Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Lav-Dawg,

Lav-Dawg,
I will use this opportunity to inquire of you about Peter's knife. FOr my essay, I wrote about the scene where Peter surprises Clarissa with a visit, and I need some verification about the knife. For one, I feel that the knife symbolizes myriad aspects of the novel. For one, because he has had the knife since Biourton (I think), it showcases the fact that he cannot/will not/refuses to relinquish the past. IN addition, because he is perpetually fidgeting with his knife, I feel that it is indictive of his uneasiness around Clarissa and the contemporary English society. Finally, the way that he is continually opening and closing the knife portrays the ambiguity in the novel. An open and closed knife equates to 50:50 or ambiguity. Peter is ambiguous towards Clarissa, Daisy, English society, etc. etc. I'm not sure if any of the aforementioned motifs and symbols actually hold any validity, but I'd appreciate your input.

1 comment:

David Lavender said...

I think there's probably much to be made of Peter's knife--but the key passage you may want to consider actually focuses on Clarissa--the early one which begins with the phrase, "She cut like a knife..."

I'm interested to see where you go with this.