She is good, and in contrast, Joe surrounds himself with bad and self-destruction. Lena shows the opposite side of humankind, the good and decent kind that can cause people to change their minds and their lives.

Hightower on the other hand, represents all that is wrong with the human condition and its reliance on religion. A pious man, he is still a violent and confused man who lives in isolation because of his scandalous past. He too has chosen revolt and solitude, rather than responsibility. However, he takes responsibility for his wife's death near the end of the book, and leaves the reader feeling that he is redeemed, and will die at peace with himself, and with his God. Hightower illustrates there is hope for just about everyone, while Christmas, who never really seems to recant his life, shows that in some, a life of violence and revolt is the...
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