Hemingway's In Our Time and Faulkner's Light in August are both literary pieces that revolve around violence. However, the perpetrators' treatment of violence starkly contrasts. Hemingway focuses on culturally sanctioned forms of violence, while Faulkner focuses on more illicit violence. While Faulkner lays the complete groundwork for every violent act in his novel, Hemingway is more subtle, preferring to simply narrate and avoid directly explaining emotions. Faulkner emphasizes the influence of society on violent acts while Hemingway focuses on the inherent nature of violence in society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Hemingway's life and literature are full of violence. He enthusiastically enlisted in the First World War, loved sports, hunting, fishing and often got into fights. In Our Time strongly reflects this interest in culturally sanctioned violence. The panels between each story are, for the most part, graphically violent wartime or bullfighting scenes. Many of the stories themselves concern violent acts (Indian Camp, The Battler) while others, without explicitly calling for violence, concern the consequences of war (Soldier's Home, Big Two-Hearted River). Interestingly, of all the instances of violence in In Our Time, only one comes to mind that doesn't fall into the category of war, sport, or good old-fashioned fist fighting: the suicide of the Indian father in Indian Camp.Light in August is a similarly violent novel, but in a noticeably different way. Most of the violence that occurs is particularly not culturally sanctioned. There are references to war, as in Rev. Hightower's grandfather, as well as Percy Grimm's desire to be a soldier. However, most violence, especially that perpetrated by and against Joe Christmas, is not of the type generally accepted by society. His adoptive father, who Joe eventually kills, beats him throughout his childhood. At various points in his life he beats the women he is involved with and kills Joanna Burden. There is, of course, his final lynching. The narrative styles of Hemingway and Faulkner produce starkly different contexts for violence. The Light of August is a saga that spans generations. Although Hemingway often provides background information about his characters, his descriptions are short and sweet and serve primarily to situate the story. Leave it up to the reader to interpret the meaning of the information. Faulkner, on the other hand, methodically traces each character's story, clearly not satisfied until each character's particular actions and feelings are fully explained. It's not enough that Faulkner makes quick references to the stories of Joanna Burden and Gail Hightower. It includes long sections detailing both their family stories and life stories. What's really noteworthy isn't the amount of background information. Faulkner not only reveals the underlying facts, but offers analytical explanations of behavior, something Hemingway typically refrains from. In particular, Joe's violent behavior does not stand alone =96, for Faulkner it is important that the reader knows Joe's past and the reasons why he behaves the way he does. Faulkner traces Joe's childhood as a story of abandonment and abuse. Faulkner's extensive use of background information and analytical commentary emphasizes the social causes of violence. Joe Christmas is clearly presented as a victim of painful race relations and the power of social categories. Although his "black blood", if any,.