Peter Pan

I suddenly, and quite strangely, have found myself conflicted about Peter Pan. I thought I knew the story, believed I was familiar with it. My Mother has used the term "Peter Pan Syndrome" to describe nearly every young member of our family at one time or another. It means you never want to grow up, just like the boy in Walt Disney’s animation. Peter wants to play in Never Land forever and avoid responsibility while careening through the air amid pirates and redskins and a strange yet hopeful band of "Lost Boys." It was all so much fun, and I could never figure out why Wendy and her brothers decided to return home. Obviously, it was because of their parents, but still their sudden longing for the nursery never really rang true for me. Of course, they had to go home because that was what happy endings were all about. Yet Peter was still out there not growing up anyway, so the fun was still to be had. Never Land was not going away so they could leave it behind--leave it for Peter while they went home.
I recently read Peter Pan as research for this article, telling myself that I could not properly salute Mr. Barrie's, the author of the original Peter Pan, one hundred year-old classic without refreshing myself on the specifics. I was not expecting to find any surprises, just maybe a few more details. I really thought I must have read it at least once when I was little; after all, hasn't everyone read Peter Pan? A few pages into the story, perhaps when the Darlings are discussing whether or not they can afford to keep newborn Wendy, or maybe later when Tinker Bell first refers to Peter as "you silly ass," I realized that I had no clue what the real Peter Pan was all about.
America has changed the views of many things over its rich history. This is no objection here. Peter Pan was first published in Britain during the early stages of the 1900’s. There are big differences now in the American version of Peter Pan. In the early years everybody oversees depicted Peter Pan