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Harold’s Father
Napier was Harold Fry’s former boss who managed a brewery. Napier had a reputation for cruelty, violence, and sexism, which made it surprising that he hired Queenie Hennessy in the first place. Overcome with grief and rage after David died by suicide, Harold destroyed Napier’s beloved collection of glass clown figurines—and when Queenie took the blame for the destruction, Napier fired her.
Napier Quotes in The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
The The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry quotes below are all either spoken by Napier or refer to Napier. 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:
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Chapter 27 Quotes
People think I am walking because there was a romance between myself and Queenie all those years ago, but it isn’t true. I walked because she saved me, and I never said thank you. And this is why I am writing to you. I want you to know how much you helped me all those weeks ago, when you told me about your faith and your aunt, although I fear my courage has never matched yours.
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Chapter 32 Quotes
He couldn’t say how he knew it, or whether the knowledge made him happy or sad, but he was sure that Queenie would remain with him, and David too. There would be Napier, and Joan, and Harold’s father with those aunts; but there would be no more fighting them, and no more anguish for the past. They were part of the air he walked through, just as all the travelers he had met were part of it. He saw that people would make the decisions they wished to make, and some of them would hurt both themselves and those who loved them, and some would pass unnoticed, while others would bring joy. He did not know what would follow from Berwick-upon-Tweed, and he was ready for that.
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Napier Character Timeline in The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
The timeline below shows where the character Napier appears in The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 5
...the man about his recent retirement as a brewery sales rep, and the landlord mentions Napier, Harold’s old boss. Napier, now dead, had a reputation for violence. Harold changes the subject...
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...hired at the brewery. David, in a rebellious phase, insisted a woman wouldn’t last under Napier’s management. Familiar with the rumors that Napier “kneecapped” a thief, Harold said nothing. David tried...
(full context)
Chapter 7
Harold recalls how Napier and his cronies used to mock the way Queenie walked with her handbag. He wakes...
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Harold flashes back to Queenie’s first days at the brewery. Napier was a notorious sexist, and he and some others mocked Queenie’s walk despite her efficient...
(full context)
Chapter 12
It was Napier who asked Harold to drive Queenie to various pubs to check their account books. Though...
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Chapter 14
...Queenie, who disappeared suddenly from the brewery. Maureen heard rumors of conflict between Queenie and Napier, but she never asked Harold. They were going through hard times of their own. She...
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Chapter 15
...brewery, Harold wonders if Queenie will remember the barmaid who claimed to be pregnant with Napier’s baby before disappearing. Napier often threatened his employees with violence. Harold feels ashamed for not...
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Chapter 27
...brewery to do “something terrible.” Queenie knowingly took the fall for Harold and disappeared after Napier fired her. Harold is walking because Queenie saved him, and he never thanked her. This...
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Chapter 28
...she had none herself. Queenie told Maureen how she discovered Harold had drunkenly broken into Napier’s office and destroyed his mother’s prized glass clowns. Knowing Napier to be violent and vindictive,...
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