When she pulls out a gun, however, Christmas kills her and then burns down the house. When Christmas will not follow Joanna on her path to spiritual salvation, she decides that they both must die. Joanna slowly morphs from being obsessed with sex to being obsessed with religion, and tries to bring Christmas with her. He ends up in Jefferson, Mississippi, where he starts a complicated relationship with Joanna Burden, a white middle-aged spinster who is completely ignored by the town because they consider her a Yankee. His life from that point on is a continual journey: he moves from town to town and city to city, switching between living in white and black communities. He is adopted by a hard, devoutly Presbyterian man, McEachern, who beats any happiness or self worth out of him, and after falling in love with a prostitute whom McEachern scorns, he kills his adoptive father. Joe Christmas is an orphan who is convinced he is of biracial descent and has been tortured by this belief for his whole life. Light In August tells many stories, but at its center are the story of Joe Christmas and the story of Lena Grove.
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