Who is The Village Atheist from Spoon River Anthology and what is their importance?

The village Atheist tells the reader that in his life he was an avid non-believer. He states he was argumentative and well-versed in the arguments against God and an afterlife. Later in life, when he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, the Atheist tells the reader, he read the Upanishads and the "poetry of Jesus," which changed his perspective. The Atheist says this wisdom kindled a spiritual fire in his soul and led him successfully through the shadow realm of death. The Atheist final message to the reader and to all who live "through the senses" is that immortality is not a gift, but rather an achievement obtained only by those who strive mightily for it.