“He seemed like a ghost, a spirit, lost from his world and lost,” (114) can easily be seen as one of the most impactful lines in Light in August by William Faulkner. A very important theme throughout the novel is identity, which the quote explores; identity plays a substantial role within the book's plot, also serving as a key to the character development of the "protagonist", Joe Christmas. In the novel, Faulkner constantly experiments with each character, including Christmas, and how they are identified by others and the reader. Identity can be made very obvious, such as when characters quickly label Christmas based on their actions along with their heritage. Or, the identity can be made subtle, as when Christmas imitates actions previously directed at him by other characters. Throughout the novel, characters like Christmas always identify with him, but other characters manage to identify with him as well, thus accentuating his main internal conflict. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The way Faulkner manipulates how Chrismas identifies himself and how other characters identify him seemingly reinforces the main conflict surrounding Christmas's ambiguous identity. With each character, Faulkner manipulates the order in which each character is identified. For example, Hightower is initially defined by what the reader gathers from his past combined with what others think of him, or external identification, and towards the end of the novel Hightower identifies himself, or internal identification. But of course Faulkner makes sure that Christmas doesn't go in this order. Instead, he is first defined externally, or by what others think of him. This is shown early in the novel as Christmas is first addressed through dialogue when a factory worker asks the foreman if, "Is he [Christmas] a foreigner?" (33). Then, soon after, for the first of many times the Christmas race is brought up when the foreman asks, “Have you ever heard of a white man named Christmas?” (33). This dialogue not only presents Christmas to the reader already as an outsider, but gives off the effect of being slightly unaware of who Christmas is, and the effect extends until the reader is given insight into their own thought process. The dialogue also presents a theme that runs throughout the novel: the Christmas rush. It is never identified as mixed, instead, anything that happens that has a predominantly negative connotation, is identified as black and if anything happens that has a positive connotation, it is identified as white. In this dialogue, the negative connotation that is presented to the audience is ambiguity, as Christmas did not resemble the people he had worked with. But these overt judgments are seen much more frequently within the novel. For example, when Brown's story to the cop about getting a $1,000 reward doesn't add up, he places the blame on Christmas's identity by stating, "Blame the white man who's trying to help you with what he knows. Charge the white man and let the nigger go free. Charge the white man and let the nigger run away” (97). Overall, Faulkner intentionally has the characters manipulate the ambiguous identity of Christmas to suit their own personal thoughts and motivations, distorting these characters' perception of Christmas. Another prominent example of this behavior is Doc Hine's hateful reasoning, which ensures that Christmas has always suffered he believed that: “It is [theChristmas] the abomination of the Lord God, and I am the instrument of His will" (380). In addition to the excessive use of racial slurs to describe his nephew, Doc Hines believed it was his will, as he was ordained by God, making it known that Christmas's identity was an abomination and he spent his life ensuring and spreading this fact to the other characters, manipulating their perception of him in the process which makes the way the other characters identify Christmas so unique and complex it is the way Faulkner constantly changes perspectives throughout the chapters, which gives the reader a variety of personal beliefs and motivations but also gives more facets to what other characters think about Christmas and how they personally define it. how Percy Grimm believed that the source of all of Christmas's misdeeds was just a clash between his "black blood" (448) and his "white blood" (449) while blaming Christmas's mistakes on his black blood and to his relatively moral actions on his white blood. Overall, due to judgments about Christmas based on its ambiguous legacy, all other characters' personal experiences, beliefs, circumstances and motivations play a huge role in the external identification of Christmas, which easily provides insight into the conflicts of Christmas surrounding his character. identity. As mentioned above, what makes the identity of Christmas unique in Light in August is how Faulkner approaches it. As for the order of identification, what makes Christmas so complex is how a character is identified externally before being identified internally. Typically, the reader gets an idea of ​​who the character thinks he is and the other characters affirm or challenge it, but Faulkner changes that completely as he makes Natale affirm or challenge the ideas by which the other characters define themselves. For example, this technique can be seen first in the scene where Christmas wanders through the city. Filled with symbolism, Faulkner gives the reader insight into Christmas's uncertain thoughts regarding his identity as he stated that he "seemed like a ghost, a spirit, lost from his world and lost" (114). Up until that point in the novel, the reader is always fed harsh judgments about Christmas's identity that center on her race, but in that particular scene, Faulkner's intricate diction highlights Christmas's internal struggle over the fact which is neither completely black nor completely white. but that he is a mixed bag, which is difficult for the other characters and even for himself to understand. Faulkner also has Christmas challenge or affirm what others expect of him due to their judgments. This way of behavior is first presented when Miss Burden tries to persuade Christmas to completely change his lifestyle, asking him if he wanted to become a counselor for black colleges and have children with her. However, this request only confused Christmas even more, as he believed that: "If I give up now, I will deny all thirty years that I have lived to make me what I have chosen to be." (265). Christmas's personal conflict involving identity has always been based on his race, so it made sense for him to refuse to comply with Miss Burden's wishes for their relationship. Eventually, that relationship deteriorates due to clashes between their respective identities (based on race or gender). Having said this, it is clear to the reader that Christmas has always lived its life, “as if it were a basket of eggs” (337). He had never been to a certain identification area; whenever other characters addressed him, it was always based on what he had done and the.