Peter Dyson Character Analysis

Peter Dyson is the father of Ricky and the husband of Sophie. Dyson returns from Perth to his hometown of Angelus for a fresh start after Sophie dies by suicide, and he endures a difficult period of heavy drinking and self-destructive behavior. Raised by a single mother, Dyson was very close with the Keenan family. While he had a powerful, often torrid and difficult relationship with Fay Keenan, Marjorie and Don treated him like an adopted son. As a teenager, Dyson got Fay pregnant, and his mother paid for an abortion, which they never told Fay’s parents about. Dyson worries that he married Sophie because she was in many ways the opposite of Fay—stable and predictable, at least until her postpartum depression set in. Dyson struggles to focus on being a good father to Ricky, even at the cost of rejecting Fay. While he cares for her and wants to support her, he feels that beginning a relationship will only be destructive for Ricky.