Gregory Character Analysis in The Tale of Despereaux

Gregory is the jailer in the castle dungeon—though he’s also a prisoner there. An old man who keeps himself from getting lost in the maze-like dungeon thanks to a rope tied around his ankle, Gregory has a tenuous truce with the rats (they mostly agree to not chew on his rope). When he hears Despereaux telling himself a story, Gregory picks Despereaux up and agrees to save him in return for Despereaux sharing his story. Stories, Gregory says, are light—they can give people hope and purpose. Just after Gregory saves Despereaux, though, Roscuro chews through Gregory’s rope, causing the old man to die. This way, Gregory can’t thwart Roscuro’s plan to imprison the Princess Pea in the dungeon.

Gregory Quotes in The Tale of Despereaux

The The Tale of Despereaux quotes below are all either spoken by Gregory or refer to Gregory. 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:

“Why would you save me, then?”

“Because you, mouse, can tell Gregory a story. Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark. Begin at the beginning. Tell Gregory a story. Make some light.”

Related Characters: Despereaux Tilling (speaker), Gregory (speaker)

Related Symbols: Light and Dark

Page Number and Citation: 81

Explanation and Analysis:

“Most foolish,” muttered Gregory as he lifted the cover off the plate, “too foolish to be borne, a world without soup.”

Related Characters: Gregory (speaker), Miggery Sow “Mig”, King Phillip, Queen Rosemary, Uncle

Related Symbols: Soup

Page Number and Citation: 163

Explanation and Analysis:

Gregory Character Timeline in The Tale of Despereaux

The timeline below shows where the character Gregory appears in The Tale of Despereaux. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Principles, Courage, and Growing Up Theme Icon

...staring at a big human eye that reflects the light of a single match. The voice—Gregory—says that Despereaux is a mouse with red thread, and he knows what that means. He... (full context)

Despereaux asks if he might get down. Gregory says that Despereaux doesn’t want to get down. This dungeon is “the treacherous heart of... (full context)

Love, Forgiveness, and Absurdity Theme Icon

Despereaux protests that he can’t die—he must live. Gregory deems that a lovely sentiment and asks why Despereaux can’t die. Despereaux explains that he’s... (full context)

Gregory says that instead of love, they should talk about Despereaux’s life, and how Gregory might... (full context)

...to stop, and a huge hand reaches out to pick Roscuro up by the tail. Gregory asks who is chewing on his rope. Roscuro refuses to answer, so Gregory says he’ll... (full context)

...The soldier at the top of the stairs tosses down the prisoner’s red cloth, which Gregory hands to the man. Once the door is closed again, Roscuro asks Botticelli if he... (full context)

...action, for that matter, has a consequence. This is why when young Roscuro nibbled on Gregory’s rope, Gregory lit a match in Roscuro’s face. This match caused Roscuro’s soul to be... (full context)

...says there’s more to the world than anyone can imagine—and next to Mig, Roscuro says Gregory is right. (full context)

Finally, Mig’s candle reveals Gregory walking toward her, with a big rope tied around his ankle. He takes the tray... (full context)

Gregory says that everyone has a “foolish dream”: he dreams of soup, and Roscuro no doubt... (full context)

...moment. He directs her attention to the floor, where he’s standing. Confused, Mig asks if Gregory didn’t just warn her about the rats, but Roscuro says there’s no need to panic.... (full context)

When Gregory wrapped Despereaux in his napkin and placed him on Mig’s tray, he whispered, “back to... (full context)

...are surely aware that life “cannot always be sweetness and light.” First, Roscuro chews through Gregory’s rope, causing Gregory to get lost in the dungeon. Then, late at night, Roscuro hides... (full context)

...up to hear Louise and Cook shouting: they don’t know what happened to “her,” and Gregory is dead. Despereaux peeks around the pantry door to see Cook wringing her hands. Louise... (full context)

...needs the thread so he can navigate the dungeon and get back to the entrance. Gregory the jailer, Despereaux explains, had a rope that kept him from getting lost. The threadmaster... (full context)

The narrator asks if readers remember when Despereaux was in Gregory’s hand and whispering a story in Gregory’s ear. The narrator would love it if the... (full context)