Spoon River Anthology · Chapter
Rev. Lemuel Wiley explained
Rev.
What happens
Rev. Lemuel Wiley reflects on his life's work, emphasizing his greatest achievement: preventing the Blisses' divorce and preserving their family's moral standing in the village.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy and Corruption
Wiley's pride in preventing divorce contrasts with the underlying implication that his intervention may have enforced conformity rather than genuine harmony.
Gender and Social Roles
The chapter highlights the pressure on families, particularly women, to maintain appearances and avoid the 'disgrace' of divorce.
Characters to notice
- Rev. Lemuel Wiley
The speaker and protagonist of the chapter, a preacher who takes pride in saving the Blisses' marriage.
Key passages
“I preached four thousand sermons, I conducted forty revivals, And baptized many converts. Yet no deed of mine Shines brighter in the memory of the world, And none is treasured more by me: Look how I saved the Blisses from divorce, And kept the children free from that disgrace, To grow up into moral men and women, Happy themselves, a credit to the village.”
Despite a lifetime of preaching and baptizing, my proudest accomplishment was preventing the Blisses from divorcing, so their children could grow up respected and happy.
Wiley measures his legacy not by his religious work but by preserving a family's social standing.