Peter Pan by James Matthew Barrie

Peter Pan was first written as a play and was widely popular during Barrie’s lifetime. It is a story that most people still know today. Young children find themselves in another world where children never have to grow up and are lead by an interesting figure named Peter Pan. The stories themes range from family life, jealousy, maturity, and the conflict between children and adults. I was especially drawn to the theme of the child vs. the adult. It is such a confusing question for children. They want to be like adults, hardly ever agree with adults, and are in a constant power struggle with them. Barrie wrote the story for the Llewelyn-Davis boys who we became very close to. I read somewhere that the character of the father in Peter Pan, Mr. Darling who is selfish, immature and in competition with his children for his wife’s attention, is based on the boys’ father. Because Barrie was so much a part of the boys’ life, and used his fame and fortune to provide trips, gifts, attention, etc to them that their hard working poor father could not, there was always severe tension between them, as can be expected! At the time that Barrie wrote Peter Pan, it had been many years since the boys were young and always wanted to be around him. They were grown, had families of their own and had little time for their old friend and benefactor. Barrie wrote Peter Pan as a reminder to them of all the good playful times they shared when they were younger. As the story started as a play and was adapted into somewhat of a novel, though still containing stage directions, these side notes offer the most commentary on this subject by Barrie himself. The introduction and stage directions are full of inside jokes that make no sense to us and self depreciating and pitiful tones that give us the sense that Barrie is feeling very sorry for himself at the loss of his beloved boys. I remember reading versions of this tale and watching the movie when I was young, but I have a new appreciation for the story of Peter Pan after reading it as an adult and learning about the background of the story!