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In the novel A Light in August William Faulkner introduces us to a
wide range of characters of various backgrounds and personalities.
Common to all of them is the fact that each is type cast into a certain
role in the novel and in society. Lena is the poor, white trash
southern girl who serves to weave the story together. Hightower is the
fanatic preacher who is the dark, shameful secret of Jefferson. Joanna
Burden is the middle-aged maiden from the north who is often accused of
being a "nigger-lover".
And Joe Christmas is the epitome of an
outsider. None of them are conventional, everyday people. They are all
in some way disjointed from society; they do not fit in with the crowd.
That is what makes them intriguing and that is why Faulkner documents
their story. Percy Grimm is another such character and he plays a vital
role in the novel. He is the one to finally terminate Joe Christmas,
who has been suffering his entire life. Grimm is the enforcer, the one
man who will uphold American pride at all costs. He also stands for
everything in the world that has held Christmas back. He is the
prototype of the ruthless enemy who is the source of all of Christmas¹
struggles. And Christmas can never escape him. He can run, as he has
been doing all his life and as he does in his desperate attempt to
escape. But he can never hide, as he tries to do at Hightower's and as
he has been hiding his true self from the world he hates so much. Percy
Grimm represents the unmerciful society that has restrained and
persecuted Joe Christmas; it is only fitting that he should be the one
to finally bring him down in the end.
Percy Grimm was born into the American south and grew up to be a
symbol and backbone of the environment he was raised in. His only
regret in life is being born too late. He feels that his sole purpose
in life would be to fight in World War I and defend the country to
which he is completely and utterly devoted. But the war happened to
occur in the time period where ³he should have been a man instead of a
child² (Faulkner, p.450). So when he grows to be a man, he joins the
National Guard, which is the closest thing to an army he can find. But
instead of protecting the country from foreign enemies, his job with
the National Guard entails protecting the country from certain things
within itself. Joe Christmas and the situation he has created is a
direct threat to Percy Grimm and the establishment he represents.
Although Grimm's primary objective is to protect Christmas from hostile
crowds, Grimm is imprinted with a sort of primitive and instinctive
hatred for who Joe Christmas is, what he is, and what he has done.
Grimm sees him as a dangerous, unknown and more importantly
"nigger-blooded" criminal. He had the nerve to violate and savagely
murder a white woman who happened to be part of Grimm's specifically
drawn definition of ³American". He has adopted, adheres to, and
enforces the
"belief that the white race is superior to any and all other races
and that the American is superior to all other white races and that the
American uniform is superior to all men, and that all that would ever
be required of him in payment for this belief, this privilege, would be
his own life" (Faulkner, p.451). Percy Grimm is a tough, humorless, and
forceful individual who commands the respect of others. He is always on
some sort of mission involving the preservation of order and he is
determined to use all of his resources to accomplish his goal. Grimm is
referred to by Faulkner as "the Player". His main purpose in the novel
is to play the part of the executioner. Christmas does not stand much
of a chance. Joe Christmas has always been hampered by a society that
shuns him, alienates him, disgraces him and chases him away. Percy
Grimm is the human representation of this society. The climactic chase
scene between Grimm and Christmas is symbolic of how Christmas has been
running from people and places all his life. He was on the road all the
time and was never able to settle down in one place for a significant
time period. Society never accepted his heritage and personality and so
he was always running away from it. But there comes a point where he
can run no longer. "But there was too much running with him, stride for
stride with him. Not pursuers: but himself: years, acts, deeds omitted
and committed" (Faulkner, p.448). The handcuffs which hinder his speed
and mobility represent the burden he has carried throughout his life.
This burden includes his ancestry, his childhood, the people he has
encountered, acts he has committed, and the experiences he has had.
Eventually this all catches up to him as Grimm finally tracks him down
and shoots him. It is almost as if fate has decreed that there could be
no other end to the troubled life of Joe Christmas.
The name Grimm is also quite significant. Faulkner has a tendency
to name his characters in such a way that their role in the story is
foretold at first glance. Percy Grimm is symbolic of the Grim Reaper.
This man is relentless in his pursuit of Joe Christmas, as is the
fabled messenger of death in his pursuit of a soul. The name "Grimm"
inspires fear in the reader's immediate reaction towards him. And his
actions back it up. The presence he radiates intimidates everyone he
encounters to submission. Eventually Joe Christmas succumbs to him amid
a climactic inner struggle involving his own perception of himself. As
he lay dying, he feels the evil, dark, and "black" part of himself
withering away. "The pent black blood seemed to rush like a released
breath. It seemed to rush out of his pale body" (Faulkner, p. 465). His
soul has vanished and only his pale, clean, "white" body is left
behind. This may be the reason that at the time that Grimm is
castrating him (one of the worst scenarios imaginable to most men), he
is at peace with himself. He has always hated the "black" side of
himself because that is what everyone else hates about him. Since
everyone else is against him, he has turned against himself as well.
Grimm, who is a representation of southern society, is racist and
intolerant of Joe Christmas and what he has done. He shows no mercy in
finishing off his miserable, confused, and troubled life. And this is
no different from the way society has always treated him.
Although the actual character of Percy Grimm is only covered in a
few pages of the novel, the society he represents exists as the stage
on which the entire story is set. All of the main characters are
intertwined as they struggle to make a life in the post- Civil War
American South. No character has more trouble dealing with his identity
in the cruel world than Joe Christmas. He cannot continue to run and
hide forever. He has never been able to deal with who he truly is and
what that means to the people surrounding him. So he is constantly
running away, literally and figuratively. But when he tries to hide is
when he is finally caught. This occurrence has repeated itself time and
time again throughout his life. Whenever he remained in one place for
too long, trying his best to make a home, it comes to a crashing end
and his on the run again. He leaves the orphanage after he has
sabotaged his existence there. He kills McEachern and runs away from
home. He gets beaten and robbed on his final night with Bobbie. And he
finally snaps and kills Joanna Burden and runs away for the last time.
As he runs through the woods during his final few moments on earth, he
is relentlessly chased by Percy Grimm, his enemy and torturer. In one
last desperate attempt to escape, he hides at Hightower's and is
subsequently discovered and executed without mercy. But by this time,
he is at peace with himself, knowing that he will no longer be forced
to run and hide from anything. The society that holds him with such
disdain has finally won their eternal battle. But he just does not care
anymore. Joe Christmas surrenders to Percy Grimm with apathetic
contentment.
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