Father Terrier Character Analysis in Perfume

The monk who handles Grenouille's return to the local cloister by Jeanne Bussie. He despises technical details and difficulties and is in charge of administering the cloister's charities. He's of the belief that children cannot be possessed by the devil due to their undeveloped souls, but admits that there's something strange about the infant Grenouille.

Father Terrier Quotes in Perfume

The Perfume quotes below are all either spoken by Father Terrier or refer to Father Terrier. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Growing Up and Becoming Human Theme Icon

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Publisher edition of Perfume published in 0.

Wasn't it Horace himself who wrote, “The youth is gamy as a buck, the maiden's fragrance blossoms as does the white narcissus...”?—and the Romans knew all about that! The odor of humans is always a fleshy odor—that is, a sinful odor. How could an infant, which does not yet know sin even in its dreams, have an odor? How could it smell?

Related Characters: (speaker), ,

Page Number and Citation: 16

Explanation and Analysis:

Father Terrier Character Timeline in Perfume

The timeline below shows where the character Father Terrier appears in Perfume. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Upward Mobility and Social Movement Theme Icon

...Jeanne Bussie stands at the gates of the cloister of Saint-Merri with a market basket. Father Terrier opens the door, and Bussie explains that the basket contains Grenouille. When Father Terrier inspects... (full context)

Scent, Sight, and the Grotesque Theme Icon

As Father Terrier stands up he notices that Jeanne Bussie smells of milk and cheesy wool. He tries... (full context)

Father Terrier , growing angry at Jeanne Bussie, turns the argument into a theological one. Bussie, peeved... (full context)

Father Terrier is a learned man who has studied theology as well as philosophy, and thinks highly... (full context)

Father Terrier rocks the sleeping Grenouille's basket on his knees and strokes Grenouille's head, talking to him... (full context)

Father Terrier , still rocking Grenouillee's basket, entertains the fantasy that he hadn't become a monk, but... (full context)

...His nose sniffs and snorts and his eyes open and appear to not even perceive Father Terrier . Father Terrier, however, has the uncomfortable impression that Grenouille is "seeing" him with his... (full context)

Grenouille begins to cry, chilling Father Terrier 's blood. Father Terrier begins to think of the child as a devil, but stops... (full context)