Joe Christimas' Treament of Women

Joe Christmas, the protagonist and Christ figure of William Faulkner’s Light in August, struggles with his identity throughout the novel. Imperative in Christmas’ struggle are his relationships with female characters.

Christmas Shows Power of Mrs. McEachern

The first significant female in Christmas’ life—apart from the schoolteacher—is Mrs. McEachern. She functions as Christmas’ mother-figure, though Christmas has little respect or love for her. She serves as a constant reminder to Christmas of the ambiguity of his past—she is not his mother, but he knows no other.

Afraid he will betray his uncertainty about his heritage, Christmas either barely acknowledges Mrs. McEachern or is cruel to her. Indeed, he spites her efforts to be kind to him: “While she watched him, he rose from the bed and took the tray and carried it to the corner and turned it upside down, dumping the dishes and food and all onto the floor” (155).

Christmas Continually Rejects Mrs. McEachern's Attmepts to Mother

And the more Mrs. McEachern attempts to mother Christmas, the further he pushes her away. When she attempts to help him and shield him from Mr. McEachern’s anger, he resents her interference because it signifies that he is unable to protect himself. Though uncertain about his parentage, Christmas resents any effort by Mrs. McEachern to make him feel like her child: “It was not the hardwork that he hated…It was the woman: that soft kindness which he believed himself doomed to be forever victim of” (169).

Mrs. McEachern’s desperation to know and love Christmas disgusts him, for he does not admit he needs or wants the love. Though Christmas has never known the love of a mother or father—and this void haunts him—he refuses to accept the penitence Mrs. McEachern offers. Her actions toward Christmas are apologetic and contrite; she is begging forgiveness for Christmas’ past and for her husband’s actions.

Christmas, however, despises what he perceives as weakness because it reflects his own vulnerability and uncertainty about his racial heritage. He believes she is trying to weaken him, trying to make him think about his past, “‘She is trying to make me cry,’ he thought, lying cold and rigid in his bed” (169). And because Christmas resents her, he contemplates sharing his suspicions about his heritage with her. Christmas wants to show his power by cruelly revealing his past to Mrs. McEachern, “in secret payment for the secret dishes which he has not wanted” (169).

Christmas subtly asserts his authority over Mrs. McEachern as well as other female characters.

Vintage International, 1932, 0-679-73226-8

Light in August by William Faulkner

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