Light In August: A Study of 20th Century Man's Search for Self A Study of the Origins of Evil"...a man's future is inherent in that man..." -Faulkner in the University. p.139 Faulkner's Light in August is a metaphor. In fact it is many metaphors, almost infinitely many. It is a jumble of allusions, themes, portraits, all of them uniquely important, many of them totally unrelated. In fact no 20th century writer has even approached the sheer quantity of symbolism Faulkner packed into every page, with, perhaps, the exception of J ....