Blog #10, Racial Issues Throughout Works of Literature

Throughout the semester, our class has read many works of literature based on racial issues including Light in August, Coming of Age in Mississippi, Othello, and Greanleaf.

            In Light in August, race is the central issue in this novel.  Joe Christmas is not sure what exactly he is in terms of race; however, he has heard that he has “black blood” in him.  By not knowing exactly what he is in term of race, affects his life completely because live depended on what race you were.  His supposedly “black blood” makes society treat him badly.  Racism in this novel takes place when it comes to how African Americans are treated.  When Christmas was being hunted down by Percy Grimm at the end of the novel, Reverend Hightower tried to explain to Grimm that Christmas was with him the night of Ms. Burden’s death.  However, Grimm did not listen and was extremely brutal with Christmas’ death so he’ll “let the white women alone, even in hell” (464).

            Coming of Age in Mississippi was another story with racial issues as the central part of it.  Anne Moody faces segregation at a young age when she sees her white friends in a movie theatre.  Not knowing any better, Anne and her siblings ran to see their friends in the white section of the movie theatre; however, because of what they did, they are scolded by their mother and are dragged out of the movie theatre.  This incident opens her eyes towards the differences between skin colors.  Racism is also very intense during this time.  Mrs. Burke in the story treats Anne horribly and she basically attacks her younger brother who she blamed for stealing her coin purse when she accidently misplaced it.  Just like in Light in August, the majority of violence that happened occurred when African Americans disrespected white people or “over stepped” their boundaries. 

            In the play Othello, Othello is seen as an outsider because of his appearance. However, Othello seems to be neither, “What a full fortune does the thicklips owe, if he can carry’t thus!” (503). This reference suggests that Othello is a dark-skinned man.  Throughout the play, Iago, the antagonist, plays off this insecurity when talking of Othello and Desdemona’s relationship claiming Desdemona may want a man similar to herself. 

            In Greenleaf, Ms. May is a racist woman, “Get away from here, Sir!” and in a second muttered, “Some nigger’s scrub bull” (25).  She also treats Mr. Greenleaf harshly when he does not do something the way she wants it done.

            The common theme of race throughout these works of literature has shown me how badly African Americans were treated in the past.  It is horrible to see how people were treated just because of their skin color.  However because of this treatment, it allowed African Americans to stand up for themselves and get the rights they deserved in this country.  It shows that African Americans are strong people to go through what they did and to strive hard to obtain their rights.

Blog #9, Joe Christmas

In Light in August by William Faulkner, Joe Christmas is a character that is very troubled due to his upbringing.  Because of his abused, horrible upbringing, his behavior is violent especially towards women. Orphaned as a baby, Christmas is raised in an orphanage until Mr. McEachern adopts him.  Growing up, McEachern teaches Christmas about things such as the importance of religion and the amount of a hard earned dollar; however, he does not teach him about women.  So he learns from his group of guy friends, “ “They all want to,” he told the others.  “But sometimes they cant”” (185).  Mrs. McEachern tries to nurture him and be the mother figure in his life, but because of Mr. McEachern’s power in the household it has no affect on Christmas and ultimately he rejects her affection as a mother.

His behavior is also due to his racial identity.  Christmas does not know who exactly he is in terms of race because he never knew who his real parents are.  Throughout the novel, it is referred that he had a parent that was “part nigger” (254).  Christmas still does not exactly know if it’s true or not.  However, because a part of him has “black blood” in him, it affects not only him psychologically, but also realistically.  If he reveals his heritage, women would not want him and he would be treated completely differently.  Not knowing his racial identity affects him completely because during this time period, race is everything.  How someone is treated to where someone could live depended on race.  Since Christmas really does not know what he is exactly, his supposedly “black blood” makes society treat him badly.

Up to this point, Christmas has dealt with a huge amount of rejection from people.  Even the prostitute he was seeing, Bobbie, refuses to marry him after he proposes.  Because of his upbringing, Christmas does not know how to have a relationship with women at all unless it is purely physical.  If the relationship tries to become something more, he becomes scared and even abusive.