# Father Duchene — The Professor’s House character guide

> Father Duchene in The Professor’s House by Willa Cather.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Father

**First appearance:** 0022-i

## Snapshot

A scholarly Belgian priest in the New Mexico town where Tom Outland grew up, whose learning and kindness give Tom his first taste of the wider world.

## Who they are

Father Duchene is the priest Tom turns to for books and conversation in the rough railroad town, a man of genuine erudition who takes the boy's hunger for knowledge seriously. He advises Tom to give up night work and live in the open after his pneumonia, setting in motion the range summer that leads to the mesa. His blend of faith and intellectual curiosity offers Tom a model of the life of the mind that the Professor, years later, will recognize as kindred.

## In the story

### [Book II: Tom Outland's Story](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_professor_s_house_se/chapters/book-ii-tom-outland-s-story)

The priest who accompanies Tom and Roddy to the Cliff City and offers scholarly insight.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_professor_s_house_se/chapters/i)

Mentioned as having assigned Tom Latin reading and advising him to live outdoors.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_professor_s_house_se/chapters/iv)

Mentioned as a later visitor who appreciates the purity of the spring water.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_professor_s_house_se/chapters/v)

Visits the mesa, studies the ruins, and provides scholarly interpretation.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_professor_s_house_se/chapters/vii)

Advises Tom to stay on the mesa and helps in the search for Blake.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_professor_s_house_se/chapters/i)

Tom's old teacher who stops in Hamilton on his way to Belgium, prompting Tom to sail with him.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_professor_s_house_se/characters/father_duchene
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_professor_s_house_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_professor_s_house_se/characters