The story in this book is one that I have grown up loving. I have seen every film adaptation and even the stage show. The only problem is I have never actually read JM Barrie's book. The only Peter Pan book I have read is the Disney one and I was about 5 or 6 when I read that. I thought it was about time that I read the original version of the story and I have to say, it was a good decision.
If you don't know the story of Peter Pan then 1. have you been living under a rock?! and 2. it is about a boy called Peter, his fairy friend Tinker Bell and the Darling children. There is one thing that is different about Peter though, he never grows up. Peter lives in Neverland. Neverland is a land of magic. It is full of Fairies, Pirates, Indians and some magical creatures. Most children only go there in there dreams but one night Peter takes the three Darling children there. That one simple act is the basis for the most amazing adventure any child could wish for.
This book had me hooked, no pun intended, from the first line. This line is simply "All children, except one, grow up." I love the concept of Peter never growing up and keeping his innocence forever. I know that in a way it is quite sad that he will never get to experience the world in all of the new ways that everyone else will but in a lot of ways it is amazing. He will forever get to play make-believe and have fun in ways that would only make people call you childish.
I think that everyone goes through a stage where they want to be Peter Pan. Where they want to live in a world with fairies and mermaids and crazy pirates who are scared of a crocodile who ticks like a clock. Where they want to run around all day having crazy adventures with their friends and for someone to tell them a bedtime story every night. I know I went through that stage. Peter Pan though, I think, is supposed to represent your childhood. Peter is innocent and care-free and loves nothing more than going on an adventure, much like a child.
I also know that Wendy is meant to represent something too. Wendy knows that she cannot stay in Neverland with Peter forever because she has a life and her family to get back to. She knows that there is more to learn about the world and that she is expected to grow up one day. She knows that one day she is supposed to fall in love and have her own family. She also knows that one day her time with Peter Pan will be nothing but a distant memory while for her own children it could be just beginning. What Wendy represents, or so I have come to discover, is a stage of acceptance. That acceptance is that you will have to grow up one day. cannot possible be a child forever no matter how much you wish it and one day you will eventually have to grow up.
With these two representations being stated, I found that when Wendy leaves Neverland and Peter at the window she is really saying goodbye to her childhood. She has realised that although she may wish to be a child forever she knows she cannot. She promises Peter that she will never grow up and in a way this may be true. She may be grown on the outside but on the inside she is still the same little girl that went on the adventure through Neverland with the boy who plagued her dreams.
The ending of this book is both heart-breaking and wonderful. Though it could have been different I do think it is one that is worthy of such a brilliant story. In a way it is almost like JM Barrie himself is saying to you that each generation should get their chance to meet Peter and put themselves in the adventures that he has on Neverland.
JM Barrie really did know how to bring a story to life. His words were written so wonderfully that they still touch the lives of so many children. and adults, almost 80 years after his death. The way he brings the characters to life is tremendous. You can really picture them and their adventures in ways that are special in their own way. I can only dream of being able to tell a story the way he could and for it to have such an impact on the lives of so many. This book really did not disappoint me in any way, if anything is surpassed my expectations of it. The tale of Peter Pan truly has a special place in my heart and I think it always will. It is the kind of story that you share with your children in the hope that they will love it just as much as you.
I do believe in fairies, I do, I do... I also believe in Peter Pan.
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