The Story Archive

Light in August

William Faulkner · 1932 CE · Novel · Modern / American · Modernist

Lena Grove walks into Mississippi out of Alabama, heavily pregnant and asking after the man who left, and gets as far as a planing mill on the edge of Jefferson. Working there under a false name is Joe Christmas, raised in an orphanage and beaten by a foster father, who does not know whether he is black or white and has spent thirty-three years letting other people decide for him. The two stories barely touch, and that is the design.

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Attributes

Genre
TragedyPsychological
Theme
Race & IdentityIsolation & AlienationFaith & DoubtGuilt & ConscienceIndividual vs Society
Archetype (Jung / Campbell)
ScapegoatWandererEverymanInnocent
Plot structure
Nonlinear / FracturedPolyphonic
Symbol / motif
FireThe HouseThe Cross / AltarThe Journey
Conflict
vs Societyvs Self
Mode / tone
TragicRealistModernist
Culture / tradition
Modern / American

Closest analogues