Who is Peter the goatherd?

Peter is the alp goatherd boy — Heidi’s first friend, rough, jealous, and loyal. He shares pasture adventures and later pushes Clara’s wheelchair off the cliff in anger, an act that shocks him into helping her try to walk.

Peter embodies peasant simplicity and imperfect virtue. He learns alongside Clara that love can expand. His grandmother’s blindness and poverty anchor compassion theme. Avoid dismissing him as comic sidekick — his mistake moves the climax.