Grow up already, wouldja?

It is difficult to believe that there is anyone these days who is not at least mildly familiar with the famous tale of the boy who wouldn't grow up. However, it is sadly unsurprising that there are few who have actually read his classic story.

Peter Pan the novel is vastly different than Peter Pan the beloved Disney film. True, they both feature the mischievous Peter, the motherly Wendy Darling with her brothers John and Michael, as well as the Lost Boys, the swashbuckling pirates, that tart Tinker Bell, and the nefarious Captain Hook, all found in the mysterious island of Neverland. However, most of the similarities stop there.

While Disney's Peter is a fun-loving, good-humored young scamp who wants to stay a child forever, J.M. Barrie's Peter is a cruel, sardonic young boy who hates mothers and has no problem playing mean-spirited tricks. Perhaps Disney's most famous--and most highly marketable--character from that film, Tinker Bell, is also portrayed very differently than she is written to be in the novel. In the animated classic, the pixie spends much of her time pouting about Wendy and flitting about and, importantly, never speaks. However, this contrasts sharply with Barrie's Tinker Bell who swears like a sailor and talks the Lost Boys into trying to shoot Wendy down out of the sky.

Obviously, the original J.M. Barrie tale of the flying boy is much darker than the popular Disney portrayal makes it out to be. Some may think that it would ruin the story and the moral behind it, but it serves to make the story much more palatable and interesting to adult readers. The story itself and the language Barrie uses is often intriguing and very engaging. For example, the opening paragraph:

All children, except one, grow up. They soon know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this. One day when she was two years old she was playing in a garden, and she plucked another flower and ran with it to her mother. I suppose she must have looked rather delightful, for Mrs. Darling put her hand to her heart and cried, "Oh, why can't you remain like this for ever!" This was all that passed between them on the subject, but henceforth Wendy knew that she must grow up. You always know after you are two. Two is the beginning of the end.

Barrie himself is an ever-present narrator, often stepping out of the story to remark on something and taking the reader off on a bit of a tangent, before remembering he has a story to tell and getting back down to business. These tangential digressions can be a bit confusing from time to time, but the author's peculiarities shine through them and can also be quite amusing.

Overall, Peter Pan is a novel that is vastly underappreciated because too many people assume it to be of the same caliber as the Disney film. It may be a story about a young boy who refuses to grow up, but it teaches every reader that it is far better to become an adult and deal with the responsibilities that come with it than to stay young forever alone and forgetful of anyone who ever loved you.

For more reviews on this underrated classic tale, please visit the following:
The James Logan Courier Weekly
Amazon Customer Reviews
Good Reads

If interested in reading Peter's story for yourself, you can do so in its entirety here:
Project Gutenberg