Perception Of Peter

This perception later followed by the scene in which the corpse of the murdered girl is shown, conditions and tricks the viewer and the detective to believe that Peter is the killer. There is never any direct evidence to indicate that Peter murdered anyone. Peter’s Schizophrenia is used as an explanation for his strange behavior and for his reason of presumed murder. The idea that the classification affects other people’s perception and expectation of those classified in a certain category is well illustrated through the librarian who when asked if Peter did anything to her, answers “He didn’t do anything but he made me think that he is going to do something bad to me. So are you going to protect us?”(52:43) Peter didn’t do anything; however,
However, this lens is sometimes blurred because classifications often become an easy explanation of a person’s character and actions. This often creates superficial judgement that does not explore a person’s motive and feelings. As Peter Winter reminds, “For you it’s paranoia. For me it’s reality”. (06:37) It also seems that Peter is affected by the classification less through his perception of himself but more of people’s perception of him. Peter generally does not talk with people, as if he is aware that people will consider him abnormal. His awareness of his abnormality to others is seen in the scene where he opens the door while driving to somehow stop the auditory hallucinations. (51:20) When a car drives by, Peter notices that people are staring so he closes the door. In addition, considering the fact that he was locked in an asylum and deemed too dangerous to be with his daughter, it seems obvious why Peter does not share his suffering, paranoia and desire to be with his daughter. Because the people around him perceived Peter through the schizophrenic lens and its symptoms, they misunderstood Peter and prevented him from reaching out for help. As a result, Peter was misunderstood and eventually