What's Peter's problem?

 The first time we hear about Peter Walsh is when Clarissa Dalloway recalls him saying, "Musing among the vegetables?" This first impression we get of Peter is that he likes to pick apart Clarissa's behavior. While she also remembers "his eyes, his pocket-knife, his smile, his grumpiness," it's the criticism that comes to her first. As we learn more about Peter, it becomes clear that that wasn't an isolated event. Everything seems to remind her of Peter, and many of the memories aren't positive. When Clarissa meets Hugh, she recalls that Peter "had never to this day forgiven her for liking him." While she's enjoying the city, she contemplates her and Peter's differing definitions of beauty. And most significantly, as she prepares for her party, she hears Peter's voice in her head, calling her "the perfect hostess." When he shows up at her house in the middle of party preparations, this insult returns to her again, and she becomes ashamed of herself for meeting his expectations. Clarissa thinks of Peter constantly, and while many of those thoughts are affectionate, he still comes off as antagonistic. While reading, I wondered why Peter took the time at pick at Clarissa so often. When we switch to Peter's perspective, that question was answered.

As Peter leaves Clarissa's house, it was obvious that he was still in love with her. The first hint was him bursting in tears and asking about her relationship in the middle of bragging about his own. The second was how many of his thoughts are dedicated to picking apart Clarissa (while he only thinks of his fiancée once or twice). Peter's flashback shows how much Clarissa's rejection affected him. After deciding that Clarissa would leave him for Richard, he called her the name she would never forget, "the perfect hostess." He meant to hurt her, and succeeded. But most of the time, I don't think Peter means to hurt Clarissa. The majority of his nitpicking seems to come from a genuine desire to understand her. Peter is dealing with unprocessed emotions from his summer with Clarissa, and general insecurity about his place in the world. It's the combination of these feelings, and the redirection of them towards anyone other than himself, that leads him to be so judgmental.

Comments

  1. ZoeySeptember 19, 2020 at 8:36 AM

    I definitely agree that Clarissa doesn't really seem interested or in love with Peter at all, and expresses more annoyance with him than positive memories even before he arrives at her house. However I do think a lot of the comments Peter makes are meant to hurt her, since I can't imagine him making them otherwise. I have no idea why he does this, since it seems like he was in love with Clarissa and he's been in love with her this whole time. It could possibly be a reaction to feeling like Clarissa was distancing herself from him or that she was going to reject him eventually. Except that it seems like these critical comments were made even before he decided he knew she was going to marry Richard, so I'm not sure what the motive was there.

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  2. Nabeel BashirSeptember 19, 2020 at 9:11 PM

    While observing Peter's thoughts and his interactions with Clarissa I got the impression that because he is so insecure about his lack of accomplishments and unhappiness in life, it kills him to see Clarissa happy and in a stable relationship (We know that neither of these things are necessarily true).

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    Replies
    1. DinaOctober 1, 2020 at 10:17 AM

      Your point is definitely true. I think Peter uses criticism of others as a general coping mechanism to distract from his own life. He does seem to realize his own shortcomings but never delves deep into them like he does with others. I wonder if this habit came from after his experiences with Clarissa or from some previous experiences.

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  3. JonathanSeptember 20, 2020 at 1:33 PM

    I think Peter is an interestingly written character, having complicated relationships with most of the main characters and also being so conflicted within himself. He has a lot of room to grow and even now is pretty deeply rooted in the main character Clarissa's mind, so will force her to grow too in some way. He really does have problems, but I like how they are designed for the book.

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    1. Noel ChiSeptember 24, 2020 at 11:41 PM

      Yeah, Peter's a total mess of a person. Interacting with him in real life seems like it would a highly irritating experience, but I have to admit that getting inside the headspace of such an annoying piece of **** is intriguing and really fun to read. I'm also looking forward to seeing some change in these characters by the time we get to the end of the book!
      (I mean, Septimus changed... he's dead... but that's besides the point)

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  4. MitchellSeptember 23, 2020 at 1:02 PM

    It's for these reasons that I think of Peter's ubiquitous pocket-knife as an appropriate symbol for his character: as Clarissa thinks of him, he's always cutting people apart, critically scrutinizing them. This is largely the space he occupies in her own mind, as she imagines him judging her from a corner whenever she's in her "perfect hostess" role. And she gets annoyed with his nervous habit of fidgeting with his knife--but we can see that nervousness as evidence that his hyper-critical mode is connected to his own self-esteem and insecurity. He has to remind himself that he supposedly doesn't care what the "Dalloways" think of him. Which means he cares quite a lot, I'd say.

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