2 Light in August, Ch 3-4

1. Meretricious: 1 : of or relating to a prostitute : having the nature of prostitution
2 a : tawdrily and falsely attractive b : superficially significant
-Merriam-Webster Online

Page 76: "But on Sunday evening, and with the echo of the phantom hooves still crashing soundlessly in the duskfilled study, he watches quietly the puny, unhorsed figure moving with that precarious and meretricious cleverness of which the man animal is so fatuously proud and which constantly betrays him by means of natural laws like gravity and ice, and by the very extraneous objects which he has himself invented, like motor cars and furniture in the dark, and the very refuse of his own eating left upon floor or pavement; and he thinks quietly how right the ancients were in making the horse an attribute and symbol of warriors and kings, when he sees the man in the street pass the low sign and turn into his gate and approach the house."


2. Chapter 3 details the life of Gail Hightower, former minister of the local church in Jefferson. The parishioners never loved him because of his raving speeches combining gospel and tales of his grandfather's Civil War calvary feats, his obviously adulterous wife and his general inability to fit in. However, after his wife dies at a hotel she is staying at with another man, Hightower is forced to resign from the church. Amid threats and violence he refuses to leave Jefferson and has been living in a small house since. In chapter 4 Byron Bunch visits Hightower and explains his situation with Lena. After falling in "love" with her, Byron sends Lena to stay with Mrs. Beard, saying that she was waiting for her husband. Byron hasn't told Lena the truth, which is that Brown is in jail pending further examination of the fire and murder of Miss Burden. It is reported that a man saw the fire and ran in to help, seeing Mr. Brown at the bottom of the stairs. Staggeringly drunk, Mr. Brown tries to stop the man from going upstairs. When the man eventually made it to the upper floor he saw Miss Burden nearly decapitated. Brown accuses Christmas of the murder, saying that he and Miss Burden had been having an affair for three years. He then accuses Christmas of having negro blood, which puts everyone in a fury and convinces the police that Christmas is guilty.


3. One of the things that struck me most about these chapters was the way characters are judged so harshly by society. First is Lena, who is looked down upon because of her teenage pregnancy. Although she claims she is married, many characters see through this charade immediately. Nobody thus far has been outright rude about it (although Amistad's wife was not cordial) but she is definitely disapproved of. Secondly is Byron Bunch, who chooses to spend much of his time alone. I am under the impression that society views him as strange because he spends so much time alone, but he is simply trying to stay out of trouble. I'll admit he's a bit incessant about it, but in the end he's just a loner. The third example of society judging harshly, and possibly the most prominent example thus far, is Gail Hightower. His entire parish community immediately disliked him because of his "out-there" antics in service. He was louder than they were used to; he told stories that they viewed as "sacrilegious." When he feigns naivety (or possibly is genuinely oblivious) to his wife's affair, his parishioners and fellow townspeople view him as an idiot. They circulate rumors about him, including that he was having inappropriate contact with his black cook. The KKK even comes after him, violently beating him. He is threatened to no avail, simply because he is "different." This seems horrendous to me. He has done nothing to personally offend any of the people who are cruel to him. Joe Christmas is judged because of his color. Investigators seem certain Joe Brown committed the murder until it is said that Christmas is part negro. After this comes out, the blame is automatically shifted to Christmas. This is unfair and racist, to say the least. Finally, Miss Burden herself is a victim of harsh and unnecessary judgement. She is a sort of mystery woman, keeping to herself on her land most of the time. After her murder, rumors start flying. It seems that all along people have been making judgements about whether she knew about Joe Christmas and Joe Brown on her land, whether she was having an affair with Joe Christmas, and whether she knew about the bootlegging. One thing leads to another and soon enough she is also subject to the cruetly that is human nature.


4. My first question from this section has to do with a line spoken by Gail Hightower. On page 60 it says, "He does not say even to himself: "There remains yet something of honor and pride, of life."" I am both in love with and terribly confused by this quote. I have a basic understanding of it, in my opinion, but I'm wondering if it has a deeper meaning within the story. Also I'm unsure whether it is meant sarcastically or not. I don't think it is but I can't be sure.

My second question is whether Joe Brown or Joe Christmas actually killed Miss Burden. From the interview I was under the impression Brown was lying about everything regarding the fire and murder, but the investigators immediately assume Christmas is guilty when Brown says that he is part negro.

A third and final question is whether Lena will talk to Brown, and if and when she does, whether he will run away or not. I now believe that he never planned to come back to her, but if she falls into his path again I wonder if he will flee or lead her on for awhile. I feel like we haven't gotten to see enough of Brown to truly know his character. Everything we know about him comes from hear-say.