“Light in August”: Society's degenerative cycle
Abstract
The relationship between the community and the individual in "Light in August" discloses society's cyclical degeneration. One comes to see this inevitable situation of humankind through an examination of 2 certain tragic and comic elements. The town of Jefferson is destructive of individuals and self-constrictive, yet Lena and Byron at the end of the novel seem to present a hope for humankind in their escape from Jefferson. They offer the chance for the formation of a new community, but that community must eventually come to the same constrictive condition as Jefferson.
Subject Area
American literature
Recommended Citation
Olson, Steven Douglas, "“Light in August”: Society's degenerative cycle" (1978). ETD Collection for University of Texas, El Paso. AAIEP01498.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAIEP01498