# Temple First explained — Short Fiction > Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Herman Melville. ## What happens The narrator describes his attempt to attend a Sunday service at a grand new Gothic church. After being turned away by the beadle for lacking a fine coat, he sneaks in through a tower door and climbs to a high window to observe the service. He becomes trapped when the door locks behind him, and in desperation he rings the bell, which brings the beadle who has him arrested. The next day, despite his explanations, he is fined and reprimanded for disturbing the peace. ## Themes in this chapter ### Justice and Injustice The narrator is unjustly turned away from the church and later arrested and fined for a minor trespass, highlighting the arbitrary and class-based nature of justice. ### Authority and Rebellion The beadle's authority is challenged by the narrator's stealthy entry, and the narrator's eventual bell-ringing is a rebellious act against that authority. ### Appearance vs. Reality The church's grand exterior and the sermon on 'Ye are the salt of the earth' contrast with the exclusionary and punitive treatment of the poor narrator. ## Character check-ins ### The Narrator (Two Temples: First) The humble worshipper who is turned away from the church and later sneaks into the tower. ### The Narrator (Two Temples: First) The narrator who describes his experience of being excluded and then trapped in the church. ## Key lines > This is too bad,' said I, 'here have I tramped this blessed Sunday morning, all the way from the Battery, three long miles, for this express purpose, prayerbook under arm; here I am, I say, and, after all, I can't get in. The narrator complains that after walking three miles from the Battery to attend church, he is denied entry. _This opening establishes the narrator's frustration and the theme of exclusion._ > I suppose I'm excommunicated; excluded, anyway. That's a noble string of flashing carriages drawn up along the curb; those champing horses, too, have a haughty curve to their floam-flecked necks. Property of those 'miserable sinners' inside, I presume. The narrator feels excommunicated and notes the wealthy carriages outside, sarcastically attributing them to the 'miserable sinners' inside. _Highlights the class divide and the narrator's ironic commentary on the wealthy congregation._ > I seemed inside some magic-lantern. On three sides, three gigantic Gothic windows of richly dyed glass, filled the otherwise meagre place with all sorts of sunrises and sunsets, lunar and solar rainbows, falling stars, and other flaming fireworks and pyrotechnics. The narrator describes the tower room as a magic lantern, with stained-glass windows creating dazzling light effects. _Illustrates the contrast between the beauty of the church's interior and the narrator's precarious situation._ > The beadle-faced man, with no hat on his head, was just in the act of driving three ragged little boys into the middle of the street; and how could I help trembling at the apprehension of his discovering a rebellious caitiff like me peering down on him from the tower? The narrator sees the beadle chasing away ragged boys and fears being discovered as a rebellious intruder. _Shows the beadle's harshness and the narrator's anxiety about being caught._ > I was left alone and solitary in a temple which but a moment before was more populous than many villages. A strange trepidation of gloom and loneliness gradually stole over me. After the congregation leaves, the narrator feels a deep sense of loneliness and fear in the empty church. _Captures the shift from a crowded, vibrant space to a desolate, eerie solitude._ > Horrors! My hands, instinctively clapped to my ears, only served to condense the appalling din. Some undreamed-of mechanism seemed to have been touched. The bell must have thrice revolved on its thunderous axis, multiplying the astounding reverberation. When the narrator pulls the bell rope, the bell produces an unexpectedly loud, thunderous sound that terrifies him. _The exaggerated noise underscores the narrator's panic and the unintended consequences of his action._ > You! Is it you ? The man I turned away this very morning, skulking here? You dare to touch that bell? Scoundrel!' And ere I could defend myself, seizing me irresistibly in his powerful grasp, he tore me along by the collar, and dragging me down the stairs, thrust me into the arms of three policemen. The beadle recognizes the narrator, angrily accuses him, and physically drags him down to hand him over to the police. _The beadle's violent reaction and the narrator's helplessness highlight the power imbalance and the beadle's authority._ > Next morning, my rather gentlemanly appearance procured me a private hearing from the judge. But the beadle-faced man must have made a Sunday night call on him. In spite of my coolest explanations, the circumstances of the case were deemed so exceedingly suspicious, that only after paying a round fine, and receiving a stinging reprimand, was I permitted to go at large, and pardoned for having humbly indulged myself in the luxury of public worship. The narrator's gentlemanly look gets him a private hearing, but the beadle's influence leads to a fine and reprimand, and he is released only after paying. _The outcome shows how class and connections affect justice, and the narrator's ironic 'pardon' for seeking worship._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/temple-first - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_28_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters