# Father Paul — Suspense character guide

> Father Paul in Suspense by Joseph Conrad.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Father, Father Paul Carpi, Father Carpi, the priest

**First appearance:** 0001-suspense

## Snapshot

Father Carpi, a shopkeeper's son turned priest, who reads the unhappiness of a great man as an opening for quiet ambition and waits, patient and silent, for his moment.

## Who they are

Father Carpi has been content merely to exist through hard times for the clergy, but the fall of the Empire has stirred his first ambitions, fixed on the chaplaincy to Count of Montevesso's charitable foundations. He sees plainly that the Count is unhappy, and he knows the unhappy are amenable to obscure influences, yet he is too intelligent to intrude religious consolation or secular advice on a man with a mysterious past. He matters because his patient, watchful discretion makes him a still point in the Count's turbulent household, and because his private calculations give the novel's moral atmosphere a clerical shadow.

## Relationships

### [Cosmo Latham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/suspense_se/characters/cosmo_latham)

_friendship_

Father Paul is a trusted confidant and moral guide, offering Cosmo counsel and a safe haven.

### [Count de Montevesso](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/suspense_se/characters/count_de_montevesso)

_professional_

The Count employs Father Paul as a spiritual advisor, though their relationship is strained by the Count's secrets.

### [Cosmo Latham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/suspense_se/characters/cosmo_latham)

_friendship_

Father Paul is a trusted confidant and moral guide, offering Cosmo counsel and a safe haven.

### [Count de Montevesso](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/suspense_se/characters/count_de_montevesso)

_professional_

The Count employs Father Paul as a spiritual advisor, though their relationship is strained by the Count's secrets.

### [Cosmo Latham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/suspense_se/characters/cosmo_latham)

_friendship_

Father Paul is a trusted confidant and moral guide, offering Cosmo counsel and a safe haven.

### [Count de Montevesso](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/suspense_se/characters/count_de_montevesso)

_professional_

The Count employs Father Paul as a spiritual advisor, though their relationship is strained by the Count's secrets.

## In the story

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/suspense_se/chapters/part-ii-vii)

Present in Clelia's room, attempting to calm her. He is frustrated by her behavior and threatens to exorcise her.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/suspense_se/characters/father_paul
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/suspense_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/suspense_se/characters