Joe Christmas’s personality drastically changed over the course of ALIA, at first it seemed that he was just soft spoken, and he didn’t say anything unless he felt so inclined. He had a rough childhood, followed by a strict set of parents. But it’s not until females entered the picture that everything I thought about him changed.  It was particularly the introduction of the relationship between him and Joanna Burden that was so interesting. It began with the introduction of the relationship when Christmas said “Whether they are seventeen or forty-seven, when they finally come to surrender completely, it’s going to be in words.” It’s ironic that he thinks self-disclosure is a sign of weakness, when he himself told her his story. It seemed that this made him lose interest at the very beginning which made me wonder why he let this relationship go on as long as it did. It made me think that he wasn’t a fan of femininity, but he was a fan of sex, this theme was evident for their entire relationship.

Since he didn’t like to talk unless it was really necessary, it was strange that he would sit in bed and talk about the insignificant parts of his day. Even more interesting, listening to the insignificant parts of her day. This is the first gender stereotype that bothered him, the next was the jealousy and overwhelming need for these impulsions to leave letters and hide around the house naked. I think all he really wanted was sex in a relationship and that’s why he put up with her insanity. All he did was talk about how crazy she was, then she started talking about children. He had a certain level of disgust when thinking about marriage and children, why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free? But I don’t understand that, he must have known in his heart of hearts that she was way more into this relationship than he was. Then at the same time he continued to think they were on the same page. So when she got pregnant there were so many regrets he even told himself he should have gotten out of that relationship long ago. For someone who is so cold all the time it seemed out of character for him to feel bad about getting out of that relationship. Also, for someone who has guilt about leaving it’s strange that he left for Jefferson. Since the end of chapter 12 is where I left off I think it’s going to be very interesting to see how this pregnancy plays out. Obviously, he’s in Jefferson selling whiskey, but maybe some of the money goes back to her? Maybe he’ll have more of a heart than we’re left to believe.