Sunday, April 7, 2013
Ultimately, Faulkner’s portrait of Joe’s earlier years serves to complicate the moral questions of his tale. As more information is revealed about Joe’s childhood, we begin to wonder whether Joe’s violent, brooding nature was predisposed or whether his abusive treatment as a child unleashed a tragic chain of causation. For the most part, Faulkner leaves this question unresolved. How do you think Christmas developed his violent streak? Was the violence created by McEachern or was it always hidden in the recesses of his heart?
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Honestly, I think Christmas developed his violent streak due to how Mr. McEachern abused him. Abusive treatment as a child, can cause a lot of anger that may have stuck with him as he grew up. However, I believe that anger could have always been there. Everyone has anger built up but it depends on the person and how they are able to let go of it. Both can be relevant, yet I agree it is still unresolved.
ReplyDeleteI believe Christmas is still trying to keep people from reaching his emotional state. The way he treated Joe Brown, who was his closest companion, was as if he wasn't his friend. I guess it's because he doesn't want to let anyone in because they might hurt him.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Janeth and Alyssa's statements about Christmas's violent nature.
ReplyDeleteWhich parts in particular?
DeleteI agree with Alyssa. I think that Christmas' violent side is due to his McEachern and his rough childhood. Being abused by a guardian at a young age can be a perminant pain that stays in a persons life, and which is hard to let go, just like christmas. Although at times some people do have a violent personality as their nature, I still believe that his rough childhood has a big part of it.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Alyssa, but aside from McEachern and his rough childhood, I also believe the fact that he was raised in a orphanage and was abandoned as a child affects his character.
ReplyDeleteI strongly believe that his years living in the orphanage affected his violent behavior. According to the Home for Good Foundation (an adoption agency), "70% of the boy [orphans] become hardened criminals."
DeleteIt is highly common for orphaned boys to grow up to become violent. While McEachern's violent parenting style does add to Christmas' high temper, I feel it all started when he was in the orphanage.
I agree with Vanessa that his violent nature stems from his early childhood experiences in the orphanage. I believe this because it is evident that during his stay orphanage, he purposely does not let anyone in because he believes that once they breach his feelings, they will have the power to break him. He also expresses this attitude at the McEachern's home where he believes Mrs.McEachern is trying to 'make him cry'. Ultimately, to keep people from breaching his feelings, he turns to violence to resolve his problem. Although I believe that Mr.McEachern did play a part in Joe's violent nature, it was not the main cause.
Delete-Aimy Arellanes
McEachern, in my opinion structured the way Christmas is. With his violent parenting I believe that he made it hard for Christmas to create a passionate part of him. However, I'm guessing by the way he treats Mrs. McEachern he's never really going to open up to them. He states himself, that all they're trying to due is make him cry. Ultimately, forcing Christmas to except everything that he's been through. Although he refuses, it shows that Christmas is a very strong character when it comes to isolation. And agreeing with what everyone else had to say, I think being in the orphanage sparked the fire to his violent side.
ReplyDeleteYes, his rough childhood and being abused did contribute to how Christmas interprets the world and makes decisions. However, I don't think this was the big aspect that made his violent streak; I think it just reflects how he interacts as an adult.
ReplyDeleteChristmas's violence I believe was the result of a breakdown that we just haven't fully proved yet. He's definitely lived with excessive stress, so it always leaves me wondering: what will happen when everything simply becomes too much? When he finally explodes?
After given more information about Christmas is safe to say that Christmas's violent streak was started because of Mr. McEachern cruel treatment toward him. The the murder of Mr.McEachern was the first domino to fall in Christmas's violent streak.
ReplyDeleteI believe he is violent because he refuses to become attached to McEachern and his wife.His austere father causes him to build up anger which leads to his violent nature.He wants nothing to do with them and it causes rebellion and the abuse from McEachern gives him more reason to act up.
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