Peter Goulding, in his book, The Young Minister, weaves into the pages of his plot a hermit who, on the outside, seems to have rejected society. As the story unfolds it can be seen that though he rejects society and the family of humanity, he is very dependent upon it. At one point, his large library is mentioned with no thought for the fact that without his fellow human beings this library would not have been a possibility. There was an implied dependence without even thinking about it. The hermit's very existence is dependent upon the society which he chooses to reject.