Allegory And Symbolism In Peter Pan By Barri Barrie

Staying a child forever sounds enticing, but everyone grows up eventually. That is, everyone except for Peter Pan. The story of Peter begins when Mrs. Darling “sorts through her children’s minds” before they go to sleep to ensure the children start the day with a positive mind. Wendy, the oldest child of the Darling household, explains that Peter comes to visit them in the nursery when they are asleep. She is proven right when one night, Mrs. Darling encounters Peter as she is resting in the nursery. Peter manages to escape, but Nana the dog manages to catch the mysterious boy’s shadow. The adventure of Peter Pan begins once he returns to the Darling home to retrieve his shadow. In Peter Pan (Viking Penguin 1991), J.M. Barrie uses symbolism to portray the significance of the crocodile, Wendy, and Peter Pan himself.

Captain Hook, the antagonist of Peter Pan, is constantly followed by a crocodile that wants to eat him. The crocodile is like a timer that is ticking away to Hook’s death. Death by the crocodile is Hook’s ultimate fate, or so he thinks. Barrie reveals, “all eyes averted from the thing that was coming aboard. They had no thought of fighting it. It was fate...It was Peter. He signed to them not to give vent to any cry of admiration that might rouse suspicion. Then he went on ticking” (145). Hook believes that the crocodile is his ultimate fate and he easily comes to accept that since he does not fight it. Captain Hook fears and dreads his death, but at the same time he also welcomes it because he will no longer have to live in fear. However, his fate is really death by Peter Pan; Peter feeds the arm to the crocodile and pushes Hook into the water to meet his demise. Captain Hook is deceived by the ticking of the crocodile and Peter Pan. Throughout his life, he believes that the crocodile is his evil fate when Peter Pan really