What Is The Moral Lesson Of Peter Pan?

Question

Peter Pan's classic refusal to grow up often hides deeper themes about childhood, loss, and memory. What core value does J.M. Barrie's story ultimately leave us pondering?

Jared Behel · Answer

In Peter Pan, the lines between the freedom of childhood and the responsibilities of adulthood are clearly drawn and the story conveys a deep respect for the imagination of childhood as well as for the capacity to care for and connect with others as an adult. The theme of negotiating a major life change, particularly one that is abrupt and involves a transition to an entirely strange new world, is explored in great depth in the web novel ‘A Whole New World’ where a young man is abducted from the world he knows and struggles to come to terms with his new circumstances while at the same time trying to learn the rules of his strange new world and grow up.

Stefani · Answer

Reluctance to grow up creates a lot of problems for others. While Peter Pan’s Neverland is a fantastic place to imagine, it is a place of neglect to others and neglect of consequences. There is no real relationship with Peter Pan, and thus it is Wendy who is left to care for the Lost Boys, abandoned really. In order to have fun and continue to experience joy and play, one doesn’t have to abandon maturity. In fact, it is the mark of true maturity to have the capacity for and to take on the responsibility of empathy for others. Roughing it with the pirates long-term would get old fast.

You have to grow up some day anyway. J.M. Barrie wrote Peter Pan when his brother had recently died of disease. Therefore this lesson is somewhat bittersweet, but it applies nonetheless. The lesson is in Wendy’s choice to leave Neverland with memory of it and to grow up to have her own children.

Mandi Hartman · Answer

This is a warning about narcissism. Peter is a selfish boy who demands to be the center of attention, and then forgets about the people who fun with him. He doesn’t remember them because they are not fun anymore. The only way for real connections to occur is for someone to be consistent and to make sacrifices for the other person, which Peter refuses to do. The story praises the nurturing qualities of the mother figure, Wendy, but that is a problematic lesson in itself. However, Peter’s selfish freedom is certainly criticized in the story.

Rizqy Mencret · Answer

In many ways Disney turns the moral of the original around and makes it “Believe in the magic of your childhood and you can fly” (even if only in your imagination). This is not to say that the original text and subsequent stage adaptations of Peter Pan by Barrie are not magical and sometimes even funny, but overall they are darker than many people realize. In fact one of the most valid insights into human nature that Barrie may have discovered is that adulthood means growth and at times disappointment but childhood is a golden era that we have willing crafted into a myth and to which we cannot return. Thus Peter Pan, is not so much a nice hero, than a wonderful and impersonal haunting spirit of our lost past which we cannot reach no matter how hard we try.

Victoria · Answer

Of course the main conflict of the story is between Peter Pan and Captain Hook. But that is not the only conflict in the story. There is another conflict between two different kinds of happiness. There is the happiness of Peter Pan’s wild and unstructured life. But there is also the happiness of Wendy, Michael and John returning to their loving families. And, even in the case of Tinker Bell’s jealousy, there is the lesson that great passion is commonly destructive when it is not complemented by great empathy.

This subtle portrayal of masculinity is what I find most interesting about the story. Peter Pan is confidently boastful whereas Captain Hook has a fragile ego. He is brave not because he never fears but because he faces his fears with panache. In the end of the story, Peter does forget all his great victories the moment they happen. He is stuck in eternal childhood and his memories are of no use to him because he never stops to think about them.

Abdul Hadi · Answer

All I am saying is that the original mermaids were scary and not exactly friendly. The point is that in even the most fantastical of worlds not everything is benign. And that in order to allow children to experience wonder they must also learn to deal with danger. And to that end, there is more to protecting children than simply giving them freedom. Peter’s world is a world of complete risk with no corresponding protection, and that is very exciting, but it is not sustainable for a human life.

Mila · Answer

A fantastic exploration of the idea that eternal youth could be a curse rather than a blessing. The Darlings’ safe nursery is contrasted with the freedom of Neverland, but at the cost of a stable ‘home’. The fact that Peter Pan is unable to remember previous adventures at a time when he is living solely for the moment, highlights his lack of ability to form deeper relationships, than those based on a maternal figure. Wendy’s maternal role to the Lost Boys is not just pretend.

It is a brilliant metaphor, I think. The crocodile with the ticking is always chasing Captain Hook but for the captain, the situation is even more terrible because he is trying to escape it and it is making worse the situation. I think the story has two ways of traveling: flight and ports. My favorite detail is the shadow of Peter Pan that was sewn back on him. Some ties can’t be cut even when we fly very far.

kapitan · Answer

The real happy ending of The Lost Boys is that of the Lost Boys getting adopted. The moral is that being found by a loving community is far better than being lost in an eternal, self-indulgent paradise. Belonging to someone is more important than having all the freedom in the world. Peter is the anomaly in being unable to make this transition and we are left to ponder his fate rather than to aspire to it.

Mar Van Erazita · Answer

The Darlings also have a dog, Nana, who is their literal nursemaid. In the beginning of the book she is dismissed by them. Perhaps the moral here is that our society devalues the practical, caring work to raise children in favor of more boyish, flashier adventure. The safe and boring home that children depend on for security and stability is the real basis for all of their fun. And without Nana the children would have been kidnapped. A rather practical moral in that it warns us not to take our support systems for granted.

Owen · Answer

Holding on to childhood is a choice that most people let slip through their fingers as they grow up. The story of Peter Pan is a complex and bitter sweet tale of boy who refuses to grow up, and the people who come to Neverland with him. Wendy's growth throughout the story is wonderful because it shows that growing up does not have to mean losing imagination. The Lost Boys want a mother, showing that even the wildest of children want connection. Hook wants to get back to life on land before time runs out on him – he is the real villain of the story.

What sticks with me though is that Neverland is both a wonderful and awful place, and this story explores that. Yes, Peter Pan gets to stay a boy forever in this ‘utopia’ of eternal youth and adventure. But he’s not happy. He’s lonely. And I think that growing up isn’t about losing all of your imagination, it’s just about knowing when to use your wings to fly and when to put down roots. My copy of ‘Peter Pan’ is still quite dog-eared in places, especially towards the end when Wendy looks out of the window for one last look. It makes me cry.

Charliebess · Answer

The colonial fantasy that is Neverland is ‘empty’ for British children to find their kingdom and rule over its ‘savages’, befriending them of course. The moral of the story as presented to the readers is that of the ‘civilising’ influence of the British home, and how mother Wendy can bring order to the chaos of boys. This is a lesson that we should be actively trying to disabuse children of today, but it’s in the text, and a modern reading has to grapple with the implications of this imperialist worldview and find a moral for the dangers of it.

eugeniaessah · Answer

I see that there is a lesson to be learned here in the dangers of absolutes. Peter Pan offers the Darling children absolute freedom and absolute childhood, while Captain Hook is absolute control and absolute revenge. The Darling children are protected from the dangers of both men in their happy but somewhat strict home with its rules and mistakes and forgiveness. The moral is that life in extremes is dehumanizing. It is in the messy, moderate, human center of life that we find true life.

What Is The Moral Lesson Of Peter Pan?

12 Answers

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