“In the Garden”

“In the Garden” enters the narrative as a song Perry Smith performs in a car, not merely as a title acknowledged in the book’s publication credits. Its devotional words briefly displace the radio and give the scene a strikingly contemplative note, even as the surrounding exchange remains unsettled.

Song and Publication

The book identifies “In the Garden” as a song by C. Austin Miles. It also acknowledges The Rodeheaver Hall-Mack Co. for permission to reprint excerpts, and credits The Rodeheaver Co. with the words and music copyright. The publication note establishes the song’s source and the authorized use of its lyrics in the book.

The Car Scene

In the scene, Dick switches on the radio, but Perry switches it off and strums his guitar instead. He sings the opening words, “I came to the garden alone,” and continues to the phrase “the Son of God discloses.” The choice of live performance over the radio makes the song an immediate point of contrast between the two men: Dick turns toward the broadcast, while Perry asserts his own music, ignoring Dick’s protest.

A full moon is forming at the edge of the sky as Perry sings. The scene thus places the song’s garden and religious imagery beside a concrete nighttime detail, without explaining what the words mean to Perry or how Dick responds beyond his protest. The lyric supplies a moment of devotional language within a passage otherwise marked by friction and interruption.

Narrative Significance

The song’s appearance is brief, but its placement gives it weight. Perry’s singing interrupts the radio exchange and momentarily makes the car a setting for a personal performance; the rising moon lends the scene a quiet visual counterpoint. The book does not state that the song expresses a settled belief or intention. Its significance rests instead in the contrast between the sacred language he sings and the strained circumstances around him, as well as in the small struggle over who controls the sound in the car.