The Leavers

by

Lisa Ko

Peter Wilkinson Character Analysis

Daniel’s adoptive father. A professor of Economics at Carlough College in Ridgeborough, New York, Peter is a serious man with high expectations. When he and his wife Kay first adopt eleven-year-old Daniel, Peter is confident they’re giving him a better life than what Polly was able to provide. When Kay gets stressed out about the idea of raising a Chinese boy in a majority-white suburb, Peter tells her not to worry, saying that “kids of all races have struggles with belonging,” going on to say that such “issues” are “colorblind.” Despite his stern and unwavering approach to parenting, though, he and Daniel bond over music, as Peter introduces him to Jimi Hendrix and other musical artists, all of whom deeply impress Daniel, giving him something to distract himself from the fact that he’s been separated from everything he’s ever known. However, Peter is displeased when Daniel starts playing music himself, telling his adoptive son he shouldn’t let this “hobby” distract him from school. In keeping with this, Peter is quite frustrated when Daniel flunks out of SUNY Potsdam and moves to New York City to pursue a career in music. Along with Kay, he convinces the dean of Carlough to consider letting Daniel take summer classes, insisting that Daniel fill out a statement of purpose in order to capitalize on this opportunity. When Daniel notes that he doesn’t want to go to Carlough, Peter tells him that it’s not his “choice.” As such, Daniel moves home and attends summer school, though Peter and Kay eventually kick him out of their house after Peter catches him playing online poker. As a result, Daniel goes to China to live with Polly, at which point Peter and Kay forgive him and try to convince him to come home.

Peter Wilkinson Quotes in The Leavers

The The Leavers quotes below are all either spoken by Peter Wilkinson or refer to Peter Wilkinson. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Cultural Identity and Belonging Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

Daniel’s muscles contracted. So Angel hadn’t gone to Nepal. If they were still friends, if she was still talking to him, he would tell her about Michael’s e-mail, about Peter’s accusation of ingratitude, how torn he felt between anger and indebtedness. If only Peter and Kay knew how much he wanted their approval, how he feared disappointing them like he’d disappointed his mother. Angel had once told him that she felt like she owed her parents. “But we can’t make ourselves miserable because we think it’ll make them happy,” she had said. “That’s a screwed up way to live.”

Related Characters: Angel Hennings (speaker), Deming Guo / Daniel Wilkinson, Michael, Jim Hennings, Peter Wilkinson, Kay Wilkinson
Page Number: 27
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4 Quotes

One week later, tucked into a double bed sheathed with red flannel, Deming Guo awoke with the crumbs of dialect on his tongue, smudges and smears of dissolving syllables, nouns and verbs washed out to sea. One language had outseeped another […].

Related Characters: Deming Guo / Daniel Wilkinson, Peter Wilkinson, Kay Wilkinson
Page Number: 48
Explanation and Analysis:

“I’m not going to say it’ll be easy,” said Peter. “But white, black, purple, green, kids of all races have struggles with belonging. They’re fat, or their parents don’t have a lot of money.”

“That’s true,” Kay said. “I was a bookworm with glasses. I never belonged in my hometown.”

“Issues are colorblind.”

Related Characters: Peter Wilkinson (speaker), Kay Wilkinson (speaker), Deming Guo / Daniel Wilkinson
Page Number: 57
Explanation and Analysis:

Peter finally said, “This might sound callous, but honestly, whatever we do is going to be better than what he experienced before. You remember what the agency said, how the mother and stepfather both went back to China. We’re the first stable home he’s ever had.”

Related Characters: Peter Wilkinson (speaker), Deming Guo / Daniel Wilkinson, Kay Wilkinson
Page Number: 76
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

On the corner of Grand and Lafayette, the address for the poker club reverberated in his mind. He headed south to where Howard Street crossed over to Hester. It wasn’t too late, he could turn and go right to Roland’s, go right past the building, which was narrow, no doorman, only an intercom. He checked his phone; no messages. He was frightened by how much he was about to fuck up, by his lack of desire to stop himself, the rising anticipation at the prospect of falling down, failing harder, and going straight to tilt; he’d known from the moment he left the bar exactly where he would end up. He pressed the intercom button.

Related Characters: Deming Guo / Daniel Wilkinson, Roland Fuentes, Peter Wilkinson, Kay Wilkinson
Page Number: 159
Explanation and Analysis:

He felt a savage euphoria. The night had confirmed his failures, and he’d freed himself from having to fight his inability to live up to Peter and Kay’s hopes. He didn’t want to go to Carlough, wasn’t ever going to be the kind of guy Angel respected, some law-school-applying moral citizen. God, it was great to be himself again.

Related Characters: Deming Guo / Daniel Wilkinson, Angel Hennings, Peter Wilkinson, Kay Wilkinson
Page Number: 160
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

“We were so afraid of doing something wrong. We thought it would be better if you changed your name so you would feel like you belonged with us, with our family. That you had a family.”

Daniel never knew if Kay wanted him to apologize or reassure her. Either way, he always felt implicated, like there was some expectation he wasn’t meeting.

“Mom.” He didn’t want to see her cry, especially if it was on his behalf. “It’s okay.”

Related Characters: Deming Guo / Daniel Wilkinson (speaker), Kay Wilkinson (speaker), Peter Wilkinson
Page Number: 256
Explanation and Analysis:

“Your great-great-grandfather owned that land once. He grew vegetables, he had horses. He was an enterprising man. Jacob Wilkinson.”

Daniel pressed his spoon into his soup again. There was a quiet sorrow about the weighted silver cutlery, the paintings of bygone people and places. He was the last of the Wilkinsons, the only grandchild. His only cousins were on Kay’s side of the family, and they had his Uncle Gary’s last name. The way Peter spoke about it, being the last of the line was a great responsibility; he had to do something special to live up to Jacob Wilkinson’s legacy. This man he looked nothing like, whom, if he had been alive, would probably never accept Daniel as a true Wilkinson.

Related Characters: Peter Wilkinson (speaker), Deming Guo / Daniel Wilkinson, Kay Wilkinson
Page Number: 262
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

In the end, he hadn’t been able to do what Peter and Kay wanted. Three more semesters of classes, followed by graduate school. Staying upstate. He hadn’t been able to do what Roland wanted either, play the music Roland wanted him to play.

Related Characters: Deming Guo / Daniel Wilkinson, Peilan Guo / Polly Guo, Roland Fuentes, Peter Wilkinson, Kay Wilkinson
Page Number: 270
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 19 Quotes

Everyone had stories they told themselves to get through the days. Like Vivian’s belief that she had helped [Deming], his mother insisting she had looked for him, that she could forget about him because he was okay.

Related Characters: Deming Guo / Daniel Wilkinson, Peilan Guo / Polly Guo, Vivian, Peter Wilkinson, Kay Wilkinson
Page Number: 321
Explanation and Analysis:
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