Images of Blood in Faulkners Light in August Essays -- Faulkner Light

Images of Blood in Faulkners Light in August Blood is considered by human beingsy to be one of the most important ties between human beings it is therefore frequently used as an image that defines a char modus operandier or a relationship between characters in a novel. For example, a prince might be defined by his royal blood, or a weak man described as having thin blood. Close friends may be blood brothers, or families may have a blood feud. In William Faulkners Light in August, the image of blood permeates the themes of sexuality, race, and religion. Blood is common to all of these themes it is evident in reproductive cycles and births, it is a medium for the genetic passage of race from one contemporaries to the next, and it serves as a symbol of life or death in many religions. Faulkner centers these powerful images of blood around Joe Christmas, the main character, whose blood, as a cast giving him the will to live, is strong despite his sins. Christm as associates physical blood with his impressions of women, defines races and genders by the smell of their blood, and is guilty and damned because of the darkness in his black blood. Christmass view of the piece and of issues Faulkner intimately relates to him, in particular sexuality, race, and religion, is tinted by the images of blood revolving around him. Blood is one of the most important elements in Christmass view of sexuality. He has a wrestle perception of women and his sexual role due to his traumatic first exposure to sexuality at the age of five, in which he perceived the sex act as violent and disgusting. Christmas overheard a sexual ... ...ng him lifeless both physically and spiritually, though his influence lasts beyond his years. Christmass mixed blood and mixed ethnicity provide imaging for the themes of race and religion his conception of himself and the world is strongly impacted by his confusion over these two issues. His ideals are fur ther affected by the connections he draws between blood and sexuality he views blood as an inherent part of femininity, and he sees sex as a violent struggle for dominance. Whether it is a definition of race, a definition of sin or godliness, or a definition of the essence of females, the image of blood influences Christmass perception of the world around him. deeds Cited Faulkner, William. Light in August. 1932. Notes Joseph Blotner, Editors note Noel Polk. New York Vintage Books, 1990