The preacher gives a sermon on the night that Hugh stumbles into a church and decides to keep the money that Deborah stole from Mitchell. Hugh thinks the preacher’s words are beautiful and emotionally charged but ultimately irrelevant. Hugh feels that the preacher’s sermon is empty and meant for privileged people, since the preacher hasn’t experienced hunger, alcoholism, or poverty.
Get the entire Life in the Iron Mills LitChart as a printable PDF.
Preacher Character Timeline in Life in the Iron Mills
The timeline below shows where the character Preacher appears in Life in the Iron Mills. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Life in the Iron Mills
...architecture. The sermon is also beautiful but feels irrelevant. Hugh feels that the kindly old preacher, a Christian reformer, speaks empty words, since he has never experienced starvation, substance abuse, or...
(full context)
