Peter Pan

By: J.M. Barrie

Great Quotes:

“To die would be an awfully big adventure.”

“Pan, who and what art thou?" [Hook] cried huskily.
"I'm youth, I'm joy," Peter answered at a venture, "I'm a little bird that has broken out of the egg.”

Analysis: 

            This book really surprised me.  Maybe that is because I grew up watching and loving the Disney adaptation.  Where the movie is very silly and breezy, the book tackles some very serious issues.  I think children would enjoy the book, but it is probably best received by an older audience than the Disney movie.  My point is probably best illustrated by several examples.  First, Tinker Bell calls several characters a “silly ass.”  I was surprised to find this language used in a children’s book.  Second, Captain Hook and even Peter Pan—to a lesser extent—were more sinister in the book.  Third, Peter Pan flippantly kills several pirates.  This was somewhat disturbing to the mental picture I had of Peter (admittedly, my mental picture is the same as the Disney character—silly and innocent).  Please don’t get the wrong impression; the book was truly delightful to read.  It just wasn’t what I was expecting.

            This book is an examination of childhood.  Peter Pan is the personification of youth.  To his credit, Peter is creative, happy, and carefree.  But Peter is also undependable, finicky, and self-centered.  To explore the nuances of children Barrie gives us two polar opposites: Hook and Wendy. 

Hook is childhood’s negative attributes personified.  Hook, like Peter, is creative and impulsive.  But Hook is mean, selfish, and a cheater.  Hook is youth stripped of its virtues.

To contrast this, we have Wendy.  Wendy is youth’s virtues amplified.  She is caring, happy, and charitable. 

In the middle of these great opposites sits Peter.  He is the character we can all relate to.   Barrie has given us an image of ourselves in Peter Pan.  It is ours to decide to embrace, and thus become more like, Hook or Wendy.

            Peter also personifies life and vitality as the book explores aging, life, and death.  The book’s final chapter becomes pensive and philosophical as we watch Mrs. Darling, Wendy, Jane, and Margaret age.  Barrie reminds us that life is fleeting when Peter returns and cannot remember Tinker Bell.  And Barrie hints at our fear of death when Wendy sighs and says, “If only I could go with you” when Jane returns to Neverland.  But Wendy is too old and Peter—or life—cannot wait for her.  We feel a tinge of sadness and wish that we too could join Peter and fly back to the Neverland of our childhood. 

Things to take note of:

1.      Loved Barrie’s use of the word, Quietus which means: 1. a finishing stroke; anything that effectually ends or settles: Having given a quietus to the argument, she left. 2. discharge or release from life. 3. a period of retirement or inactivity.

2.      Notice how adept Barrie is at telling a story.  He invites you into the story and becomes your storyteller.  He allows the reader a chance to escape back into childhood.

3.      I think that Disney most missed the mark with Tiger Lily and the rest of the Piccaninny Tribe.  In the book, they are a very noble and courageous people.