The Boy Who Didn't Want to Grow Up

[andrew]

Still waiting to hear why Tink08 thinks Barrie suffered from "psychogenic dwarfism". The Wikipedia article on the subject - which cites Barrie as a possible case - wrongly states that "He was famously shorter than average (about five feet)" which is plainly wrong - check out his passport in the database!

[Holly G.]

By the way...
In my eyes "The boy who would not grow up" and "the boy who didn't want to grow up" don't have exactly the same meaning. Am I totally wrong?
In the boy who "would not grow up," there is ambiguity: who was not going to grow up; who refused to grow up: both meanings are equally possible. Likewise with "who could not grow up": was not able to grow up (as a blind man can not see) or could not afford to grow up (without destroying his world, his freedom, etc.) for physical or psychological reasons. Michael is a miniature PP when he says "I will not take a bath," "I will not take my medicine." He is dragged several times from the world of play and imagination to the world of adult reality and power.  He refuses to behave, the boy who would not take a bath. I could just as easily say, "the boy who *could* not take a bath" (without being torn from the world of play, without losing his role in the game being played).  PP *can* not grow up without losing his identity and he *will* not (both senses) grow up for that reason.
That's why I am not content with French translations because "Would not grow up" is always translated into French as if the title were "The Boy Who Didn't Want to Grow Up". From my point of view something important is lost. "would not" is more subtle than "didn't want to". So I prefer to consider that Peter Pan is a boy who was not going to grow up without explaining why (he couldn't or he simply didn't want to). And it is even more complex.
What do you think about that? (And sorry for my poor English.)