“When he went to bed that night, his mind was made up to run away. He felt like an eagle: hard, sufficient, potent, remorseless, strong. But that passed, though he did not then know that, like the eagle, his own flesh as well as all space was still a cage.” In this excerpt from Chapter 7, Faulkner offers a glimpse into Joe Christmas' psyche following the violent encounter with the woman he and his companions coerced into the shed. Faulkner's masterful comparison of Joe to an eagle within a cage encapsulates the profound inner turmoil and sense of isolation that pervades Joe's character throughout the novel. By likening Joe to an eagle, a symbol of strength, freedom, and majesty, Faulkner highlights the inherent dichotomy that exists within Joe. The imagery of the eagle trapped within its cage serves as a poignant …show more content…
Described as experiencing a physical reaction, Hightower's sweating and denial hint at the deeply ingrained societal prejudices surrounding race. This reaction is indicative of how being biracial is viewed negatively within the community, shaping the way people interact with Joe Christmas. As the novel progresses, societal treatment of Black individuals becomes increasingly evident, with racial dynamics exacerbating Joe's own internal struggle with his identity. When discussing Joe Christmas, the townspeople recall that ‘“he doesn’t look any more like a n_____ than I do. But it must have been the n____ blood in him.He went into a white barbershop like a white man, and because he looked like a white man they never suspected him’” (Faulkner, 349). In a society that treats Black and White people so differently, these racial dynamics serve to exacerbate their own struggle with race. One of the most evident examples of this struggle is when he runs into the square near the Black part of town and then moves onto a White