Light in August

There is an elderly white couple living in Mottstown who moved there thirty years ago. They live in poverty and “idleness” in the black neighborhood in town. Mr. Hines used to work in Memphis and come home to his wife on the weekends; he and Mrs. Hines are seen as strangers even though they have lived in the town for decades. The town views them as a little “touched” (crazy); Mr. Hines has a “crazed” look in his eyes, and they are smaller and grayer than most people, which makes people think of them as a “different race, species.” Because they live among black people, the townspeople consider them to be “crazy on the subject of negroes” and wonder if they are Yankees.

Mr. Hines, who is also known as Uncle Doc, would speak grandly about Memphis as if he held an important role there. Believing he was crazy but ultimately harmless, the townspeople would humor him when he told these grandiose stories, while not taking them remotely seriously. Then one day he no longer had his job, although no one knows if he was fired or quit. After, people heard that he had started preaching at black churches across the county. One day, Mr. Hines is hanging around downtown Mottstown when he hears people shouting the name Christmas. One of the men shouting refers to Christmas as “that white n_____ that did that killing up at Jefferson last week!”

A group of men are holding Christmas captive, and Hines dashes through the crowd, looks Christmas in the eye, and then shouts: “Kill the bastard!” Later, some of the men drive an exhausted Mr. Hines back to his house and tell Mrs. Hines the whole story of what happened. They notice that Mrs. Hines appears to have recognized the name Christmas, although she did not say so explicitly. Mr. Hines is so worn out from the excitement earlier that he looks practically dead. Alone in the house, Mrs. Hines is shaking uncontrollably. In a desperate voice, she asks her husband what he did with “Milly’s baby.”

That night, everyone in Mottstown discusses Christmas, many of them commenting that he did not look black—although none of them doubt that he is, and that he was “pretending” to be white while living in Jefferson. They are outraged that Christmas was walking around openly in Mottstown in daylight instead of cowering in secret, as murderers on the run are supposed to do. They are also offended by the fact that he “went into a white barbershop like a white man,” and was not suspected of actually being black. After getting a shave and a haircut, Christmas bought new clothes, supposedly with money he stole from Joanna.

Christmas kept walking around in the middle of town until someone asked him if his name was Christmas. He said it was, and at this point he was apprehended. It was in this moment that Mr. Hines saw Christmas and, after hearing his name, had some kind of fit, beating Christmas with his walking stick. Later, after having been taken home to his wife and then returning to town, he was seen standing on the street yelling that Christmas should be hanged immediately and offering to do it himself. He only stopped when Mrs. Hines arrived and told him to sit down. She was dressed up, and everyone was shocked by her presence; some had never seen her before.

Mrs. Hines then went to the jail and asked to see Christmas. She was told she had to get the sheriff’s permission, but when she tried to do so the deputy said he wasn’t there, advising her that he may be at home resting after a chaotic week helping the Jefferson sheriff hunt for Christmas. In reality, the sheriff was back outside the jail, speaking to a mob of two hundred men and women and assuring them that “the n_____ would get a quick and fair trial.” He asks that they respect the law, and adds that if Christmas is properly convicted, the people of Mottstown will be entitled to the reward money. This seems to convince the crowd.

Soon after, the Jefferson sheriff arrives and takes Christmas away in handcuffs, while the crowd watches and lets out a collective gasp. While he is being taken out, Mrs. Hines pushes through the crowd to get close to him. She doesn’t say anything, just looks at him, as if she has dressed up and come into the center of town for the sole purpose of looking at Christmas for a brief moment. As soon as she has done this she turns around and leaves. Christmas, meanwhile, is driven off to Jefferson. Mr. and Mrs. Hines go to the garage and try to rent a car to drive to Jefferson, but it is more expensive than they can afford.

Instead, Mrs. Hines and Mr. Hines sit in the town square outside the courthouse, not talking, until 6 pm. They then stand up and go eat at the train station café, asking the café owner what time the train to Jefferson leaves. He replies that it is not until 2 am, so they’d better take a car. Mr. and Mrs. Hines leave and go to sit in the waiting room. Mrs. Hines buys two tickets for the 2 am train. The man running the café is so confused that he thinks he must have misheard her. At this point, a crowd of people have assembled to watch the couple wait for the train. After dark, they see Mr. Hines shouting: “Bitchery and abomination!” while his wife tries to shush him.