Peyton Place

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1956

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Book 1, Chapters 1-13

Book 1, Chapters 14-27

Book 2, Chapters 1-10

Book 2, Chapters 11-19

Book 3

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

The Fire

Content Warning: The novel and the guide reference alcoholism, sexual assault, incest, death by suicide, animal cruelty, abortion, and racism.

During the late summer of 1939, a fire rages near Peyton Place. The fire first breaks out on the night of Nellie’s suicide and continues up until the night when Kathy is injured at the carnival. The fire symbolizes violence and destruction; it coincides with the period where there are multiple sudden deaths, including Nellie Cross and Hester Goodale. Fire is typically difficult to control, and this is true of the Peyton Place fire, which stubbornly resists all efforts to contain it. Thus, the fire symbolizes how events can have unexpected consequences and lead to collateral damage; when Nellie dies by suicide, both Allison and Dr. Swain fear that they are partially at fault. Dr. Swain traces these tragic events back to his decision to confront Lucas about abusing Selena without legally prosecuting the man. The fire also symbolizes how gossip and news spread throughout a small community; repeatedly, gossip and hearsay about events (such as Nellie’s death) spread through the town. The fire, while destructive, also potentially purges and creates the possibility of a fresh start; when the fire first begins, Dr. Swain muses, “[T]he doctor entertained the fanciful thought that perhaps the fire was a symbol. The purging of evil by fire, he thought” (241).

Hester’s Cat

Hester Goodale is an elderly woman who lives alone in Peyton Place; she is strange, reclusive, and somewhat sinister. Hester has a black cat; when Norman Page discovers that Hester has died unexpectedly, he panics and strangles the cat. Hester’s black cat symbolizes Gothic and melodramatic elements that exist in the community of Peyton Place; black cats are traditionally associated with witches, and as a solitary and eccentric woman, Hester conforms to many of traits associated with witches. Allison becomes inspired by the idea of Hester and begins to think about writing about her: “If Mr. Edgar Allan Poe were alive, I bet he could make up a swell story about Miss Hester and her house” (65). Significantly, Allison identifies an American writer who was famous for writing fiction with sinister Gothic elements (including a short story revolving around a black cat) and uses this as inspiration. Hester’s black cat symbolizes how the uncanny elements of a small town end up fueling Allison’s creative development.

While the cat initially symbolizes a potentially generative and creative force, it also becomes a symbol of perverted sexuality. The cat is a male (tom cat), and Hester (a spinster who has never married) treats him like her companion. Norman finds Hester deceased just after he watches her neighbors (Mr. and Mrs. Card) engaging in sexual activity, and he realizes that Hester also likely watches them from her adjoining yard. Norman’s violent reaction to the cat yowling reflects his traumatic exposure to sexuality: Norman’s quasi-incestuous relationship with his mother has stifled his sexual development and left him with repression and a deep sense of shame.

Changing of the Seasons

Since Peyton Place is located in New England (a region in the northeastern United States), the town experiences significant seasonal changes throughout the year: cold, snowy winters, a return to warmth and growth during the spring, hot summers, and colorful autumns. These seasonal shifts become an important motif in the novel, since plot events are contextualized according to the seasonal shifts and weather patterns that coincide with them. The motif of changing seasons also facilitates the use of pathetic fallacy throughout the novel (a literary device wherein the external environment mirrors the inner experience of one or more characters). For example, it is springtime when Constance first meets Tomas and begins to experience sexual desire for the first time; the renewal and reinvigoration of the natural world mirrors her inner experience of reawakening sexuality. The changing seasons is an effective motif because it helps to communicate the cyclical passage of time; the plot spans multiple years, and the progression of time is presented through the reoccurrence of seasonal cycles.

Since the plotline focuses on Allison’s development and growth during her adolescent years, the seasonal shifts convey a sense of progression through life stages. Dr. Swain explicitly makes this connection when he tells Allison, “[A]ll life is like the seasons of the year. It is set in a pattern, like time, and each life follows its own pattern, from spring through winter, to spring again” (246). The motif of changing seasons illustrates how the town of Peyton Place experiences both change and stability. Many dramatic and unexpected events occur in the period between 1936 and 1944, but themes and dynamics also reoccur, sometimes across generations. Likewise, seasons reoccur according to predictable patterns; this reassuring rhythm ends up being part of what Allison values about her hometown.