Hornbeck ridicules Brady for his bigotry and backwardness. Because Brady was a politician and ran for the presidency of the United States three times before becoming a staunch defender of fundamentalism, Hornbeck calls him "a shouter," "an also-ran," "a might-have-been, an almost-was." He claims that Brady came to Hillsboro to find a stump to shout from, not to be the "champion of ordinary people." Hornbeck thinks Brady is a fraud and continues to denounce him even after Brady dies. Hornbeck also enjoys informing the citizens of Hillsboro that the agnostic, Henry Drummond, " . . . the most agile mind of the Twentieth Century," will be defending Cates.
In contrast to his feelings towards Brady and the people of Hillsboro, Hornbeck, who supports evolutionary theory, is supportive of Cates and his courage to stand up for his beliefs. Feeling smug, Hornbeck also pays Cates' bond of $500 at the conclusion of the trial.
Hornbeck's character is static. He is as opinionated and iconoclastic, attacking institutions and firmly held beliefs, and he does not change throughout the course of the play. His character is also shallow and one-dimensional. Because he is first and foremost a newspaper columnist, he is talkative and always in everyone else's business, asking questions and speaking his mind. At the end of the play, when he realizes that Drummond just might be more religious than Brady claimed to be, his immediate reaction is to locate a typewriter to "hammer out (a) story."
