After Joanna’s death, Joe flees Jefferson. When their relationship fails, Joanna wants them to end their lives, and it’s implied Joe kills her. Their tumultuous romance lasts for years.

He reaches Jefferson in his thirties and sneaks into Joanna’s house for food. Joe runs away and turns to a vagabond lifestyle. McEachern, who beats Joe regularly and declares him a sinner. Joe is adopted by a strict religious man, Mr. He’s picked on by the other kids and beaten by the staff because he is biracial. Byron visits and tell him about the fire, where Joanna was found dead at the scene.Īs a child, Joe Christmas grows up in a White orphanage. Byron is the only person who regularly speaks with Hightower. Hightower is haunted by visions of his grandfather fighting in the Civil War, where he was killed battling for the Confederacy. He first came to Jefferson to preach but was ousted by the community after the mysterious death of his adulterous wife, and he now lives isolated from the rest of town. Hearing Byron’s description of Joe Brown, Lena realizes Brown is Lucas Burch using a new name.Įlsewhere in town, Gail Hightower spends his time alone in his house. They discuss the fire, which is at the home of Joanna Burden, and Byron mentions that Joe Christmas and Joe Brown-two vagabonds who quit working at the mill around the same time and are rumored to be bootlegging whiskey-live in a cabin on the same property. Lena is disappointed when she learns Byron doesn’t know Lucas Burch. She arrives at the mill in town, and Byron Bunch, who is working a shift there, becomes quickly infatuated with her. Reaching the edge of town, Lena sees a house on fire. Lucas left saying he was going to look for a job but hasn’t reached out in months. Lena Grove, a young pregnant woman, leaves Alabama and heads to Jefferson, Mississippi, where she hopes to find Lucas Burch, the father of her child. Note: This study guide quotes and obscures Faulkner’s use of the n-word.

Light in august by william faulkner