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In the 1963 film Lilies of the Field, the "darkest moment" for the lead character, Homer Smith (played by Sidney Poitier), occurs midway through the film when he reaches a breaking point of exhaustion, frustration, and a sense of exploitation.
The conflict centers on the clash between Homer’s practical, worldly nature and Mother Maria’s unyielding, demanding faith. Homer is a traveling handyman who only intended to stay for a few hours to fix a roof. However, Mother Maria becomes convinced he is an answer to her prayers—sent by God to build a chapel.
The "darkest moment" arrives when Homer realizes he is working backbreaking hours in the desert heat for no pay, with limited food, and under the constant, stern direction of Mother Maria, who refuses to say "thank you" because she believes God, not Homer, is providing the labor. He feels his dignity is being eroded; he is being treated as a tool rather than a man. After a particularly tense exchange where Mother Maria’s stubbornness ignores his physical needs and his pride as a craftsman, Homer reaches his limit. He packs his car and drives away, abandoning the unfinished chapel and leaving the nuns to fend for themselves in the harsh Arizona desert.
This is his lowest point because it represents a failure of his own internal drive and a rejection of the community he had begun to form. He is caught between his desire for freedom/fair wages and the spiritual weight of the task he started.
Homer overcomes this moment through a transition from resentment to ownership.
Homer overcomes his darkest impulse—to simply walk away from a difficult, thankless situation—by finding a higher purpose. He leaves the convent quietly at night after the chapel is finished, before the formal dedication ceremony. By leaving without seeking the public credit or the "thank you" he once craved, he proves he has overcome his bitterness. He leaves as a free man who fulfilled a spiritual mission, rather than a laborer who was exploited.
The summary omits that Homer returns from his departure with a black eye. This detail is crucial as it suggests his time away was not just a noble work trip but a slide into his old, rougher life, making his decision to return to the convent even more significant.
The summary claims he overcomes the lack of thanks 'not through words,' but he actually achieves a verbal victory earlier by tricking Mother Maria into saying 'thank you' during an English lesson.
In Lilies of the Field (1963), the darkest moment for Homer Smith is his temporary abandonment of the project. Frustrated by Mother Maria's demands, lack of pay, and refusal to thank him (crediting God instead), he packs up and leaves. He returns after a period of absence sporting a black eye—implying he spent the time drinking or fighting rather than finding peace—because he is driven by his own pride and conscience to finish what he started. He overcomes the situation by accepting his role as the instrument of the chapel's construction, eventually allowing the community to help him complete it, and finally leaving quietly the night before the dedication, having found satisfaction in the work itself rather than public recognition.