It’s safe to say that Gail Hightower is rooted. As liberally ironic as that statement reads, Hightower proves again and again that he is a man of morals and values which he is not quick to break. Although quick to entertain an audience of those he perceives as foolish (namely one Byron Bunch), Hightower reminds said audience of the foolish nature of their ways whether through words or actions.

A scene telling of Hightower’s select view of correct moral behavior occurs when Byron brings the grandparents of Christmas to his house in hopes of convincing the minister to stand up for their grandson. Although realizing the petty nature of the request, Byron suggests to Hightower, “You could say he was here with you that night… They would rather believe that about you than to believe that he lived with her like a husband and then killed her” (LIA 390). Byron’s plan has a certain logic to it that suggests a way that Christmas can be reunited with his mother and justice can be restored all at the cost of an inconsequential lie from Hightower.

Despite the soundness of the argument, Hightower shuts down Byron realizing it a ploy so “then it would be just her and Byron” and in an outrage cries, “It’s not because I cant… it’s because I wont! I wont! do you hear?… Get out of my house! Get out of my house!” (391).

There are several elements at play dictating Hightower’s inability to concede assistance. One is his inability to permit Byron to be used by a woman used by a man and interfere in her relationship; Hightower even goes so far as to suggest Byron is in cahoots with the devil. The minister stands firmly behind his decision lecturing Byron on the nature of Lena and women in general: “For the Lena Groves there are always two men in the world and their number is legion: Lucas Burches and Byron Bunches. But no Lena, no woman, deserves more than one of them” (316). Minister Hightower’s stance on the role of women in society stands in stark contrast to Byron’s; while one sees them as the victims of evil, the other sees them as its perpetrators.

Thus, it is no surprise that Hightower cannot abide by a woman’s dying wishes, in this case Mrs. Hines, to defy the law for her in order to see her son. One might wonder then why he broke his cardinal rule of abiding by his morals in order to stand up for Christmas in his hour of hot pursuit by Grimm: “He was here that night. He was with me the night of the murder” — the very words Hightower promised he would not utter (464).

Although Hightower doesn’t necessarily pass away, this moment proves quite symbolic as a moment of transgression for the minister in several ways. Most noticeably, we have to speculate what caused this sudden change of heart. As I see it, Hightower stood up for Christmas not for Byron or for the mother but for the sake of Christmas. In the momentary glimpses into Hightower’s past, we readers are given insight into his accommodation of the racial other, negroes. The point that Hightower won’t let them cook for him is reiterated multiple times and Hightower is described as “an abolitionist almost before the sentiment had begun to percolate down from the North” (472). When Christmas comes storming into his house persecuted by those who persecute him for being a nigger that didn’t “let white women alone,” Hightower comes between the two parties in a sudden and surprising act of defiance.

Additionally, if we examine the scene on surface level alone, the names signify sentiments that resonate with the character’s identities and actions. The hybrid of words in “Hightower” imply that the character sits atop a sentinel where he overlooks the ongoings of his community, much in the vein of the all-seeing father in Heaven. Combined with the fact that Hightower has expertise as a doctor, the character signifies one who is sent to “save” the lives of those who come to him for help, in this case, of a fleeing negro seeking shelter.

The failure of Hightower to save Christmas to a character adequately named “Grimm” in addition to the minister’s splotchy background suggests an institutional failure that mirrors the dilapidated Compson household in TSAF which Christian values had failed. In Hightower’s apotheosis and moment of reprisal, he has a vision of faces in the skyline of an August dusk and at the sight of Christmas’ face, “he seems to watch it, feeling himself losing contact with earth, lighter and lighter, emptying, floating” (492).

For the first time in a long time, since the days of nostalgic war glory and family, Hightower has felt a sense of higher purpose and to see it stripped away from him so suddenly causes his spirit to fade. While there is no insight into the actual persistence of the character, Hightower’s last words begin in the following way: “I am dying… I should pray.”