Peter Pan Children strive to be the princess or prince in fairy tales. Pretending to be a princess or prince helps kids escape real life and transform their world into something miraculously different from reality. Because fairy tales are wedged into the lives of kids from generation to generation, they influence everyday actions made by society by teaching everyone to fight for love no matter the cost, be fearless, and be kind hearted, selfless and loyal. However, the original fairy tales are actually quite contrasting from the stories society knows. In J.M Barrie’s novel Peter Pan, there is a great deal of historical background information behind the creation of his novel. J.M Barrie integrates many archetypal elements and delivers a fascinating
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He uses the color green, the mother figure and the villain as archetypal elements in Peter Pan. Barrie utilizes the color green in Peter Pan to symbolize hope and growth through Peter’s outfit that he wears throughout the novel. Hope is embodied through Peter’s attitude towards Neverland. He is always silly and motivating to the Lost Boy when there is evil in Neverland. As a result to Peter’s uplift to the Lost Boys, Peter is the hope that will save Neverland from going dark. Growth is presented in Peter even though he technically never grows up, he does grow in an emotional sense. He learns to be empathetic towards Wendy because of how she feels for Peter. Later in the novel, Captain Hook is introduced and right away he is established as the villain in Peter Pan. Hook is Peter’s counterpart in that he is the “darkness” of Neverland, while Peter is the “light”. He and Peter are continually playing a game of cat and mouse, where Hook is the cat. Barrie originally did not have Captain Hook written in the original drafts, but then he decided that he wanted Peter to have an enemy, “With this, Captain Hook came to life. The role soon expanded into a full-fledged nemesis for Peter”(Kettler ). The mother figure in Peter Pan is Wendy. From the second Peter Pan brings Wendy to Neverland, the Lost Boys embrace having Wendy as their mother. Wendy carries out the duties …show more content…
Even though Peter Pan was based off the Llewelyn Davies boys, Peter may have been based off of Barrie himself. When Barrie was six, one of his brothers died at the age of thirteen causing his mom to fall ill with grief. Barrie in turn took the place of his older brother because, “The entire family was demoralized, and the mother took to her bed”(Barrie,Lurie 1913). Once he became an adult, Barrie still looked like a child. He was just over five feet tall and he had a rather high pitched voice. Although Barrie did grow psychically, he remained a child at heart, “Emotionally too he seemed like an adolescent boy-enjoying children’s stories and games, and able to fall in love sentimentally and idealistically”(Barrie,Lurie 194). Barrie never fully experienced a full childhood, so consequently he always fantasized about being a boy again. So he wrote about his desires; therefore, creating Peter Pan. Barrie comprised a very relevant moral in Peter Pan even though it is just a children’s story. The moral of Peter Pan is that growing up is a part of life. Even though playing imaginary games and believing in fairy tales is amiable, one must always grow up because time chases us all. Captain Hook being hunted down by the ticking crocodile is a metaphor for time catching up to everyone. The concept that time chases everyone is a daunting thought, and is even quirkier that the idea is presented to society in
He uses the color green, the mother figure and the villain as archetypal elements in Peter Pan. Barrie utilizes the color green in Peter Pan to symbolize hope and growth through Peter’s outfit that he wears throughout the novel. Hope is embodied through Peter’s attitude towards Neverland. He is always silly and motivating to the Lost Boy when there is evil in Neverland. As a result to Peter’s uplift to the Lost Boys, Peter is the hope that will save Neverland from going dark. Growth is presented in Peter even though he technically never grows up, he does grow in an emotional sense. He learns to be empathetic towards Wendy because of how she feels for Peter. Later in the novel, Captain Hook is introduced and right away he is established as the villain in Peter Pan. Hook is Peter’s counterpart in that he is the “darkness” of Neverland, while Peter is the “light”. He and Peter are continually playing a game of cat and mouse, where Hook is the cat. Barrie originally did not have Captain Hook written in the original drafts, but then he decided that he wanted Peter to have an enemy, “With this, Captain Hook came to life. The role soon expanded into a full-fledged nemesis for Peter”(Kettler ). The mother figure in Peter Pan is Wendy. From the second Peter Pan brings Wendy to Neverland, the Lost Boys embrace having Wendy as their mother. Wendy carries out the duties …show more content…
Even though Peter Pan was based off the Llewelyn Davies boys, Peter may have been based off of Barrie himself. When Barrie was six, one of his brothers died at the age of thirteen causing his mom to fall ill with grief. Barrie in turn took the place of his older brother because, “The entire family was demoralized, and the mother took to her bed”(Barrie,Lurie 1913). Once he became an adult, Barrie still looked like a child. He was just over five feet tall and he had a rather high pitched voice. Although Barrie did grow psychically, he remained a child at heart, “Emotionally too he seemed like an adolescent boy-enjoying children’s stories and games, and able to fall in love sentimentally and idealistically”(Barrie,Lurie 194). Barrie never fully experienced a full childhood, so consequently he always fantasized about being a boy again. So he wrote about his desires; therefore, creating Peter Pan. Barrie comprised a very relevant moral in Peter Pan even though it is just a children’s story. The moral of Peter Pan is that growing up is a part of life. Even though playing imaginary games and believing in fairy tales is amiable, one must always grow up because time chases us all. Captain Hook being hunted down by the ticking crocodile is a metaphor for time catching up to everyone. The concept that time chases everyone is a daunting thought, and is even quirkier that the idea is presented to society in