Light in August Religion Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

It was as if he couldn't get religion and that galloping cavalry and his dead grandfather shot from the galloping horse untangled from each other, even in the pulpit. And that he could not untangle them in his private life, at home either, perhaps. (3.7)

Hightower is haunted by his family history.

Quote #2

Then Sunday he would be again in the pulpit, with his wild hands and his wild rapt eager voice in which like phantoms God and salvation and the galloping horses and his dead grandfather thundered, while below him the elders sat, and the congregation, puzzled and outraged. (3.12)

Hightower's preaching style is wild and erratic while also seeming quite personal to the churchgoers. This oratory style seems to alienate the parishioners, drawing attention to the different philosophies of preaching.

Quote #3

But his teeth were tight together and his face looked like the face of Satan in the old prints. (3.15)

Hightower is compared to Satan, at the very moment when he refuses to accept any part in what happened to his wife. Coincidence? We think not.