Archetypes In Peter Pan

Peter Pan: Analysis

Children’s literature has its own rules, and takes special skills for an adult author to write. The best books for children are those recognized and discussed by adults, and James Barrie’s is one of them. A fascinating story about adventures of kids in Neverland appears to be more than a fairy-tale: it is a philosophical message to grown-ups, an attempt to appeal to every person’s inner child. Peter Pan, a boy who is never going to grow up is a character that remains adored for generations.

When analyzing the book’s characters, it is worth saying that they are quite symbolic and appeal to important concerns that people have about childhood and adulthood. The very idea of eternal childhood looks controversial; it is thrilling

but frightening at the same time. Young children look more appealing than teenagers and adults, so parents sometimes wish them to stick in the moment. This desire of adults may be quite dangerous though because children may take it as an instruction subconsciously. Peter Pan is charming but at the same time he has some negative traits too. Barrier suggests that Peter is cruel as children naturally are because it takes maturity to get some moral code and compassion to others. Peter is called “heartless”, and the author believes that it is typical of a child. He takes life as adventure, as play, he does not track time because he lives outside time, so to speak. Because he is going to remain a boy forever, the time is frozen for him. Because he is virtually immortal despite the fact that Hook is constantly chasing to kill him, he is not able to understand some basic human feelings like deep affection and deep loss. He is like a wild animal rather than like a human being, he follows his instincts of a hunter. He is keen on risk because in fact he has nothing to lose: he does not remember the past. This specific feature of his mind makes him not so vulnerable and not as warm and hearty as for instance Wendy who tries hard to awaken human feelings in him. Not much is known about his childhood but he gives his story briefly:
'It was because I heard father and mother,' he explained in a low voice, 'talking about what I was to be when I became a man.' …'I don't want ever to be a man,' he said with passion. 'I want always to be a little boy and to have fun. So I ran away to Kensington Gardens and lived a long long time among the fairies.' (Barrie, chapter 3)
When Wendy wants to deepen their relationship, Peter becomes afraid of feelings, he wants to remain as heartless and innocent as he is, so that no one can hurt him and so that his life would always be careless. It is suggested that Peter was hurt before but because of his magic skill to forget the past he copes with it. It remains uncovered whether this forgetfulness is intentional or not because it may be a way to protect himself from further pain. In the course of the book we still see that Peter is able to feel but he cannot keep any feeling or attachment for a long time.
Probably this is his main difference from Wendy who is his teacher in many ways. She is courageous and open, and is able to communicate with everyone, even to touch pirates’ hearts with her tales. She is a dreamer, it looks as though he does not want to grow in the same way as Peter but she realizes that growing up is necessary. Her travel to Neverland is quite resourceful in the sense that it gives her a clue about her true values. She realizes how her family is precious for her, and she really misses her parents and wants to go back despite her affection for Peter. She would like him to join her and become an ordinary boy who goes to school and then to work but he does not like the prospect, which really disappoints her. In fact, femininity is presented as something more down to earth if characters of Peter and Wendy are taken. At the same time, Wendy is a leader who is able to influence and inspire others. It is also important that Wendy is seen as a mother, an archetype woman in many ways, because the author tells her future when she is going to have a daughter Jane and a granddaughter Margaret. In this way she is contrasted with the eternal boy Peter as a girl who is destined to grow up because it is about development and life. Being frozen like Peter may only look attractive but it is against nature and against growth.
Another interesting character is Captain Jas. Hook, an evil but intelligent villain who wants to destroy Peter Pan as a revenge for his lost hand. It is interesting that like everyone in Neverland he has his past too: he belonged to a noble family and attended high school for elite. So, he has good manners and secret nostalgia for being accepted as a normal person.
Mr. and Mrs. Darling are classical charming parents who care for their children and each other. The family name is quite symbolic and underlines their sweetness. Children’s disappearance is a blow for the mother, and she spends hours near the open window waiting for them to return. Her faith is a key feature of her mild feminine nature. In his turn, Mr. Darling is a caring father but is quite preoccupied with his work often missing the valuable communication, which eventually changes.
Further on, it should be noted that like any fairytale the book on Peter Pan includes symbolism that contains the author’s message to the readers.

Interestingly, the book touches adult comprehension as well as it is relevant to children. This actually might be explained by the fact that the author tried to interpret really symbolic, even more – archetypal – dimensions of the human soul. Actually, the presence of really fundamental images makes it possible to analyze the story, as well as all its’ screen or theater versions, from the perspective of the theory of archetypes, introduced by a Swiss psychotherapist and researcher Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961). Jung, who particularly analyzed clue images in different cultures, concluded that every person has specifically structured lacunas within human individual nature that are responsible for basic practices, needs and personal self-realization in the world. Thus, Jung assumed that those are appropriate to every man independently of the culture or religion, and could be perceived from different images, hidden in the collective subconscious layer (Jung, 2014). For example, the shadow is one of the book’s symbols that can have the archetypal interpretation. One of the versions is that shadow is a darker personality, one’s rejected part that is hard to accept. There are some wild aspects in Peter that can be related to his shadow: such as violence and risk, for instance. In the same way, it can be related to his past and to his lost memory about his past pain. When

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