Throughout the book, we see Peter Walsh’s jealousy and critical nature over and over again. He is stuck in the past and still can’t get over his feelings for Clarissa. It would be fine if being stuck in the past was all that Peter did. However, Peter also has a tendency to run away from his problems and gets angry at others for things that are not their fault.
After the scene where Peter and Clarissa are first reunited and then interrupted by Elizabeth, we follow Peter as he takes a walk around the city. During this time, he gathers his thoughts on his past with Clarissa. He still seems to retain some of the feelings of love towards Clarissa that he harbored decades ago, yet he refuses to acknowledge them, and instead babbles
No, no, no! He was not in love with her any more! He only felt, after seeing her that morning, among her scissors and silks, making ready for the party, unable to get away from the thought of her; she kept coming back and back like a sleeper jolting against him in a railway carriage; which was not being in love, of course; it was thinking of her, criticizing her, starting again, after thirty years, trying to explain her (74).
He’s trying to rationalize his feelings and yet, whenever he is in the presence of Clarissa, it is painfully obvious that he is still unable to get over the past and her rejection.
Note that in the previous quote, Peter says that he is “criticizing her”. Subconsciously, Peter is probably aware that he has shortcomings but he instead redirects his anger towards other people in the form of criticism. He knows that he hasn’t been the most successful person. Thus, he becomes angry at Clarissa for living a relatively nice life. But what’s worse is how Peter gets stuck on the smallest things, such as Clarissa calling her daughter “my Elizabeth” instead of just “Elizabeth.” I guess the “my” made all the difference. Or, when he is invited by Clarissa to her party, he for some reason criticizes her for being “insincere”, even though I really don’t think she is.
It would seem that Peter hasn’t matured at all from his younger self. He has always showcased signs of jealousy from the very beginning. For example, young Peter got jealous that Clarissa and Richard were simply talking to each other at a party and immediately declared that they were going to get married (which, to be fair, I guess he was spot on about that). At a young age, this kind of behavior can be more excusable, but he still keeps acting like a manchild decades later. And, it seems like Clarissa’s rejection of him played a very big part in his continued immaturity.
I completely agree, I often like to say: "Peter Walsh is the type of guy that peaked in high school" referring to that while everyone else matured and moved on Peter stayed the same. I also think the point that Clarissa's rejection made him stay the same is really interesting, it made Peter feel...rebellious? like instead of trying to become what Clarissa wanted as a partner he try to hurt her (emotionally) and make her jealous.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your analysis of Peter - throughout the book, we see snippets into Peter's character from both Clarissa and Peter himself. From Clarissa's POV, she is exasperated by his judging and finds herself resenting him. From Peter's POV, we can see into his mind and what annoys him, and they are often extremely simple things. I agree with Yan's comment that Peter had the best time of his life when he was young, with Clarissa and Sally Seton. He probably wants to go back to those days, so he is bitter and resents the changes that happened around him, such as Clarissa's marriage. Awesome job!
ReplyDeleteHe is a bit of manchild isn't he. Whenever I imagine him in my head he's pouting or throwing a fit. Also, the fact that he spent time in India also feels like he's physically running away from his past and his problems. I also feel like Daisy is just someone to distract him from the problems he has about his feelings for Clarissa.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Peter doesn't seem to have matured at all since he was 18. He is very judgmental of Clarissa, as he always has been. Your thoughts on him being jealous, and that being a factor in his criticisms of Clarissa reminds me of Ms. Kilman. She also seemed to be jealous of Clarissa's life and handled that by judging her. The fact that Peter can be compared with Ms. Kilman shows how immature he is.
ReplyDeleteI really like how much you focus on his poor redirection of his anger as a sign that he hasn't really grown up since Bourton, and how angry he gets from very trivial things. I think that Peter constantly fiddling with a pocket knife, both at Bourton and while talking to Sally or Clarissa shows how a lot of his personality is still wrapped up in his time at Bourton.
ReplyDeleteReally agree with this post. Reading throughout the novel, I couldn't shake the impression that Peter was extremely bitter which led to him being so critical of other people. His harshest criticism seems to focus on Clarissa (or maybe Hugh) more than any others (seems fond of Richard), which I think is mostly motivated by his jealousy towards Clarissa's stable and satisfactory life.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I also always saw Peter as immature for his age, with barely any control over his emotions. I think that Clarissa made a much wiser decision to marry Richard over him, as Peter constantly manages to make it obvious that he is hung up on the past. One can only wonder why he isn't over Clarissa after all these years. Good job with this post.
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ReplyDeletePeter's immature behavior is absolutely on show throughout the book to almost an annoying extent. I think his contrasting behavior is very important though, as it serves to be a bit more "likelike" when juxtaposed with such "normal" characters like Clarissa and Richard. I think that Peter has some deep insecurities but unfortunately, we didn't get that much of a history out of hiim as we did for someone like Clarissa. Perhaps the more important role of Peter in the story is to be a character that provides detail about Clarissa, about things that Clarissa wouldn't say herself. In the end, its interesting that Clarissa and Peter are so "tightly bound" despite having very different personalities.
ReplyDeletePeter is totally a hater, but I can't say I hate him to be honest. He is immature which is why I believe Richard is a much better partner, but I genuinely feel for Peter a lot. He needs to get over Clarissa, but he just can't. He tries to marry different people and travel the world but it doesn't work. I think he criticizes Clarissa to try to get over her, just like how he tries to criticize the party because he doesn't want to like it. Nice post!
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you said. I was constantly frustrated reading about Peter in the book because EVERYTHING ABOUT HIM WAS NEGATIVE. He was irrationally jealous, yet tried to rationalize it to us. He was extremely critical of Clarissa, despite seeing her reaction to it. And, he always seemed to just barge into situations. Overall, Peter Walsh was a major red flag, and I didn't see many (if any) changes to his character throughout the book (maybe because it has a one-day timeline). I'm so glad that Clarissa chose Richard Dalloway over him!
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