# Mr. Miles — Summer character guide

> Mr. Miles in Summer by Edith Wharton.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Miles

**First appearance:** 0001-ii

## Snapshot

The local minister whose moral presence and the revival tent's harsh code shadow Charity's private choices long after the evangelist has moved on.

## Who they are

Mr. Miles belongs to the village's official conscience, the church-and-community order that defines respectability in North Dormer and quietly measures who is inside it. His world is the one whose judgment Charity dreads, the reason secrets must be kept and appearances maintained. He matters less as a person than as the standing pressure of the town's moral code, against which Charity's desires and fears are played out.

## In the story

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/summer_se/chapters/i)

The Episcopal clergyman who took the young people to Nettleton for a lecture, expanding Charity's view of the world.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/summer_se/chapters/vii)

Visits the library with Harney, sent by Miss Hatchard; Charity now sees him as a fat middle-aged man.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/summer_se/chapters/xiii)

Leads the prayer and speaks during the ceremony, commenting on Mr. Royall's speech.

### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/summer_se/chapters/xvi)

Accompanies Charity to the Mountain, conducts the burial service, and urges her to return with him.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/summer_se/characters/mr_miles
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/summer_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/summer_se/characters