Effects of imagination on a child from the perspective of Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie - Essay Example

As his life is a life of dreams, his real life only being in his imagination, the writer will show how he goes between the need of nurturing and the need of nature or his concept of reality. A conclusion will be made associating the need of Peter Pan in an adults' society. We all wish to live in a wonderful perfect family with a strong mother figure. In chapter 7 Peter had saved the life of the Redskins who referred to him as "The great white father"." Secretly Wendy sympathised with them a little but she was far too loyal a housewife to listen to any complaints against father.

"Father knows best", she always said." Peter Pan served as a father figure to two groups, the set of Indians and the lost boys. He would never admit is as "it was only in Peter's absence that the lost boys could speak of mothers" (chapter 2) In chapter 6, the Little House, the lost boys "went on their knees, and holding out their arms cried, "Oh Wendy lady, be our Mother." "There was a step above, and Wendy, you may be sure was the first to recognize it. "Children, I hear your father's step. He likes you to meet him at the door.

" At end of the chapter, "Dear Peter, with such a large family, of course, I have now passed by best, but you don't want to change me do you?" "No Wendy. I was just think, it is only make-believe, isn't it, that I am their father. It would make me so old to be their real father." Wendy then asks."Peter what are your feelings for me? " "Those of a devoted son". The purpose was to illustrate the use of the imagination to nurture children who don't have the love of a mother and father figure. Peter Pan and Wendy formed a surrogate family for a short while.

A wonderful transition from the imagination of nurture to the imagination of nature is the use of the clock. Hook was not angry to have lost his arm, he said "I want Peter Pan, who first gave the brut(the crocodile) its taste for me.by lucky chance it swallow a clock which goes tick tick inside. "When you want the time on the island was to find the crocodile, and hen stay near him till the clock struck" (chapter 10)He is afraid of the crocodile when he no longer can hear the tick tock of the clock, he will lose his life.

This is a child's imagination of death (Chapter 5 ) . He can prevent himself from dieing. Another more playful side of childhood is to use the imagination to pretend that he can change the nature of time, events, school, people etc.."I shall pour my medicine into Nana's bowl, and she will drink it, think it is milk!" (chapter 3) Mr Darling is completely in the role of a child, the dog is in the role of a nanny, and the children are acting as though they were adults. The imagination of nature is the concept of what goes on in the present.

Children think about the here and now. There is no concept of time for any of the children. "The boys on the island vary.when they seem to be growing up, which is against the rules, Peter thins them out". (chapter 5) ""He did this because there is a saying in the Neverland that, every time you breathe, a grown-up dies; and Peter was killing them off vindictively as fast as possible". (chapter 11) A child's imagination dreams of a world of being able to live without the constraints of adults. What fun to have control over all the grown-up world, not to have to take medicine, and not to have to do school work.

To live in a place where one could play to his heart's content. These two concepts interchange in a child's head. Wendy dreams of