I just finished the book Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie. A mischievous boy who can fly, and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang, The Lost Boys. They all interact with mermaids, natives, fairies, pirates, and from time to time, meeting ordinary children from the outside world. The story is about how Peter meets a young girl named Wendy, and her two brothers, John, and Michael. Peter brings the children to Neverland one night when their parents are out, and their aunt is babysitting. On the surface it seems like an ordinary children’s book, but when you look deeper it is so much more. It is the story of a kidnapping and Stockholm Syndrome, two very adult issues.
The story of Peter Pan is dominated by a kidnapping. While it may appear that the children go to Neverland willingly, you can also interpret it as Peter kidnapping Wendy, John, and Michael. The point at which the kidnapping occurs is when Peter sneaks into their home and takes them to an unknown world, Neverland. He comes in and tells them all about Neverland and about how amazing it is, in order to make them want to come, and leave their life in London behind. Peter only tells of the good things, never the bad. Wendy hesitates. She doesn’t want to leave her whole life behind just to live in Neverland. But, Peter entices her to come with tales of mermaids, which Wendy loves. There is no need to change the boys’ opinions, for they are already packing to leave. Peter is very good at persuading and seducing people; he is very convincing. Another example is that Peter has this troupe of “Lost Boys” and they are all orphans, but orphans or not, they were kidnapped, by Peter Pan. The story goes to say that the boys fell out of their perambulators as babies, Peter took the boys and raised them as his family. I think that all Peter wants is to have a family. That is the reason that he took the boys, and enticed Wendy to come and be their mother. Even if his motives are innocent, Peter is a kidnapper to satisfy his emotional needs.
The story of Peter Pan is actually very dark. The children even develop a syndrome known as Stockholm Syndrome. Stockholm Syndrome is when a person who is kidnapped begins to feel compassion for their kidnappers. For instance, when Wendy is about to leave Neverland, she turns back, right before she leaves and looks at Peter sadly. Through the story, Wendy begins to love Peter, even though he kidnapped her. Another aspect of Stockholm Syndrome is when you almost forget who you really are. In the story, John and Michael forget their old life. They start to think of Wendy as their real mother, and forget their actual mother and their actual home. A large part of Peter Pan is about Stockholm Syndrome.
Peter Pan is a very dark, and deep story. There are many ways to look at it. It can be about a child, who never wants to grow up, or about a young kidnapper. It’s very creepy, and odd. It is not only a children’s book, the underlying story is scary. I think that the story of Peter Pan can be related to the story of Patty Hearst, both include girls who were kidnapped and developed love to their kidnappers, except, Patty’s story is REAL!
