Peter Pan

You all have seen Peter Pan cartoon in childhood, have not you? Well, when I watched it, I was about 10 to 12 years old. As I remember now, I was very impressed with the guy who wanted to stay a child for the rest of his life. I remember I had a concern regarding the topic. For a couple of days, I was even thinking about what is so bad about growing up? You will be independent, have your own money, your own life and can do everything you want. It does not seem to be that bad and literally, I did not get the idea of staying kid for the rest of their life to be honest. Now as I have grown up, it started to clear up and perhaps Peter was not wrong about his will.

The concept of the cartoon itself is very interesting indeed. When you are a child and watch a nice cartoon with good visual you definitely have some kind of emotion, but it is very rare at the age of 12 when you are just up to stepping into your teenage years to classify the plot and to go into very deep.

The One Following

I have had a really interesting discussion with my friend recently. It all started with the shadow and perception of the shadow concept. Then after a while, we remembered that in Peter Pan there is a very interesting moment with the shadow episode. To remind you, it is when Peter sees his own shadow on the wall, who acts independently from him, and Peter is really frightened by the fact. Then Wendy, who is more of a mother type figure in the story decides to sew the shadow to Peter, so they walk together and not independently from each other.

This was the first time when I reviewed the cartoon in my mind. The whole thing is much deeper than the almost teenage boy who does not want to grow up. It can be considered as the allegory of society and childhood impressions and perceptions.

Let’s start with the concept of the shadow again. When was the first time you have noticed your shadow? Probably at the age of 3 or 4, right? Well, you might not even remember the fact, but usually, it happens in the period of the transition from childhood to toddlerhood. This is actually the first time we notice that we are not alone and therefore there is always someone following us constantly. The first reaction is that we are frightened by the dark figure on the ground. The second thing that we want to do is run away from the shadow, but eventually, we discover that we can never run away from our shadow and therefore from our own selves.

Peter Pan was frightened by his shadow because it was the first time he has ever seen it. This can be perceived in two ways. According to Carl Jung, who was the Swiss psychiatrists the shadow is the dark side of our personalities. If we evolve from this description, then children are very pure creatures. They all are kind, as they do not understand the concept of bad generally. Consequently, kids are all kind and pure. The moment when they start to understand and differentiate the good and bad is around 4 to 5 years. This is the period when they start to view the world in different shades as well and that is the time when we begin to notice our own shadows and understand what it means. Again, if we refer to Carl Jung, it is the time when we begin to show our dark sides as well, it is the period when we begin to express our good and bad characteristics and actions. This is the time when the children develop both sides, including the dark side of the personality as well.

It can be pretty much the same with Peter Pan. Once he did not understand the concept of being older, he was a child and therefore all he had was a very kind and childish pure attitude. It was only after that when Wendy introduced him to the other world when he noticed his shadow on the wall, which can be the allegory of his dark side and his first transition from childhood to adulthood.

What Do We Wish For

There is also the other variation of the shadow in Peter Pan cartoon. Just before he got to know Wendy Peter was sure that he wanted to stay a child and never grow up, but whenever he got introduced to Wendy and her siblings, he got as well introduced to her world, which was different from Peter’s. In Wendy’s world, people would grow up and not stay kids forever. At that point, Peter was not sure if he wanted to stay a child forever anymore. But here also is the point when he did not know what he wanted in general. He wanted her to stay or wanted him to follow the cycle and grow up. The shadow that is messy and jumps all around might very much express his alter ego, which is the other side of Peter Pan. Peter knows that he wants to stay, while the other Peter wants to be part of Wendy’s world. This is the usual case we all have at some points in our lives. We often get messed up with our own wishes.

Wendy on the other side who is the figure of mother to Peter represents the society that we live in. The society that tries to enrich us with their own perceptions and ideas. On the other side, Wendy is the person that guides us through the path that we have chosen. She can be the guardian, the guide or the pressure. It all depends on what way we want to choose and further follow.

The cartoons are very interesting, they help us to grow up and view things from different angles. It is now that I understand that we all have our inner Peter Pan at some point in our lives.