Peter and Wendy

[tcarroll]

Having recently been reading Peter and Wendy for the first time, several things have come to light.  First of all, this book is not for children! All the talk about killing pirates,  and the image of Mr. & Mrs. Darling seeing four figures flying about in the children's room...this is a little too scary I think.  And Tootles shooting Wendy with an arrow...even though she was protected by Peter's "kiss".  Another thing I find interesting is you must always read carefully if you want to be sure what you are reading is real or imaginary. All in all, it's wonderful!! Mr. Barrie was so very talented, and so far ahead of his time. It's no wonder he was so respected and known as a genius.  Can't wait to read tonight to see what happens next..in Neverland.

[TheWendybird]

It's amazing isn't it? Definitly my favorite book! Do you have any idea what "They don't want us to land" means when they fly to Neverland? Me and my husband have been wondering about this for a while...it seems to be some kind of force that no one else seems to know what it is suppose to be..

[tcarroll]

It seemed to me that the island had a mind of it's own.  Maybe some force holding them back.  Mr. Barrie was very vague about it, probably on purpose so people like you and I would ponder on it. He called it hostile forces, and they said sometimes they would hang in the air until Peter would "beat it with his fists" before they could move any further...interesting. Makes me wonder, in the mind of Mr. Barrie, who was Peter Pan??

[TheWendybird]

We kind of wondered if it could be viewed as some spiritual force that didn't believe in eternal childhood. Like agents in the Matrix or something but spiritual and not humanoid or anything if you know what i mean. Like lets say growing up was like the matrix lie that everyone on earth believed in those movies...and neverland represented freedom from it. Just a thought...could be the opposite depending on what Barrie was going for at that point of the novel though.

[tcarroll]

This is one way to tell true genius, the way we wonder about what he has written. When an author can get people thinking, it's always an accomplishment.  The novel is a treasure.

[TheWendybird]

Amen to that

[tcarroll]

Another thing that stands out to me in Peter and Wendy is Peter's high opinion of himself.  He knows he is the brightest and the best, thus everyone around him thinks so too.  That is a characteristic that is usually instilled by.....mothers.  I have one daughter, and have always taught her she is not any better than anyone, but is as good as everyone.  I am a firm believer that "the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world".  We can make or break our children.  Mr. Barrie being the biggest influence in the Davies brothers lives after the death of their parents, I think he really tried his best.  He certainly gave Peter Pan an ego boost, and it would have been wonderful if the brothers could have believed in themselves as Peter Pan did.  George and Nico probably did, but Peter, Michael, and Jack not so much.