The soft, fluttering cry of a barn owl rose over the churchyard. Silent men flowed out of the dark.

Parke Godwin
About This Quote

This quote from "Inherit the Earth" by James Dickey captures the essence of the novel. In the novel, a minister is preaching a funeral service for a man who has just died. However, it is not yet known that this man has been murdered. In the midst of his sermon, a barn owl begins to cry.

The minister pauses and waits for the bird to finish its cry before continuing his sermon. When he does continue, he announces that a member of his congregation has been killed in a barn fire and the whole congregation starts crying as if they had lost someone as well. The quote above is from this point in the book when the minister finishes his sermon and starts talking about how he lost someone important to him, but instead of focusing on this part of his sermon, his focus becomes directed towards the crying of that single barn owl.

This moment captures how we can be lost in our own lives and forget why we are there.

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