Character Analysis in Peter Pan

Being suspicious is a characterization of a child’s nature, and Barrie uses adjectives to characterize how adults differ from children. Notice how the adjectives change for characters as the story progresses. Barrie describes Michael with the most childlike characteristics because he is the youngest of the Darling children.

This follows the theme of motherhood in the story. Wendy immediately knows the difference between Nana’s happy and unhappy bark because of her protective instincts.

A “breadwinner” (bread-winner) is the person in a household who provides money for living expenses. Mr. Darling feels his position of “breadwinner” garnishes him respect in the household. Although it is admirable that he keeps food on the table for his family, he does not comprehend that this concept of money is not at the forefront of his children’s minds.

Mr. Darling is the epitome of a grown-up in this story. He worries about money, appearances, and perhaps worst of all, pride. Mr. Darling not only acts as a foil for his wife, who still has held onto a touch of her childhood, but also to his kids most especially.

Recall in chapter 1 when Mrs. Darling is described as having “a romantic mind.” This supports that claim by showing Mrs. Darling’s wistful and young mindset that separates her from her husband.

This simile compares Michael's readiness for adventure with the keen edge of a sharp blade. "Sharp" has connotations of being quick-minded and ready for action. Perhaps the narrator chooses to over-explain Michael’s readiness because Michael is the youngest of the children and most willing to adventure.

This response supports the major theme of motherhood in the story. Even though Wendy herself is just a little girl when she meets Peter, she begins to take on responsibilities of a mother to Peter and the Lost Boys, because they don’t have mothers of their own.

Recall in chapter 1 when Wendy can’t control her desire to pick the flower. Here, Peter exhibits a similar character trait by not being able to control his desire to crow. While Wendy’s inability to control picking the flower represents the inevitable truth that she will grow up, Peter’s inability to not boast represents that he will be childlike forever.

Peter ran away the day he was born to avoid the responsibility of growing up. This is a fantastical aspect of the story that separates Peter from the real world; in the real world, newborn babies cannot run away from their parents. It is ironic that even though Peter desires to avoid responsibility, he has chosen to be the leader of the Lost Boys, a group of children who all have run from their parents.

Wendy’s quick thinking follows the major theme of the story of women as caretakers for men. Throughout the story women are portrayed as strong and individualistic, always willing and ready to help out more foolish and self-absorbed male characters.

Captain Hook is Peter’s greatest enemy. During their first battle, Peter cut off Hook’s hand and a large crocodile ate it. The crocodile so liked the taste of Captain Hook, that he follows Hook around at all times trying to eat the rest of him.

Recall in chapter 1 how Mr. Darling is described as the “breadwinnner” (bread-winner) of the family. Mr. Darling is a foil to Peter Pan. Mr. Darling keeps food on the table by holding a steady financial job, while Peter does so by chasing birds in the sky. This metaphor contrasts the wild imagination of children against adults’ staunch acceptance of reality.

Wendy takes on responsibilities of a mother for the Lost Boys, but Peter refuses to follow lead and act as a father. While Wendy's actions support the theme of motherhood in the story, they also potentially reinforce stereotypical gender roles, suggesting that her only use in Neverland is to take care of the Lost Boys.

Since Michael is the youngest of the Darling children, he is the most adaptable to new situations and circumstances. The narrator uses “willing” to illustrate how Michael wasn’t tricked or forced to believe that Wendy is his mother. This shows how his young age enables him to believe in seemingly anything.

Barrie describes Tinker Bell’s disgust with and jealousness of Wendy by noting that she has “the appearance of a nose permanently turned up.” He could have simply stated that she looked upset, but this further description gives the reader a better idea of the type of conceit she has. Tinker Bell’s continuous disapproval of Wendy promotes a controversial side of Peter Pan that portrays women as jealous.

Having worms in the floor would be something adults would not like because it would be considered dirty. However, this example reinforces how these children are more concerned with practicality than pride, they enjoy the worms in the floor, so they can go fishing whenever they’d like.

For Peter, the most important things in life are adventure and staying a child forever. In Neverland, nothing seems to change much for Peter, and because he values adventure above his well-being, death may seem worth it.

Peter’s anger in this situation could be triggered by the thought of his parents. Although it is never mentioned explicitly, Peter is likely an only child, so growing up in his household (with his hatred of adults) may have felt like a “two against one” situation.

The narrator uses “pride” to highlight character weakness in the story. Recall in chapter 2 how Mr. Darling blames his wardrobe decisions as one of the reasons the children vanished; he was too proud to wear a “made-up tie.” In both Mr. Darling and Tiger Lily’s scenarios, “pride” is seemingly their downfall.

The narrator portrays Tiger Lily as brave in times of distress, showing an ability to be “impassive” during a life-threatening situation. This supports the argument that Barrie portrays women in a positive light (a heavily debated upon topic). Compare how Barrie portrays Wendy and Tiger Lily with Tinker Bell. The fairy's character is interesting because she seems to be petty and emotionally unstable.

Wendy has consistently shown bravery and courage in the face of adversity. In this instance, she acts like the mother bird who protects her eggs by letting the children sleep while she stands ready for confrontation with the pirates. Wendy proves herself as one of the strongest and most caring characters in the story.

The narrator employs a simile to compare Peter to a dog to show his bravery and watchfulness. Recall earlier how the Lost Boys are all children who fell out of unwatched perambulators, and how Nana would instinctively check all the unattended perambulators at the park. In this comparison, since dogs are the Darling children’s protector, perhaps Peter has more responsibility than he realizes.

Rather than showing, the narrator states one of Peter's most defining character trait: Peter passionately cares, protects, and supports those who cannot take care for themselves.

In Neverland, the lines between make believe and reality are blurred. Wendy is ready to accept the role of a mother to the Lost Boys, but Peter will only act as a father if it is part of a game. Although Wendy has difficulties with the concept of growing up, Peter has already decided that he could never do so. Peter’s unwillingness to grow up presents problems for him, such as poor memory and a childish understanding of love.

In this scene during Peter and Wendy’s role play as mother and father, Wendy’s submissiveness as a housewife contrasts the strong and courageous character she has demonstrated thus far. Although Barrie has promoted the idea motherhood so far, traditional and fixed gender roles have begun to appear during the second half of the story.

Peter wants to avoid growing up to avoid responsibility, thus he is only willing to act as a father if it is “only make-believe.” Wendy on the other hand is ready to accept the responsibility in a sort of Neverland reality, suggesting that women are more ready for responsibility than boys.

This part of the story explains a lot about Peter’s character. It seems as though Peter feels hurt by his parents and that is why he has such a deep hatred for grown ups. In this instance, it doesn’t really matter if what he said is actually true, because what he believes is more important.

This represents Peter’s immaturity and perhaps the disdain he has for feeling as though his parents replaced him. While the Darling children begin to learn about their parents love while they are apart, Peter is unable to grow emotionally because he refuses to change and mature.

In chapter one, Mr. Darling scrupulously examined the Darling’s financial situation to assess the viability of having children. Wendy’s belief that adding just “a few beds in the drawing-room” to bring the Lost Boys and Peter home with them is symbolic of her young mind and inexperience with such matters.

This speaks to Wendy’s intelligence and maturity. She is the only one who understands the depth of a parent’s love. In this scene, we notice that for the first time that being a grown up is not presented as the worst thing in the world, and perhaps this is why Peter hates Wendy’s story so much.

Peter’s immaturity and pride are central aspects to his character. A major part of his immaturity is his consistent and unwavering cockiness, or self-confidence. Protagonists typically have a fatal flaw, and it will be interesting to see if Peter’s cockiness is his.

In this scene, Tinker Bell shows her absolute love for Peter, and Peter continues to act childishly by not believing her warnings about the “medicine.” Tinker Bell's actions reveal the level of devotion she has to Peter even if his immaturity prevents him from understanding it.

The narrator doesn’t give readers access to most of Peter’s thoughts, but every once in a while he gives little pieces of information that help us to justify Peter’s actions. In this line, we learn that it is not only growing up that Peter finds problematic, but also the uncertainties of human existence. If Peter has such a tough time with the concept of existence, we can justify his non-fear of death, as well as his desire to do nothing with his life but enjoy adventures and never look back.

Even though Hook is the captain of the ship, his immediate response upon hearing the ticking of the crocodile is to be hidden by his crew. His fear of the crocodile makes him a coward in this moment, because rather than carrying on with his decision to kill his captives, he hides behind his own crew.

This exhibits the unwavering selfishness of the Lost Boys. Even as Wendy is about to be killed, they care for no one except themselves. This scene juxtaposes the selfish immaturity of the Lost Boys with the strength and resolve of Wendy.

Keeping the true identity of Hook a secret builds an aire of suspenseful mystery around the antagonist. This also infers that perhaps somebody important and “real” in England (such as a politician or celebrity) dreams of being the evil Captain Hook when he sleeps.

Just as very little information is given concerning Peter Pan’s psyche, the narrator does not give many reasons for Hook’s evil motivations. In this line, we see a different side of Hook that perhaps provides insight into his behavior: he has never had any children that love him, and his actions represent that lack of love and his frustration.

Barrie has shown "pride" to be characteristic of adults; however, pride has gotten the best of Peter previously in the story. Hook uses this word as an insult that he knows Peter will take personally.

This line perpetuates the gender roles that many people find problematic within the story. Wendy does not help in the battle, but instead stands by and watches admiringly rather than actively helping Peter defeat hook.

In this response, Peter makes a parallel between himself and the Never bird who wouldn’t leave her eggs. By saying he has “broken out of the egg,” he implies that perhaps he doesn’t need a mother of his own and can simply take care of himself.

Peter left for Neverland as a child to avoid the responsibilities of growing up, and by doing this, he also missed the realities of living (and dying) as a normal human. In doing this, he lost his chance at familial love, the “one joy from which he must be for ever barred.”

Mrs. Darling has lost her children once before and will not allow it to happen again. Recall how Peter’s desire for adventure and fear of growing up cuts off his memory. Although Peter is currently unhappy, he won't stay sad long due to his nature, making him much more likely to give in to Mrs. Darling's wishes.

Again Peter’s selfishness seems to be one of his most enduring character trait. Even though the Darling children have expressed interest in going home, Peter tries to ensure they come back with him to Neverland. Since Peter represents a desire for eternal childhood, it is expected that he doesn't develop as a character by the story's end.

Peter symbolizes eternal youth, so his ability to forget Wendy parallels her ability to forget her adventurous, young self. In Neverland, dreams become reality, but back home dreams vanish and reality takes hold. Once Wendy became fully immersed into the real world where she was to grow up, her imagination and memories of Peter fade.

Wendy is faced with a difficult decision here: to stay with her parents or to follow Peter back to Neverland. Ultimately she decides to stay with her parents, symbolizing her strength of character and making an important, independent decision rather than catering to Peter's needs.

Peter asks these questions in a rhetorical manner, most likely knowing the answers are going to be things he does not desire. He does this, perhaps just to make sure, and also to try and make Mrs. Darling and Wendy understand that living with them is not the life for him.

Although Mr. Darling is not included as a major part of the story, in this last chapter his character sees tremendous amounts of emotional growth. In the first chapter, he is described as a financial man who concerns himself mainly with pride and money, but by the end “[bursts] into tears” and confesses that he fears being disliked.