribute either of these meanings to the life of such a tormented and tormenting man. Some of this group see the Christian symbolism as an ironic way of pointing out the emptiness of Joe’s “sacrifice”; others see it as it an equally ironic way of indicating the Christian fanatics who crucify scapegoats; and still others see it as an empty and arbitrary analogy that the novel doesn’t need.