Light in August: Chapter 13 Summary & Analysis

As soon as Joanna’s house is discovered to be on fire, people gather from all around to watch it burn. Some speculate that it was “an anonymous negro crime” committed by a black person who wanted to harm Joanna. They are convinced—are in fact to desperate to believe—that Joanna was raped, preferably once before her throat was cut and once after. The sheriff, a large man with a “benevolent” manner, takes one look at Joanna’s body and quickly sends it away. The crowd of people stand watching the fire, many of them with guns in their pockets, desperately “canvass[ing] about for someone to crucify.”

These desires are frustrated, however, by the quiet and isolated life Joanna led. A murmur of excitement erupts through the crowd, with everyone wondering: “Who did it?” and “Is he still free?” The sheriff, meanwhile, feels that the fire was not caused by any one person but rather that it was an event predestined by history. The person who discovered the fire suddenly remembers that he saw a white man inside the house, and tells the sheriff this.

The witness adds that the white man stopped him from going upstairs, saying that he’d already looked and there was no one up there. The sheriff’s deputy, Burford, says he doesn’t know who lived in the cabin but that it was probably “n_____s,” and that it is surprising they didn’t harm Joanna sooner. The sheriff calls for a black man in the crowd and asks who has been living in the cabin; the man replies that he doesn’t know. The sheriff and the deputy bring the man to the cabin. The onlookers become curious, wondering if the man being questioned is guilty. The sheriff shoos them away. When Joanna was still alive, people passing her in the street would shout “n_____ lover!”

Once inside the cabin, the sheriff again asks the man who lived there, and the man again insists he doesn’t know. Burford whips the man with a strap, but the man keeps insisting that he doesn’t know. Eventually, the man admits that he has heard that two white men lived there, but that he doesn’t know who they are and has never seen them. The sheriff is satisfied with that answer. Suddenly, a third man mentions that Brown and Christmas have been living there. He says that any man in Jefferson who drinks alcohol knows this information.

Heading back to his office, the sheriff sees Lena climbing out of a wagon in the distance. When he gets to the office, the cashier from the bank is waiting for him, holding Joanna’s will. It instructs that E. Peebles in Memphis and Nathaniel Burrington in New Hampshire should be contacted in the event of her death. The cashier comments that Peebles is a “n_____ lawyer.” The sheriff sends wires to Peebles and Burrington, and receives quick replies. Nathaniel (who is Joanna’s nephew) offers a $1000 reward for the capture of the murderer.

That night, Brown shows up in the town square, wanting to talk to the sheriff. It is immediately obvious that he is trying to claim the $1000 reward. With brash confidence, he tells the sheriff: “I know who done it and when I get my reward, I’ll tell.” The sheriff responds that Brown will only get the reward if he catches the murderer. He takes Brown to the jail, even though he thinks this is not necessary, because as long as there is a chance of getting the reward, Brown will not be hard to find.

On Sunday morning, a search party consisting of about thirty or forty men and two dogs goes out to Joanna’s house and the cabin. The dogs sniff around the cabin and bark excitedly. That night, a man and his son come into the sheriff’s office. The son describes being stopped by a man carrying a gun. He says he took a detour to his own house, planning to get out and run for help, but before they reached the house the armed man demanded to be let out. He takes the sheriff and Burford to the spot where the man got out of the car, and they find the gun there. Burford observes that it is a Civil War-era gun. They search the area until dawn.

The weather has become stiflingly hot. Byron goes to meet Hightower and tells him that he is going to find a more peaceful, secluded place for Lena to stay, somewhere that can serve as a “kind of home.” Hightower says that Lena must know by now that Brown is Lucas. Byron says he hasn’t said anything after his initial revelation about the scar. However, he felt that she somehow knew already, even before he mentioned this. He says it is as if Lena has two completely oppositional thoughts at once: on one hand, she knows Lucas is a “scoundrel,” but on the other, she has total faith that the family will be reunited and happy.

Hightower thinks Lena needs to go back to Alabama, but Byron isn’t sure. He explains that Brown has been too “busy” to even realize that Lena is in Jefferson. The sheriff locked Brown in jail last night, but Brown irritated everyone so much by ceaselessly ranting about how he was going to be cheated out of the reward money that they let him out. In the morning, they took him off to join the search party with the dogs, and he kept ranting until the sheriff somehow managed to calm him down momentarily, possibly by threatening to put him back in jail.

In the end Brown started shouting again, this time about Christmas. He was once more taken to jail for the night, and then again taken out to help search with the dogs. Byron still isn’t sure that Lena believes Brown is Lucas. He has kept it secret from her that Brown has been spending nights in jail. She tried to go and see Brown, but Byron told her he was busy with the sheriff. Lena remains determined to go to the cabin on Joanna’s property, and Byron might let her go and stay there, because at least she will have some quiet.

Hightower does not think Lena will be safe out there alone. Byron insinuates that he could stay there to protect her, and predicts that Brown will “run” as soon as he finds Lena in the cabin. Hightower asks if that is what Byron is hoping Brown will do, and he warns Byron about getting in between “man and wife,” but Byron points out that they aren’t married yet. Byron then suggests that Brown might not run after all, particularly if he manages to get the reward money. Hightower advises Byron to leave Jefferson, and tells him that he is under the influence of the devil.

Hightower goes to the store, where the storeowner tells him that they’ve found the “n_____” who killed Joanna. The storeowner comments that the man had not even had the sense to flee the county. The storeowner then explains that the murderer has not actually been caught yet, though his trail has been discovered, and the sheriff is using dogs to pursue him. Hightower is seemingly so stunned by this news that he tries to pay for his items twice, before stumbling out of the shop. As he walks away, he mutters to himself that he “bought immunity” and that he paid the price for it.

That night, Hightower sees Byron outside his house, looking “completely changed.” For the first time in his life, Byron seems bold and assured, and Hightower is convinced that he must have taken some kind of decisive action. When Byron enters the house, Hightower comments that it is the first time he has ever done so without stumbling on the front step. Hightower offers him a seat, but Byron says he won’t be staying long.

Byron explains that he fixed up the cabin for Lena, believing that she was entitled to have it because it is the closest thing to a home Brown will ever have. Lena is settled in now. Byron verbally anticipates the objections Hightower will raise, including the fact that the nearest person who could help if Lena goes into labor is a black woman. He argues that Lena will get better help from her than any white woman in Jefferson, who would judge her harshly for not being married to the father of her child.

As he begins to speak about the plight of Lena’s baby, who did not ask to be born into this particular situation, Byron becomes emotional. Instead of objecting to Byron’s actions, Hightower tells him to immediately leave Jefferson, which he calls “this terrible, terrible place.” Hightower explains that he has learned hope for the first time, and that it doesn’t matter that it was Lena who inspired this—the hope itself is what counts.

Hightower says that there are only two options for Byron now: “sin and marriage.” He cannot advise that Byron chooses the sin, as this would ultimately lead Byron to resent both Hightower and Lena. He therefore wants Byron to flee the situation immediately. Hightower argues that every man becomes a cuckold when his partner has a child, even if the child is his. He says: “It is not fair that you should sacrifice yourself to a woman who has chosen once and now wishes to renege that choice.”  He then concludes that God didn’t design marriage; women did.

Hightower continues, saying that women like Lena can never make up their minds between people like Byron and people like Brown. Byron eventually concedes that Hightower might be right. Hightower offers Byron some bedclothes and advises him to speak to a doctor about Lena’s imminent birth. Once Byron is gone, Hightower feels jealous of Byron’s youth, and thinks about how he regrets getting out of the habit of praying. When he was young, he used to be afraid of darkness, until one day at the seminary when he suddenly realized he wasn’t afraid anymore. He takes a book by Tennyson from his shelf and begins to read, thinking that “it is better than praying,” like listening to a song in a language he “does not even need to not understand.”