At the beginning of the novel, Lena’s journey on foot to find Lucas, the father of her child, is described as follows: “She went out of sight up the road: swollen, slow, deliberate, unhurried and tireless as augmenting afternoon itself.” Here Lena’s radical assertion of freedom-although scandalous to those around her-is shown to be as ordinary and natural as the afternoon. Moreover, through the use of nature metaphors, the novel suggests that freedom is the natural state for mankind. For those whose actions have been constricted by the legacy of slavery, the emerging Jim Crow laws, and the unwritten laws of racism and sexism, freedom is extremely important-the ultimate luxury and object of desire. In some ways, the novel presents a positive view of freedom. Ultimately, the novel shows that the human desire for freedom is irrepressible, but that it is also dangerous, as it can lead to cruel, brutal behavior. However, few of these attempts to suppress freedom are entirely successful. Others turn to faith, attempting to suppress their own impulses through religious devotion. Some characters do this by enforcing the strict social codes designed to limit the freedom of black people and white women. While many of the characters seem to possess an intense desire for freedom, others seek to curtail freedom-whether their own or someone else’s. This is unsurprising, considering that the novel is set in a society still reeling from the relatively recent abolition of slavery, and one governed by strict social norms. Freedom is a very important concept in Light in August.
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