Why Peter Pan?

     Have you ever wondered why it’s Peter Pan that so many people have done different story/movie variations of? Why is Peter, the young boy that haunts Neverland like a shadow, the boy that has inspired TV shows, books and movies? He’s merely the boy that never grows up. Why, then, is he loved by so many who can’t help denying that he is selfish, childish, and overly conceited? I have read quite a few different books other than the official Peter Pan, and in all of them (where the author is a good writer of character) Peter is the same. He is selfish, doesn’t want to grow up and (usually) doesn’t even bother to battle his flaws. So why, if he’s such an obviously flawed character, does everybody love him? Why is Peter Pan the central figure of so many series and films?

     First of all, he never grows up, (except in some recent books where he does, in fact, but I’m not talking about those.) Never growing up, or never growing old, at least, has been something that people have been preoccupied with for almost as long as the earth has been around. Ancient myths deal a lot with unfortunate humans’ searches for eternal life. In almost every single version, they never find it. Nowadays, “eternity” is being offered through surgeries, medicines and special diets. None of it ever works. No matter what happens, humans always die. The preoccupation with eternal life started at the very beginning of the world when we, as a sinful human race, lost eternity in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve and their descendants were destined for an immortality of happiness, an eternity where they never aged a day. 

     So what does that have to do with Peter Pan? People love the idea that someone out there is never going to die. And because of that, they love Peter Pan. That is why everyone cheers for Peter instead of Captain Hook, the evil pirate that follows him around, wanting to defeat him and his youth. Captain Hook could even be thought of as death or old age in the story. Nobody wants him to win. Even though Peter’s life is sad in some very important places, people want him to go on and on, living like he always has and always will. The out-of-touch youth that no one will ever achieve is embedded in Peter Pan.     

     The story also grates strangely each time we read it or watch it. It has an ending that leaves you a little disappointed, yet strangely satisfied every time you encounter it. In short, you couldn’t see it any other way, but you wished it hadn’t happened. Instead of Peter going back to England with Wendy Darling, or being adopted by her well-meaning parents, he separates with her for good, and Wendy grows up, something that was inevitable, but disappointing all the same. The fact that she cared so much for him but he forgot about her creates an interesting, saddening ending and adds another rock to the foundation of Peter’s selfishness.

     And on the subject of selfishness, Peter’s character traits are another reason that the story is so well liked. He hardly ever changes, never growing up or getting older, and yet he is never boring or flat. To him, everything is a big adventure, and this fiery, excited spirit lifts people up and encourages them in their ordinary lives. Even when Peter fears he is to drown, “he (is) standing erect on the rock again, with that smile on his face and a drum beating within him. It (is) saying, ‘To die will be an awfully big adventure.’” Everything is a game to him, and he is willing to put other people’s feelings out of the way for his enjoyment. Even towards the end of the book when Wendy is about to leave for England he “skipped up and down the room, playing gaily on his heartless pipes.” And later, “he held out his hand cheerily, quite as if they must really go now, for he had something important to do.” 

     In addition to his being adventurous and selfish, Peter is simply immature. No matter how adult he may seem, fighting pirates and winning, there are so many haunting lines in Peter Pan that point out what a little boy he is. For instance, after the battle is won, Peter falls asleep on the deck of the ship where Wendy finds him later. “He had one of his dreams that night, and cried in his sleep for a long time, and Wendy held him tight.” And Peter’s everlasting hunt for a mother proves even more how vulnerable he is.

     In spite of his many faults, Pete does have a grain of sincere caring (not the affected, noble kind that he likes to bring forth now and then), but a true knowledge of what is right. This comes out at the end when he flies ahead of the Darlings to England, determined to close the window so that they can’t get in. This, he sees, is the only way to keep Wendy to himself. He shuts the window at first, but then he peers in on Mrs. Darling who is sitting by the sill. “We can’t both have her lady,” he says, upon seeing her tears. When her tears do not go away, he struggles with himself, “(skipping) about and (making) funny faces.” His attempt to rid himself of his guilt is fruitless, and, in the end, he unbars the window. Though the battle between James Hook and Peter could be seen as the climax, it seems more logical to think that this scene is, for it is the one in which Peter sacrifices the most. Peter is multi-faceted, yet all his different traits fit so perfectly that it is hard not to like him, even though his exterior is mainly selfish. 

     It is hard to pinpoint exactly why the little boy that never grows up is so haunting. It could be merely because he will stay young forever, because he is so vulnerable, lives such a spectacular life, or because he has such a fantastic, fascinating character. 

     Whatever the reason, Peter Pan became a fairytale classic that may possibly never be surpassed.