Invisible Blackness And Visible Darkness

Light in August was written in 1932 by the world famous American writer William Faulkner. As Faulkner's longest novel, it is also among the most important and most widely discussed ones. It takes racism as its main focus.In this thesis, the writer intends to apply Freud's theory of personality to the analysis of the protagonist Joe Christmas's tragedy, chiefly from Joe's inner conflict "invisible blackness" and external social background "visible darkness".For one thing, Joe has confusion about his identity. In his "id", he takes white as his identity, but in his "ego", he is taught and convinced that he is a black. He constrains the "id" with the "ego" which refuses to accept his black identity. His "blackness" is inside and invisible. The "invisible blackness" drives him to cruelty and running away from the reality. For another, Joe is overshadowed by "visible darkness" ever since his birth. Racism makes him an orphan and he grows up in a dark orphanage, where he receives only prejudice and maltreatment. His first knowledge about of the world is misled and his early personality development is twisted. After he is adopted, his foster father's Calvinism teaching pushes him into the hands of another dark power—Calvinism. These experiences make Joe a man who cannot believe in anyone and feels ashamed to accept others' aid and sympathy. The "invisible blackness" and "visible darkness" are the roots of Joe Christmas's tragedy.