Author William Faulkner pulls no punches with his language in Light in August. He describes a bleak and desolate landscape with carefully selected words. He describes racism with racist words, or rather, the racist characters in the book use the racist words. Similarly, the misogynistic characters use both biblical and foul language to describe women. Faulkner's characters are often harsh and cruel; they live in harsh and cruel times; they use harsh and cruel language.