# Mr. Waller — Psmith in the City character guide > Mr. Waller in Psmith in the City by P. G. Wodehouse. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Waller, Edward, Teddy, Master Edward Waller, old Waller, Comrade Waller **First appearance:** 0006-iv-first-steps-in-a-business-career ## Snapshot A kind, exhausted bank cashier whose sick child turns him into a hollow-eyed machine at the counter, and whose troubles first stir Mike's sympathy. ## Who they are Mr. Waller is the genial host whose dinner party dissolves into a family row over Women's Suffrage, and the cashier whose years of habit keep him shovelling money to customers while his mind sits at a sick child's bedside. When his son Edward battles pneumonia, he comes to work fagged and beaten, and Mike's silent understanding of his suffering marks the novel's first real note of pathos. His recovery, and Edward's, restores the warmth that the bank's grind had nearly extinguished. ## Relationships ### [Mike Jackson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/psmith_in_the_city_se/characters/mike_jackson) _professional_ Mike works under Mr. Waller at the bank, with Waller acting as a kindly but somewhat ineffectual supervisor. ### [Psmith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/psmith_in_the_city_se/characters/psmith) _professional_ Psmith and Waller are colleagues at the bank, with Psmith often manipulating Waller's good nature. ### [Psmith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/psmith_in_the_city_se/characters/psmith) _professional_ Psmith and Waller are colleagues at the bank, with Psmith often manipulating Waller's good nature. ### [Mike Jackson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/psmith_in_the_city_se/characters/mike_jackson) _professional_ Mike works under Mr. Waller at the bank, with Waller acting as a kindly but somewhat ineffectual supervisor. ### [Mike Jackson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/psmith_in_the_city_se/characters/mike_jackson) _professional_ Mike works under Mr. Waller at the bank, with Waller acting as a kindly but somewhat ineffectual supervisor. ### [Psmith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/psmith_in_the_city_se/characters/psmith) _professional_ Psmith and Waller are colleagues at the bank, with Psmith often manipulating Waller's good nature. ## In the story ### [Psmith in the City](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/psmith_in_the_city_se/chapters/psmith-in-the-city) Socialist discovered by Psmith, hosts Clapham Common meeting. ### [First Steps in a Business Career](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/psmith_in_the_city_se/chapters/iv-first-steps-in-a-business-career) A benevolent, White Knight-like figure who kindly directs Mike to the manager's office. ### [The Other Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/psmith_in_the_city_se/chapters/v-the-other-man) The cashier befriends Mike, taking him to lunch and sharing his thoughts on Mr. Bickersdyke's character and career. ### [In a Nutshell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/psmith_in_the_city_se/chapters/xii-in-a-nutshell) Mentioned as having been summoned and criticized by Bickersdyke earlier that morning. ### [Mr. Waller Appears in a New Light](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/psmith_in_the_city_se/chapters/xiv-mr-waller-appears-in-a-new-light) The cashier, tolerant of Psmith's visits, reveals his secret Socialism and invites Psmith and Mike to his Sunday open-air speech. ### [Stirring Times on the Common](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/psmith_in_the_city_se/chapters/xv-stirring-times-on-the-common) Speaks passionately at the meeting; his temperance remarks anger the crowd, leading to hostility. ### [Sunday Supper](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/psmith_in_the_city_se/chapters/xvii-sunday-supper) Hosts the supper; is proud of his son Edward and tries to smooth over the awkwardness caused by the lovers' quarrel. ### [Psmith Makes a Discovery](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/psmith_in_the_city_se/chapters/xviii-psmith-makes-a-discovery) Mr. Waller hosts the evening, lends Psmith the Tulse Hill Parliament record, and remains oblivious to Psmith's ulterior motives. ### [XIX: The Illness of Edward](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/psmith_in_the_city_se/chapters/xix-the-illness-of-edward) Mr. Waller is unusually silent and absent-minded due to his son Edward's illness with pneumonia; he looks tired and beaten. ### [Concerning a Cheque](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/psmith_in_the_city_se/chapters/xx-concerning-a-cheque) Distraught after cashing a forged cheque due to worry over his son Edward's illness; later relieved as Edward recovers. ### [And Takes Steps](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/psmith_in_the_city_se/chapters/xxii-and-takes-steps) Mr. Waller is relieved not to be dismissed but is shaken by the reprimand and seeks information from Psmith about Mike's fate. ### [The Spirit of Unrest](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/psmith_in_the_city_se/chapters/xxiv-the-spirit-of-unrest) Reported by Psmith to be inconsolable after Mike's transfer out of his department. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/psmith_in_the_city_se/characters/mr_waller - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/psmith_in_the_city_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/psmith_in_the_city_se/characters