# Mr. Peck — Clotel character guide

> Mr. Peck in Clotel by William Wells Brown.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Peck, The Rev. John Peck, John Peck

**First appearance:** 0004-i-the-negro-sale

## Snapshot

A reverend who owns Clotel and preaches contentment to his human property, the novel's sharpest portrait of piety bent to profit.

## Who they are

Mr. Peck is the slaveholding parson whose sermons Snyder-style comfort the enslaved into accepting their lot, making them better satisfied and more valuable as property without preparing them for the world to come. He embodies the book's charge that Southern religion has been enlisted in slavery's service, a man whose collar and his ledger never contradict each other. His ownership of Clotel places her directly under the hand of respectable hypocrisy, raising the stakes of every escape attempt she makes.

## Relationships

### [Georgiana Carlton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/georgiana_carlton)

_professional_

Georgiana is likely a student or dependent under Mr. Peck's authority, with frequent interactions suggesting a teacher-student or guardian dynamic.

### [Georgiana Carlton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/georgiana_carlton)

_professional_

Georgiana is likely a student or dependent under Mr. Peck's authority, with frequent interactions suggesting a teacher-student or guardian dynamic.

### [Georgiana Carlton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/georgiana_carlton)

_professional_

Georgiana is likely a student or dependent under Mr. Peck's authority, with frequent interactions suggesting a teacher-student or guardian dynamic.

## In the story

### [The Religious Teacher](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/vi-the-religious-teacher)

Hosts the debate and defends slavery using the Bible; sends Carlton to his farm.

### [IX: The Man of Honour](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/ix-the-man-of-honour)

Refuses to sell Currer, claiming she is a good housekeeper.

### [X: The Young Christian](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/x-the-young-christian)

Georgiana's father, a slaveholding minister who believes the Bible sanctions slavery and resists his daughter's arguments.

### [XI: The Parson Poet](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/xi-the-parson-poet)

The parson who defends slavery, dismisses abolitionist views, and writes a degrading poem about a slave child.

### [A Slave Hunting Parson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/xiii-a-slave-hunting-parson)

A slaveholding parson who hunts slaves with dogs and uses religion to maintain control.

### [Death of the Parson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/xvi-death-of-the-parson)

Dies of cholera; his death prompts the enslaved people's hidden joy and Georgiana's reflections on slavery.

### [XVIII: The Liberator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/chapters/xviii-the-liberator)

Deceased at the start of the chapter; his death marks a new era for his slaves.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters/mr_peck
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/clotel_se/characters