Peter Pans Greatest Pretend is Heroism

http://www.tor.com/2014/12/03/peter-pans-greatest-pretend-is-heroism/
Emily Asher-Perrin
Peter Pan is one of the greatest childrens stories in western literature, as its constant revival
proves. But what makes the Pan so inspiring, so worthy of our adoration? Why do we cling to
this tale with every childlike corner of our hearts, and dread its bittersweet end? Why does the
tale of Peter and Wendy attract child and adult alike, long past the point of growing up?This may
come as a surprise to you, but its probably because the Boy Who Wont Grow Up isin
actualitya terrifying protagonist.
The excellence of Peter Pan is owed to its complexity. Its one thing to have a protagonist who
wants to remain a child forever, but author J.M. Barrie was never content to create such a hero
without ruminating on this desire under a microscope. While Peter laughs and crows his way
through adversity, Wendy Darling is present to see through the facade of his being. When he
insists that all he wants is to be a boy and have fun, she knows it is his greatest pretend of all.
And its lovely that Wendy is a sensitive enough human being to realize that perhaps Peter isnt
as confident in himself as he claims. But the compassion she displays toward him makes her
entirely blind to the more unsavory aspects of his person.
Heres the thing about Neverlandit is Peters playhouse. He is like the guy who owns the
casino; the house always wins and he is the house. Everything in Neverland is set up so that it
caters directly to his whims. We are unclear how much of the island truly exists at all without his
input. Fairies are real, independent of Pans influence, but literally everything else is probably
down to him. He wants mermaids in the lagoon, so there they are. He wants a hideout carved into
a tree, though he has no construction abilities to call on, and it appears.
And when Peter is away, Neverland stagnates. There is a cycle to the island that keeps everyone
occupied until his return; the Lost Boys and the pirates and the indians and the animals all form a
continuous loop, tracking and following one another. When Pan returns, the loop breaks, and
people go about their business. This is tackled similarly in film narrativesthe 2003 movie
showed Neverland under ice, in eternal winter; Smee realizes that Peter has come home because
spring returns to the island. Similarly in Hook, we see flowers wake and bloom in reaction to
Peters arrival.
Peter Pan is lord dictator of Neverland. His word is law. His adventures take precedence. His
desires are paramount. Super fun as an avatar for any child, but what about everyone else who
occupies space, who breathes Neverlands air? What happens to the indians, the Lost Boys, the
pirates? They are only relevant in terms of how they play into Peters story. If you need any
further proof of that, I will direct you to one word, kids: Murder.

Rufio would have also participated in this practice when he became the Pan. Let that sink in a
moment.Barrie statesin no uncertain rhetoricthat when the Lost Boys get too numerous,
Peter Pan thins out the herd. Doesnt matter if he liked them, or if they were good for a laugh, or
if theyve been around a long while. At any point, Peter might decide theyve been made
redundant. And we have to assume that he either deliberately leads them into danger, or that he
does the deed himself. He probably uses both tricks. Peter Pan cares so little for his compatriots,
that he takes no issue at all with killing them. Basically everyone else is only relevant in how
they think of Peter; he rescues Tiger Lily from the pirates, a princess of her people who refuses
to marry because shes carrying a torch for him. Nothing else about her person matters within the
context of his adventuring. She exists to be a damsel that he can rescue because Peter is the hero
and thats what heroes do.
On that examination, his behavior toward Wendy Darling makes even more sense. His
attachment to her family is passing fancy, nothing more. They are briefly interesting. They are
equally disposable. Hell return in a generation or so to whisk away her daughter, and the
daughter after that, his own never-ending supply of occasional moms-when-he-wants-them. The
only being on the island who is really a match for Peter is Tinker Bell, and thats because the two
of them are so much alike. No wonder she selected him as her human baby BFF. And tellingly,
she is the only person Peter shows deep, genuine emotion toward. You have to wonder if Tink
knew/cared about the amount of power she was handing over by bringing him to Neverland in
the first place.
There are other versions of Pan that play into these dark aspects of the character. Once Upon A
Time shows Peter as a grown man who wishes for never-ending youth to escape the burden of
parenthood. Brom created a sinister retelling of Pan in his novel The Child Thief, playing with
Peters penchant for targeting children who are lost, forgotten, or abused. In both of these
versions, the boys sunny and heroic nature is dispensed with, addressing his knack for
manipulation and his cold detachment from the children he lures to his realm.
Which brings us to Captain Hook, the person who is meant to be the tales antagonist, the true
villain in Pans mind. The man who only has a rivalry with Peter to begin with because the kid
cut off his hand and fed it to a crocodile. That is the entire basis of their relationship. And
knowing what we know about Peter, we can readily assume that this wasnt an act of revenge or
a good deed to help out the rest of the world. Pan probably found the Jolly Roger and decided to
pick a fight for fun. Hook is a gentlemans pirate; he went to Eton College (I kid you not), hes
obsessed with good form. He would have been an utter delight to Pans sensibilities, the perfect
grown man to torture.
Is it any wonder that Hook is the baddie of this story? His entire life breaks down at this exact
point. He devotes the rest of his life to beating Peter for the slight, and for all we know, he has no
choice in that matter. He exists to be available to that clever and wonderful boy, who taunts
and humiliates him, then flies away with his band of delinquents, laughing the whole way to their

hideout. Hooks autonomy is forfeit. He is now and forever defined by Pan. If you dont feel
sorry for the guy, youre not looking at the big picture. No one should be expected to endure
Hooks existence.
Whats worse, he never comes remotely close to beating the kid. Sure, he gouges him with his
hook and leaves him to die, but thats a clear Act 2 Fight if there ever was one. Most of the time,
Peter just hangs around the Jolly Roger to stoke his own ego. When the final battle between them
occurs, Peter massacres Hooks crew, and only Smee and the first mate Starkey get away. Pan
kicks Hook off his own ship and into the mouth of the ticking crocodile (bad form again), and
its all around excellent for our herohe has literally and figuratively beaten adulthood. Mrs.
Darling never has a chance of keeping him, but you have to be relieved on behalf of this
particular set of Lost Boysat least theyll survive.
But there will always be more of them, wont there? And thats the real trick of Pans existence.
He has a never-ending supply of everything he needs. No wonder he wont grow up. But what
Peter doesnt realize is that hes far from the hero of his storyin fact, hes closer to Hooks side
of the fence than hed ever admit. And maybe thats the truth of it. Maybe Peter Pan wants to
fight Hook to prevent himself from becoming Hook.
Either way, the boy who runs never Neverland is not the hero he proclaims himself to be. And
perhaps thats why his story is so enjoyable in the first place. Our love for Peter Pan is not
determined by how righteous he is, but by how he challenges our preconceptions about the
blamelessness of childhood. Because as Barrie states, Pan will always come back to steal our
runaways and lost boys, and will continue to do so as long as children are Innocent and
heartless. The genius of Pans tale, is that innocence does not automatically denote goodness.
Instead, it makes a childs lack of experience a very frightening thing after all.