George Southworth—Rodney Tucker

George Southworth and Rodney Tucker are local collaborators who see the reported events at St. Joseph’s Church as a chance to revive Banfield by attracting visitors. Their alliance is built on shared economic interest, but not identical convictions: Tucker speaks plainly of investment and profit, while Southworth frames the opportunity as both commercial and spiritual. Their plans make the pilgrimage into a local development project, and their debate over publicity reveals the uneasy boundary between promoting a religious hope and exploiting it.

A Local Alliance Takes Shape

Southworth and Tucker meet Gerry Fenn in Southworth’s hotel office after Fenn has reported on the occurrence at St. Joseph’s Church. Southworth, the hotel manager, welcomes the reporter and introduces Tucker, who has lived in Banfield for about ten years. Their different manners are immediately apparent. Southworth offers Fenn a firm handshake and conducts the conversation from behind his desk; Tucker is more guarded, sizing up the reporter before joining in. The scene establishes a partnership comfortable enough to present a shared proposal, though not so harmonious that its differences remain hidden.

The immediate cause of their interest is Fenn’s account. Southworth says he had initially treated the church story as exaggerated or misinformed. Tucker called him the previous evening, and Southworth then read Fenn’s report; after discussing it with Tucker, he concluded the occurrence might grow into something of major proportions. Their alliance therefore develops in response to publicity as well as to the event itself: the report gives them a reason to consider what Banfield might gain if public attention continues.

Shared Economic Aims, Different Emphases

Southworth describes Banfield as a community with little to offer visitors. His hotel is busy in summer, but guests chiefly use it as a base for touring the Sussex countryside or visiting Brighton and other south-coast resorts, so the village itself benefits little. He says he would invest more in Banfield if there were a reasonable return, and assumes Tucker shares that willingness while also being reluctant to risk money. Tucker broadens the prospect beyond the two men, pointing to other local businessmen looking for a sound investment. The scheme is presented as a possible community project, but its starting point is a calculation about visitors, spending, and returns.

Tucker’s view is the more openly transactional. When Fenn calls the proposal cynical, Tucker responds that opportunities have to be seized. Southworth rebukes the implication that the matter is so simple, then explains that he believes something divine has taken place at the church. He suggests that the deeper miracle may be Banfield’s opportunity for rebirth and for its people to recover their beliefs. He invokes the idea that a miracle can create faith, making spiritual renewal part of his case for taking the event seriously. The contrast does not erase their common interest: Southworth acknowledges that he would benefit financially if the village were revitalized, even as he presents that prospect alongside religious conviction.

Publicity and Strategic Disagreement

The two men also differ over how to secure attention. Tucker wants them to approach major national outlets while the story is fresh, reasoning that broad exposure could deliver the greatest immediate publicity. Southworth worries that a sensational burst of coverage will fade if no further event occurs at the church. He prefers to cultivate steady awareness through the local press, whose continuing coverage of local affairs could maintain interest and, in turn, trade. The distinction is between a short-lived national surge and a slower campaign rooted in Banfield’s own news and business life.

Their meeting with Fenn tests that strategy. Southworth tries to persuade him that the reported occurrence may matter beyond a passing news cycle; Fenn remains skeptical and says that without something else happening, public interest may disappear. Tucker reacts impatiently, tapping his heel as he considers the missed opportunity for immediate national coverage. His frustration also exposes his view of the local newspaper as a useful promotional channel: sustained reporting might keep the story alive and generate business. Southworth, by contrast, has opted for an approach he believes is more durable, although the two men are not shown resolving their disagreement.

Fenn leaves intending to look around the village and gather local reactions. After the door closes, Tucker scorns the attempt to involve the local press, while Southworth says it was worth trying and recognizes that Fenn may have felt they were attempting to bribe him into writing. They turn next to the parish council, which they hope to interest in their scheme; if it does not support them, Southworth says, they can only wait to see whether another event occurs. Their plan is thus dependent on both civic approval and developments they cannot guarantee.

From Proposal to Pilgrimage

The subsequent crowds show how far attention to the church can extend beyond the private conversation in the hotel. On the Sunday associated with the reported possibility of another appearance, traffic increases and people head toward the church grounds. Fenn finds the entrance crowded with pilgrims, believers, and the curious, including people accompanying those who are ill or disabled. At a later open-air Mass, the field is already filling well before the service begins; visitors seek seats near the altar, and some hope to be close to Alice Pagett. The scale of these gatherings gives concrete form to the kind of public attention Southworth and Tucker had discussed, though the narrative does not establish that Tucker personally organized or attended them.

Southworth is later seen among those observing the large congregation at an open-air service, watching the crowd as it gathers around the altar. The scene links his earlier vision of Banfield’s possible rebirth to a real transformation of the church grounds into a major gathering place. Yet the crowds also make the men’s original tension more consequential: the same attention can be understood as religious expectation, economic opportunity, or both. Their alliance is significant not because the two men hold the same motives, but because their shared project allows spiritual claims and commercial hopes to reinforce one another without becoming identical.