# Rev. Abner Peet explained — Spoon River Anthology

> Chapter companion for Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters.

## What happens

Rev. Abner Peet reflects on the auction of his household effects, expressing dismay that a trunk containing his lifetime of sermon manuscripts was sold to a grog-keeper who burned them as waste paper.

## Themes in this chapter

### Death and Legacy

The destruction of Peet's sermons symbolizes the loss of his intellectual and spiritual legacy.

### Hypocrisy and Corruption

The irony of a minister's sacred writings being burned by a grog-keeper highlights moral contradictions in the community.

## Character check-ins

### Rev. Abner Peet

The speaker who sold his belongings at auction and laments the destruction of his sermon manuscripts.

## Key lines

> I had no objection at all To selling my household effects at auction On the village square. It gave my beloved flock the chance To get something which had belonged to me For a memorial.

I was fine with auctioning my belongings so my congregation could keep mementos.

_Peet initially approved of the auction as a way for his flock to remember him._

> But that trunk which was struck off To Burchard, the grog-keeper! Did you know it contained the manuscripts Of a lifetime of sermons? And he burned them as waste paper.

But the trunk sold to the tavern keeper held my life's sermons, and he burned them as trash.

_Peet's distress over the loss of his sermons to a disrespectful buyer._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/rev-abner-peet
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters