"...a man's future is inherent in that man..." -Faulkner Faulkner's Light in August is a metaphor. In fact it is many metaphors, almost infinitely many. It is a jumble of allusions, themes, portraits, all of them uniquely important, many of them totally unrelated. In fact no 20th century writer has even approached the sheer quantity of symbolism Faulkner packed into every page, with, perhaps, the exception of James Joyce who went so far as to …showed first 75 words of 1124 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1124 total…and demonstrates the effect of man's falling. His dual coloring is an ironic emblem for the divided society in which he moves (Gold p.42). Finally, Christmas is killed by Grimm, the embodiment of the "divided society" that created him. This is the final reenactment of the reoccurring scene. Only this time, Christmas can no longer resist, and is destroyed. He is force to succumb to the "absurdity that Faulkner finds in human life" (Satre, p.198).