Study Help
Essay Questions
1. How does the dietitian affect Joe's life?
2. Describe Byron Bunch's role. Is he superfluous to the novel?
3. How does Joe Christmas change during the course of the novel?
4. How does Hightower change during the novel?
5. How might Uncle Doc Hines' fanaticism be interpreted symbolically?
6. In what way does Joe's grandmother contribute to his death?
7. How does Hightower function as a connecting link between Joe and Lena?
8. How does Joanna Burden fail Joe Christmas?
9. In what way was Joe's murder of Joanna partly justified?
10. How does Joe's Negro blood affect his life?
11. Relate man's responsibility to his community to his responsibility to self.
12. Each character is in some way isolated. Write a theme showing how his isolation influences his actions.
13. How is the tragedy of Joe Christmas a local or sectional problem? How is it elevated to a universal plane?
14. Develop Joe Christmas as a Christ figure, particularly as the Christ of the twentieth century.
15. Prove that Hightower is actually the main character of the novel.
16. Relate each character's isolation to that character's particular problem.