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A review by lectrixnoctis
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
James M. Barrie was the ninth of ten children born into a working-class religious family in Scotland. When Barrie was six years of age, his older brother David died at age 13 in a skating accident. After that, Barrie tried to cheer up his mother by writing stories, performing plays, and wearing David's clothes. James M. Barrie attended the University of Edinburgh and later wrote for various Scottish newspapers. One of his best-known works is "Peter Pan". However, it was first written as a play and later adapted into a novel. A few years before his death in 1927, J. M. Barrie donated all "Peter Pan" rights to Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. In the year 1987, fifty years after Barrie's death, the copyright expired under UK law; however, the following year in a unique Act of Parlament restored the royalties, which means that even today, as long as the hospital exists, very sich children benefit from Berrie's generous gift.
The story begins in the nursery of the home of the Darlings, where Mrs Darling put her children to bed. She does seem supposed that all three children are thinking of a mysterious boy named Peter Pan. When Mrs Darling asks about him, her daughter Wendy explains that Peter does visit them when they are all fast asleep. One night when Mrs Darling is in the nursery, Peter Pan comes to visit. As he noticed the adult in the room, he jumps out of the window, but his shadow is trapped by the children's canine nanny Nana.
A few days later, Peter Pan revisit the Darling children. Since Nana is in the garden, Mr and Mrs Darling have left for a party and left the children unguarded. Wendy helps Peter secure his shadow back to himself, and he confesses that he has been listening to their bedtime stories to tell the lost boys them too. When he asks Wendy to visit them on Neverland, she hesitates but agrees. She and her brothers Jon and Micheal learn how to fly and set off to Neverland, where they will encounter various adventures with the lost boys who so desperately need a mother and the wicked Captain Hook.
Much of the humour and sadness in Barrie’s novel arises from the differences between society’s idea of a child and an actual child. So in a certain way, the book is deeply rooted in the adult idealizations of childhood –a thought that emerged in the 17th and 18th centuries, when many nations first instituted compulsory elementary education.
The book was written in the first person omniscient point of view and past tense.
One of the centre symbols in this children's book is the kiss. However, the narrator tells us that Peter Pan is highly hateful and wild toward adults. He does like Mrs Darling's kiss. The "kiss" at the corner of Mr Darling's mouth is, although hits are nothing visible, a charm and an inaccessible depth. The kiss does, like Peter, represent youth: the detachment of growing up. Although Mrs Darling's kiss remained of total freedom yet, it brings safety. It is like something mysterious or rather a magical shield.
Another symbol is the ticking crocodile which represents time itself. It mainly shows the movement of time from beginning to end as if the time runs out. The crocodile remains throughout the novel invent yet vicious since it is only following its instinct. Captain James Hook is extremely afraid of the crocodile siren. It already ate his hand, but it can also be interpreted that he is like almost all citizens of Neverland, fearful of growing up/dying.
Nonetheless, the book does some flaws. Although it was customary at the time, how Barrie described the indigenous people of Neverland is highly offensive, and he does use slurs for them and describes them as "wild". I also think that some scenes are a bit too graphic for a children's book since they have deaths and even murder scenes.
Overall, I enjoyed reading "Peter Pan", and since it was one of my favourite Disney movies, I was very invested in the story. I like it more than the Disney adaptation itself, and I can recommend it to anyone who wants to read an adventurous children's novel.
The story begins in the nursery of the home of the Darlings, where Mrs Darling put her children to bed. She does seem supposed that all three children are thinking of a mysterious boy named Peter Pan. When Mrs Darling asks about him, her daughter Wendy explains that Peter does visit them when they are all fast asleep. One night when Mrs Darling is in the nursery, Peter Pan comes to visit. As he noticed the adult in the room, he jumps out of the window, but his shadow is trapped by the children's canine nanny Nana.
A few days later, Peter Pan revisit the Darling children. Since Nana is in the garden, Mr and Mrs Darling have left for a party and left the children unguarded. Wendy helps Peter secure his shadow back to himself, and he confesses that he has been listening to their bedtime stories to tell the lost boys them too. When he asks Wendy to visit them on Neverland, she hesitates but agrees. She and her brothers Jon and Micheal learn how to fly and set off to Neverland, where they will encounter various adventures with the lost boys who so desperately need a mother and the wicked Captain Hook.
Much of the humour and sadness in Barrie’s novel arises from the differences between society’s idea of a child and an actual child. So in a certain way, the book is deeply rooted in the adult idealizations of childhood –a thought that emerged in the 17th and 18th centuries, when many nations first instituted compulsory elementary education.
The book was written in the first person omniscient point of view and past tense.
One of the centre symbols in this children's book is the kiss. However, the narrator tells us that Peter Pan is highly hateful and wild toward adults. He does like Mrs Darling's kiss. The "kiss" at the corner of Mr Darling's mouth is, although hits are nothing visible, a charm and an inaccessible depth. The kiss does, like Peter, represent youth: the detachment of growing up. Although Mrs Darling's kiss remained of total freedom yet, it brings safety. It is like something mysterious or rather a magical shield.
Another symbol is the ticking crocodile which represents time itself. It mainly shows the movement of time from beginning to end as if the time runs out. The crocodile remains throughout the novel invent yet vicious since it is only following its instinct. Captain James Hook is extremely afraid of the crocodile siren. It already ate his hand, but it can also be interpreted that he is like almost all citizens of Neverland, fearful of growing up/dying.
Nonetheless, the book does some flaws. Although it was customary at the time, how Barrie described the indigenous people of Neverland is highly offensive, and he does use slurs for them and describes them as "wild". I also think that some scenes are a bit too graphic for a children's book since they have deaths and even murder scenes.
Overall, I enjoyed reading "Peter Pan", and since it was one of my favourite Disney movies, I was very invested in the story. I like it more than the Disney adaptation itself, and I can recommend it to anyone who wants to read an adventurous children's novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Death, Racial slurs, and Racism