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Lucas Burch / Joe Brown
Byron is a loner who lives in Jefferson and works at the planing mill. He is hard-working, kind, and responsible, though withdrawn and timid. He is the only friend of Rev. Hightower, and regularly goes to visit Hightower at his house. He falls in love with Lena and helps her to find Lucas/Brown, even though it is obvious that Brown does not want to be with Lena and will not live up to the responsibility of fatherhood. Byron proposes to Lena but is turned down, yet he remains devoted to her anyway, which could be interpreted as either a selfless or a masochistic gesture (or perhaps both).
Byron Bunch Quotes in Light in August
The Light in August quotes below are all either spoken by Byron Bunch or refer to Byron Bunch. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
“His name is Christmas,” he said.
“His name is what?” one said.
“Christmas.”
“Is he a foreigner?”
“Did you ever hear of a white man named Christmas?” the foreman said.
“I never heard of nobody a-tall named it,” the other said.
And that was the first time Byron remembered that he had ever thought how a man’s name, which is supposed to be just the sound for who he is, can be somehow an augur of what he will do, if other men can only read the meaning in time.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Yes, ma’am. Joe Brown. But I reckon that may be his right name. Because when you think of a fellow named Joe Brown, you think of a bigmouthed fellow that’s always laughing and talking loud. And so I reckon that is his right name, even if Joe Brown does seem a little kind of too quick and too easy for a natural name, somehow.
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Byron Bunch Quotes in Light in August
The Light in August quotes below are all either spoken by Byron Bunch or refer to Byron Bunch. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
“His name is Christmas,” he said.
“His name is what?” one said.
“Christmas.”
“Is he a foreigner?”
“Did you ever hear of a white man named Christmas?” the foreman said.
“I never heard of nobody a-tall named it,” the other said.
And that was the first time Byron remembered that he had ever thought how a man’s name, which is supposed to be just the sound for who he is, can be somehow an augur of what he will do, if other men can only read the meaning in time.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Yes, ma’am. Joe Brown. But I reckon that may be his right name. Because when you think of a fellow named Joe Brown, you think of a bigmouthed fellow that’s always laughing and talking loud. And so I reckon that is his right name, even if Joe Brown does seem a little kind of too quick and too easy for a natural name, somehow.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
