To what does Joe compare the newly erected badger statue at the mall in the novel, Wheat That Springeth Green?

The gaudy 40-foot statue of the badger that serves as icon for Inglenook’s new shopping plaza represents the modern world’s worship of money and materialism. Joe, in casting a bemused eye on what he sees as an artistic monstrosity and cheesy eye sore, cannot help but reference the golden statues erected in the Old Testament by those who refused to worship the Lord and put their faith into riches. For Joe, as parish priest compelled to beat the bushes for money and who must at critical moments in his life journey decide between preserving the dignity of his church’s service and introducing what he sees as a pagan interest in raising money, this statue embodies the culture that rejects the difficult responsibility of worshiping God and the easy embrace of the material comforts represented by the shopping plaza.