Anonymous Tip: In Which Peter Is Good with Kids

Last updated on: May 1, 2015 at 2:32 pm by Libby Anne

Anonymous Tip: In Which Peter Is Good with Kids 2015-05-01T14:32:05-04:00 Libby Anne

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A Review Series of Anonymous Tip, by Michael Farris

pp. 65-66

Having completed their lunch, Gwen and Peter head back to the conference room at the courthouse to meet Stan, June, and Casey.

Gwen and Peter made it back to the conference room before Casey and her grandparents. Peter stepped out to the clerk’s office and used the phone to tell Sally that he would be about twenty minutes late. He asked that she apologize profusely to the clients and suggest that they begin reading their wills.

Okay, so, two things to note here. First, Peter is putting off clients who had already booked time to meet with him, because he met a damsel in distress in the parking lot. Perhaps this isn’t a huge deal, but after Bill Walinski faux “cleared his schedule” to meet with Gwen and Stan, I’m a bit bothered by lawyers being willing to drop everything, including clients with appointments, for sweet, sweet Gwen.

But second, this confirms that Peter’s phone earlier was a car phone, and not a cell phone. I hypothesized earlier that Farris was trying to make Peter seem “with it” and up to date on the latest technology, but while I still think that I also think Farris blundered a bit here. From what readers noted in the comments on that earlier post, by 1996 car phones were old hat and full-on cell phones were the latest and greatest in technology.

Peter steps back into the conference room and Stan, June, and Casey arrive.

“Gwen, what happened to Bill Walinski?” her dad began. “And, I don’t mean to be rude, but who’s this?” he said, gesturing toward Peter.

Peter explains that he’s a lawyer and that Gwen ran into him in the parking lot “after an unfortunate incident with Mr. Walinski.” Mercifully, Peter says Gwen should probably tell Stan and June about what happened with Bill “at a more private moment.” Gwen chimes in to explain that Peter is taking over the case.

And now, once again, Farris takes pains to distinguish between Bill on the one hand and Peter on the other. Here is how Peter meets and interacts with Casey:

“Gwen, will you introduce me to your daughter?” Peter asked.

“Of course. Where are my manners? Casey, this is Mr. Barron. He’s a lawyer, a new lawyer who is going to help Mommy against those ladies who scared you so much.”

Without approaching the little girl, Peter crouched down to her eye level and smiled warmly at Casey. He raised his right hand and waved at her as he gently said, “Hi, Casey. I just wanted to meet you so I can know such a special little girl. Your mommy and I are going to work together to protect you from those ladies. We’re going to work really hard.

Casey barely understood a word he said but felt no impulse to shrink back away from him. She did understand that he didn’t like those ladies either. She smiled, and not knowing what else to do, just looked at her mother.

Casey is like the least-vocal four-year-old I’ve ever seen. If this had been Sally when she was four, she would have launched immediately into “Do you like my shoes? They have sparkles on them! I told my mommy that I wanted the sparkly ones, and she got them for me!” But then, maybe Casey’s just naturally a quieter, shier child.

Note: Several readers pointed out that Farris said “Casey barely understood a word he said” when Casey is to all appearances a perfectly normal four-year-old, and as such should be perfectly capable of understanding what Peter said to her. This is absolutely true, but is par for the course for how Farris has treated Casey’s character.

But now let’s look back at how Bill met and interacted with Casey, because Farris is clearly setting up a comparison here:

He smiled broadly and went right up to Casey.

“So this must be our little girl,” he said in a loud voice.

Casey cringed and clung more tightly to Gwen.

“How ya doin’, Sweetheart?” Walinski asked, winking in a friendly way at Casey.

Casey emitted a slight whimper.

Wow. Those two meetings are like polar opposites, aren’t they?

The moral of the story here, it seems, is that the good characters interact positively with children, and the bad characters don’t. Donna forcibly strip-searched Casey rather than talking her calmly through the process. Gwen, in contrast, pushes Casey on the swing and lovingly praises her for cleaning her room. Bill is loud and in your face and scares Casey. Peter, in contrast, gets down on her level and talks to her calmly and gently.

At this point Peter says he should leave and get back to work. Good on Peter! Don’t keep those poor clients waiting on their will just so you can stay and chit chat with Gwen’s family! I mean technically he didn’t need to come meet Stan, Gwen, and Casey, he could have gone straight from lunch back to his office.

When it comes to Bill and Peter, Farris is painting with blacks and whites. Bill is completely and totally bad. He’s a predator, he’s bad with kids, and he’s a terrible lawyer. Peter is uncomplicatedly good. He’s honorable with women, he’s good with kids, and he’s a first-rate lawyer. We see the same strong tones when comparing Donna with Gwen. Donna may talk about protecting children, but she calls Casey a “little rat” and makes it pretty clear that she actually despises kids. Gwen is a good, sweet mom who adores her daughter and seems to charm everyone she meets.

The thing is, real life is not this simple. I suppose we might think of this book as more a morality tale than a novel. In morality tales, people are simplistic cutouts designed to make a point, rather than living, breathing, complicated human beings.

Note: Several readers have noted that neither Peter nor anyone else are doing anything to allay Casey’s fears. This is true. It it worth noting, though, that, before he propositioned Gwen, Bill Walinski arranged for the handoff to the foster family to occur in the conference room at the courthouse, without any social workers present, so it’s not as though they’re saying this right before Casey has to see “those ladies.”

Uncategorized

Anonymous Tip

Previous Post

April 29, 2015

Gamergate Comes Home

Next Post

May 2, 2015 Andrée Seu Peterson's Appalling Column on Bisexuality

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Atheism Evangelicalism/Fundamentalism Family Feminism Homeschool Meta Parenting Patriarchy Politics Purity Quiverfull Social Justice Uncategorized Worthwhile reads

Select a Month February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which mountain did this Abraham's near-sacrifice event occur on?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Mount Carmel Mount Moriah Mount Ararat Mount Sinai