Not only is Peter's pocketknife mentioned in the text on multiple occasions, but I also noticed that there are few references to other types of knives as well, including many in reference to Clarissa.
pg.8 ("She sliced like a knife through everything; at the same time was outside, looking on...)
pg. 40 (Peter opens the pocket knife halfway)
pg. 41 (Clarissa takes notice of his fidgeting with the knife)
pg. 44 (The knife makes Clarissa feel self-conscious)
pg. 46 (Clarissa gets annoyed with Peter for continuing to toy with the knife)
pg. 71 ("Every woman, even the most respectable, had roses blooming under glass; lips cut with a knife..."
pg. 80 (Peter pulls out his pocketknife again as he thinks about Daisy meeting with Major Orde, and his jealousy is apparent)
pg. 92 ("Food was pleasant; the sun hot; and his killing oneself, how does one set about it, with a table knife...")
pg. 104 ("She had never seen the sense of cutting people up, as Clarissa Dalloway did, cutting them up and sticking them together again..."
pg. 119 (Clarissa recalls an image of Peter playing with the knife "just like he always does")
pg. 147 (Rezia thinks of knives and forks when she is bringing Septimus his letters)
pg. 149 ("Getting up rather unsteadily, hopping indeed from foot to foot, he considered Mrs. Filmer's nice clean bread knife with 'Bread' carved on the handle")
pg. 157 (Peter empties his pockets at the hotel and his pocketknife is removed)
pg. 159 (Peter is sure to grab his pocketknife before he departs for the party)
pg. 165 (Peter opens the blade before entering Clarissa's house)
pg. 187 (Sally takes notice of Peter's "old trick" of fidgeting with the pocketknife when he gets excited and anxious)
pg. 192 (Peter continues to fidget with the device as he thinks about Clarissa)
I am still under the opinion that the pocketknife is symbolic of Peter's pain regarding Clarissa's rejection. Clarissa is described as being able to "slice like a knife through every thing," and this implies that she does not necessarily take people's feelings into account. She moves and makes decisions without caution at times. Lady Bruton also describes Clarissa as someone who cuts people up and tries to put them back together. The knife cannot simply be a device that Peter uses when he needs to fidget. It could have been any object. A marble? A pocket watch?
-Megan R.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Nice job finding references! Also, I think this is an interesting observation - one that was not made last year, but one that I think has value. I'm not sure if I'm totally convinced that Peter plays with a knife as a symbol of Clarissa's rejection... although your argument is quite convincing. I'm trying to think of other reasons for a knife, and I'm not coming up with much. I'll think more on this... but good job!
ReplyDeleteMegan - maybe a knife as a form of defense?
ReplyDeleteI think the knife could be used as a form of defense in the text as well. It seems that Peter has been spurned by women on more than one occasion. However, it's very strange that Clarissa is described as a knife in more than one instance throughout the text as well.
ReplyDelete