Lucas Burch / Joe Brown Character Analysis in Light in August

Lucas is the father of Lena’s child, whom she met while he was working at the planing mill in her hometown. Lucas is fun-loving but unintelligent, selfish, cruel, and immature. He is also a heavy drinker, and after moving to Jefferson, he sells bootleg whisky with Joe Christmas (with whom he lives in the cabin on Joanna’s property). He also changes his name to Joe Brown, presumably to avoid being identified as the father of Lena’s child. He becomes fixated on getting the $1,000 reward offered for finding Joanna’s murderer and turns Christmas in in order to do so, but ruins his chances of receiving it after again running away from Lena and his newborn baby.

Lucas Burch / Joe Brown Quotes in Light in August

The Light in August quotes below are all either spoken by Lucas Burch / Joe Brown or refer to Lucas Burch / Joe Brown. 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:

Race, Gender, and Transgression Theme Icon

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: Byron Bunch (speaker), Lucas Burch / Joe Brown, Lena Grove

Page Number and Citation: 54

Explanation and Analysis:

‘That’s right,’ he says. ‘Go on. Accuse me. Accuse the white man that’s trying to help you with what he knows. Accuse the white man and let the nigger go free. Accuse the white and let the nigger run.’

[…]

‘The folks in this town is so smart. Fooled for three years. Calling him a foreigner for three years, when soon as I watched him three days I knew he wasn’t no more a foreigner than I am. I knew before he even told me himself.’

Related Characters: Lucas Burch / Joe Brown (speaker), Joe Christmas, The Sheriff

Related Literary Devices:

Page Number and Citation: 97-98

Explanation and Analysis:

“I dont want to visit nobody here. I’m a stranger here.”

“You’d be strange anywhere you was at,” the deputy said. “Even at home. Come on.”

Related Characters: Lucas Burch / Joe Brown (speaker), Burford (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 426

Explanation and Analysis:

Lucas Burch / Joe Brown Character Timeline in Light in August

The timeline below shows where the character Lucas Burch / Joe Brown appears in Light in August. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Freedom, Discipline, and Violence Theme Icon

Strangers, Outcasts, and Belonging Theme Icon

...found out Lena was pregnant, he called her a “whore.” The father of her baby, Lucas Burch, left town six months before, although Lena remains convinced that he will come back... (full context)

Lena tells Armistid that she has come to find Lucas Burch, and that people she has met on the journey have been kind to her.... (full context)

...“cold, harsh, irascible face.” Armistid explains that Lena has come from Alabama hoping to find Lucas Burch, who she has heard is working at the planing mill in Jefferson. Martha implies... (full context)

...help Martha with the cooking, but Martha refuses. She asks if Lena is married to Lucas, and Lena admits that she isn’t. She accidentally lets slip that Lucas left shortly after... (full context)

Lena says she is sure Lucas sent for her, but that his message “got lost on the way.” This is why... (full context)

After Armistid leaves, Lena tells her story to Varner, the storeowner. Varner comments that Lucas, like other men, has fled from his duty, but Lena doesn’t seem to hear him.... (full context)

Lena asks the man driving the wagon if he knows Lucas Burch. The driver says he doesn’t, and asks why Lena was allowed to come to... (full context)

...that he was just “living on the country, like a locust.” His name was Joe Brown. He gambled his first week’s pay and lost it all. (full context)

Brown kept gambling and at another point supposedly earned $60. He would laugh loudly while he... (full context)

Brown and Christmas have somehow bought a car, and the other workers expect that Brown will... (full context)

By this point everyone knows that Brown is running an illegal bootlegging operation; people are still not sure whether Christmas is involved,... (full context)

...him. She says: “You aint him.” She adds that she was told she would find Lucas Burch here, and Byron explains that he is called Byron Bunch. He says that he... (full context)

...as if they were white. He adds that two men live on the property, Joe Brown and Joe Christmas. Lena comments that Christmas is a funny name, and Byron says Joe... (full context)

Lena suddenly grows serious, and asks Byron what Joe Brown does for a living. Byron says he has heard rumors, but doesn’t repeat them. However,... (full context)

...Hightower about meeting Lena. They then discuss the burning house. Byron tells Hightower that Joe Brown and Joe Christmas lived in a cabin on the property, and that they used it... (full context)

Byron then explains that Brown is the father of Lena’s child. Hightower is stunned, but doesn’t seem judgmental, “as though... (full context)

...to explain that the man who originally discovered that Joanna’s house was burning saw that Brown—who was drunk—hadn’t even noticed. The man then went inside the house and found Joanna’s body,... (full context)

...happened to Joanna, the nephew offered a $1,000 reward for the capture of her killer. Brown and Christmas were initially nowhere to be found. However, by 8 pm Brown appeared in... (full context)

Interrogating Brown, the sheriff pointed out that according to Brown’s own story, he waited three hours before... (full context)

...that he “always thought there was something funny about that fellow [Christmas].” He then led Brown away, but told a nearby crowd of townspeople that Brown is not the murderer. Recounting... (full context)

After midnight, Brown drunkenly stumbles into the room where Christmas is sleeping. Christmas panics about the noise Brown... (full context)

Brown falls asleep, but Christmas cannot. Speaking aloud, he tells himself he killed Joanna because she... (full context)

Christmas wakes feeling rested after only two hours of sleep. He sees Brown through the window, and thinks about how angry Brown will be to wake up and... (full context)

At 9 pm, Christmas goes and stands outside the barbershop and watches Brown through the window. When Brown sees him, Christmas keeps walking through the empty streets into... (full context)

...provoke a response in her. At this point, Christmas has started living and working with Brown, who he considers “a fool.” He becomes terrified that Brown will find out about his... (full context)

...its contents. He eats in a slow, leisurely fashion, but is suddenly disturbed to see Brown’s face staring at him. Brown is leaning against the doorframe, and makes a “gleeful,” snarky... (full context)

...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... (full context)

That night, Brown shows up in the town square, wanting to talk to the sheriff. It is immediately... (full context)

...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.... (full context)

...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... (full context)

In the end Brown started shouting again, this time about Christmas. He was once more taken to jail for... (full context)

...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... (full context)

...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... (full context)

...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... (full context)

...story to the sheriff. He says that Byron then took him outside and explained that Brown is the child’s father, but that he has changed his name from Lucas Burch. Byron... (full context)

...leave the whole thing alone for now, and that he’s more focused on the “husband” Brown had in Jefferson (Christmas) than any wife he left behind in Alabama. Burford laughs, and... (full context)

...a flattened, empty cigarette paper. On the paper are the words: “Didn’t I tell you?” Brown, who is also there, immediately begins shouting, and the sheriff threatens to take him back... (full context)

...tells Hightower that they have caught Christmas in Mottstown. Hightower accuses Byron of having helped Brown betray Christmas, dooming Christmas to death. He mocks Byron, calling him “the guardian of public... (full context)

Byron points out that the only evidence anyone has that Christmas is guilty is Brown’s statement. He suggests that Hightower could say that Christmas was with him that night, and... (full context)

...his mind, Lena was a virgin. He now realizes that he will have to tell Brown, who until this point he hadn’t even let himself believe was real. (full context)

...Lena has combed her hair and made up her face because she is waiting for Lucas to come. He tells her that Byron is “a good man,” but that she should... (full context)

...he is now, but that before he left, he said that the authorities would bring Lucas to see her that evening, checking that this was okay. Lena said it was, and... (full context)

...rent for Lena’s room, but she says it has already been paid. She predicts that Brown will get the $1000 reward and then marry Lena, and that Byron will then leave... (full context)

Byron then goes to the sheriff and explains the whole story about Lena and Brown, saying it’s time for Brown to go see her. He says that he personally will... (full context)

...comes over him like a wind, compelling him to move. He knows the man is Brown, although he will not quite admit that to himself. Although he knows he cannot force... (full context)

Earlier, Burford came to get Brown from jail, telling him they were going to visit someone. Brown insisted he had no... (full context)

Lena says she always knew she could depend on him. Brown starts talking about the “bastards” in Jefferson, saying that he has “enemies” who want to... (full context)

Approaching the cabins, Brown sees an old black woman sitting on a porch. Calling her “aunty,” he stops and... (full context)

As Brown is walking away, the old woman shouts after him, saying she has found a young... (full context)

Meanwhile, Brown is left alone and begins muttering to himself about his plight, and his worries that... (full context)

...hears the whistle of a nearby train and slowly stands up. Feeling dazed, he watches Brown emerge as if from nowhere and jump onto the moving train. Byron is stunned by... (full context)

Light in August

Lucas Burch / Joe Brown Character Analysis

Lucas Burch / Joe Brown Quotes in Light in August

Chapter 2 Quotes

Chapter 4 Quotes

Chapter 18 Quotes

Lucas Burch / Joe Brown Character Timeline in Light in August