Neverland and Peter and Wendy by James Matthew Barrie

Three plays, five movies, and two television shows. The story of Peter Pan has lived on for over one hundred years, dating back to the original play in 1906. Filled with mythical fairies, mermaids, and pirates, J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan is a beloved story centering around the adventures of Peter Pan, and the Darling Children. Wendy Darling, along with her two brothers fly to the island of Neverland, a place that had lived in their imagination for years, but the true story is unbenounced to most everyone who has read the text or seen the movie. How could such an innocent story have such a dark background?

Peter unveils how children encounter similar difficulties as adults do in society since children do live in a society where there is an organized hierarchy of injustice, struggle, and real-world issues. The rivalry between groups in Neverland is explicit when “the lost boys [are] out looking for Peter [and] the pirates [are] out looking for the lost boys” (Barrie 112). In Neverland this frenzy occurs as there is a mutual disdain between the pirates and the lost boys. The lost boys are playful and rambunctious with the presence of their leader Peter while the pirates are vexed by the boys’ attitudes, especially since “there [never has] been a cockier boy” than Peter (91). Captain Hook also seeks to kidnap the young girl Wendy from the lost boys so that Wendy “shall be [his] mother” and fill the gap of his traumatic past with his parents (146). This tension between the lost boys and the pirates represents the unsteadiness between conflicting social groups that naturally exist in the world of adults. This situation also does not represent typical, innocuous play and is rather a grave activity of fighting that the children in Neverland confidently participate in. The ubiquitous struggle for power commonly seen in the adult world when fighting a war or striving for new heights in a job position is mimicked as Captain Hook attempts to steal Wendy from Peter. Peter’s leadership role in being involved with the logistics of maintaining and striving for power

The theme in the short story, “The Landlady”, by Roald Dahl is that naive people who judge outward appearances should avoid trusting deceptive strangers because this can result in death. The first example is when Billy first enters the Bed and breakfast and puts his stuff down. “There were no hats and coats in the hall, there were no umbrellas, no walking sticks-nothing”(Dahl 26). This means that the place is empty because it is bad. This shows that Billy is naive and lacks wisdom. Furthermore, when talking with the landlady she says that Temple and Mulholland are still on the 4th floor together. “But my dear boy, he never left. He’s still here. Mr.Temple is also here. They’re on the fourth floor, both of them together”( Dahl 32). These are signs of danger because usually, someone who hears that

Coming of age is defined as the transition from one’s youth to his or her adulthood. Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare, House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, and Lord of the Flies by William Golding all explore this concept. Romeo and Juliet is a story about two star-crossed lovers in the depths of forbidden love despite an ancient family feud. House on Mango Street is a series of vignettes about a young Latina girl’s life growing up in Chicago. Lastly, Lord of the Flies is about a group of abandoned children who work to survive on a deserted island. Each of these stories provides details as to what characteristics define a mature individual, and they also show the various processes to achieve this maturity.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world”-(Albert Einstein). Imagination is one of the varieties of themes that are introduced in Peter Pan. It is demonstrated in the novel in an assortment of ways from the children’s actions to Neverland itself. When you are a child imagination encircles the world like Albert Einstein said, and when you are young your imagination is more vibrant. It also configures as you start to matriculate and start realizing reality. In J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, the theme of Imagination is illustrated by characters, events, and symbols.

Wendy has a special relationship with Peter Pan. Tinkerbell is very jealous of it. She throws fits and pulls Wendys hair. She yells in a language that only Peter can understand saying rude things about wendy. Tink feels it is a romantic relationship when the rest of us see it a mother and son type relationship. When Wendy arrives in neverland her motherhood trait gos with her. She builds the boys a house. She makes them pretend dinner. Wendy would tell Peter stories and all the boys. She would just take complete care and would be okay with them wanting to still be

After detecting smoke coming from the island a British naval officer goes to investigate: “I should have thought that a pack of british boys- you’re all british aren’t you- would have been able to put up a better show than that,” (Golding 202). Britain was one of the most advanced societies of the early to mid 1900’s, and complete mayhem emerging out of a group of British boys stranded on an island is more than shocking for the naval officer. It is ironic that the same boys who boldly stated, “We 've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we 're not savages. We 're English, and the English are best at everything,” (Golding 40), quickly regressed into the primal habits of mob mentality. Lord of the Flies was written shortly after World War II. A strong connection can be made between the leadership of the antagonist, Jack, and World War II icon: Hitler. The two leaders both display devoted followers, and a corrupt sense of leadership and control. Golding insists that fear and mob mentality provoke irrational thinking by placing Jack and his followers’ unintelligible response to fear in contrast with Ralph and Piggy’s diplomatic approach. Furthermore, Jack and his followers overcome their fear by providing comfort for each other with a tribal attitude, which ultimately leads to mindless calamity on the island.

The fact that J.M. Barrie decides on the nursery for being the location for both the beginning and the end of the novel is symbolic of the importance of family life and maternal care in the novel Peter Pan. After the Darling children return back home from their adventures in Neverland, they come back to the nursery to be taken care of again by their mother and father. Wendy, which

PeterPans best friend Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Never land as the leader of his gang, the Lost Boys, interacting with mermaids, Native Americans, fairies, pirates, and occasionally ordinary children from the world outside of Neverland. Barrie never described Peter's appearance in detail, even in the novel Peter and Wendy 1911, leaving much of it to the imagination of the reader and the interpretation of anyone adapting the character. Barrie the creator of the novel mentions in Peter and Wendy

Coming of age can be defined as the transition from one’s youth to his or her adulthood. Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare, House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, and Lord of the Flies by William Golding all explore this concept in different ways. Romeo and Juliet are about two star-crossed lovers in the depths of forbidden love despite an ancient family feud. House on Mango Street is about Esperanza Cordero, a young Latina girl, and her life growing up in Chicago with Chicanos and Puerto Ricans. Lastly, Lord of the Flies is about a group of abandoned children who work to survive on a deserted island. Each of these stories provides details as to what characteristics define a mature individual, and they also show the various processes to achieve this maturity.

Young girls are often stuck in a world of make believe, they are fed fairytales, dream up unimaginable views of reality and believe everyone will find their prince charming. This unrealistic perspective is formed through their experiences with different fairytales. As G.K. Chesterton tells the fairytale are a realistic world for children, “Fairy tales are more than true — not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten”. Fairytales lead these girls to believe that in order to find true love there is some sort of intense journey one must go on. This idea of a journey for love has created a specific ideology for what love is and how to achieve it. In the text Beauty and the Beast by Madame Le Prince

J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan tells the story of “the boy who never grew up.” Barrie paints Peter as an extraordinary character living in a mystical world called Neverland, flying through the air, and fighting villainous pirates. He is also the boy who takes a young girl named Wendy from England back to Neverland with him. The interaction and interdependence of Barrie’s two characters, Peter and Wendy, symbolize and spread cultural gender stereotypes by mirroring the stereotypes embodied by the adult characters in the story—Mr. and Mrs. Darling—and by reflecting the ideas of gender roles of the time and foreshadowing the children’s understanding of reality and expectations, as well as their eventual maturation.

At first glance, J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan appears to be an innocent literary depiction of a young boy who wishes to never grow up—thus, remaining a child. Peter Pan, the story’s main protagonist, poses as the mischievous and youthful boy who spends his eternal life seeking adventures and leading the Lost Boys through the make-believe island, Neverland. Peter acquires the company of a young British girl by the name of Wendy Darling and her two little brothers, John and Michael Darling. In the company of the British children, Pan travels back to Neverland to primarily utilise Wendy for her motherly-expertise. Further inquiry and literary analysis of the 1904 novel leads readers to believe there is more to the story than what can be seen at first glance. Peter Pan is one of many novels subject to feminist literary criticism; the novel displays an array of male characters with very few female characters to contrast. Furthermore, female characters can be seen as passive, and frequently submit to paternal authority. In Peter Pan, women are assigned specific roles that mirror the responsibilities of those in the Victorian Era. The demeaning and gender-stereotypical interpretation of women coupled with the encouragement of male dominance places the story under criticism for its subjugation of women. In essence, the female characters are subject to the gender stereotypes and societal norms of the Victorian era in which they are

Every night, after a long, tiresome day in second grade, I would curl up in bed and beg my Mother to read me one of my favorite books, Peter Pan. There was something always magical about Peter Pan that helped me escape the daily events of the real world. Whether it was his capability to fly, difficulty to find his shadow, or ability to never grow old, the story of Peter Pan has stuck with me and has helped shaped me into who I am today.

J M. Barrie's Peter Pan is a poignant tale about the magic of childhood. The main character, Peter Pan, is a magical boy who wishes never to fall into the banality of adulthood, but to have an adventure every moment and remain forever young. The play details Peter's relationship with a young girl, Wendy, who is on the cusp of young adulthood. Peter's gang, the Lost Boys, wish for a mother to read them stories. Peter goes and retrieves Wendy to be their new mother. Their adventures reveal much about the nature of childhood and Barrie's thoughts on the bittersweet necessity of growing up.