The Fairy Kingdom as Childrens Domain - Essay Example

 The Fairy Kingdom as Children’s Domain Children’s stories are usually fundamentally different from stories written for adults. It isn’t necessarily that they use simpler language, but more that they tend to concentrate on more concrete definitions between one thing and another. Many writers for children will make clear distinctions between one state of being and another as a means of appealing to this inherent nature of the child. A good example of this is telling the story about a pig and a wolf, wherein the known characteristics of each animal are transferred into the personality of the character discussed and there is a clear distinction between which one is the pig and which one is the wolf. However, the writers that produce truly memorable stories that are enjoyable for both child and adult tend to blur these distinctions somewhat, allowing the child to explore new boundaries and the adult to enter in to a world they are usually too busy to notice while still providing some clear edges as a means of pointing to more abstract distinctions. Both Peter Pan and Mary Poppins present the fairyland as a place of natural beauty and power that is only accessible to the young at heart while the world of reality is characterized by practicality and dignified attitudes even as they blur the distinctions between the two. Peter Pan, for instance, is a story about a little boy who comes from the land of fairy and talks three children of London into joining him for a nice long game of make-believe. A clear distinction is made between the world of reality and the world of fantasy as the children undertake a very long journey, presumably over water most of the way and presumably requiring several days of travel, to reach the fantasy world from their own. When they finally arrive, it is because the island was looking for them, not because they were seeking it. “It is only thus that any one may sight those magic shores” (Barrie, 2003: 58). Looking down upon the island also makes it clear that this is no ordinary place as “a million golden arrows were pointing out the island to the children” (Barrie, 2003: 58). While the island seems to have plenty of food and building materials on it, the boys live in a hole in the ground as a means of escaping the detection of the evil Captain Hook or the ever-hunting redskins. They spend their days in play and make believe, perhaps a little better taken care of with Wendy playing the part of the mother than they had been under Peter’s leadership, who simply pretended anything he didn’t have, such as dinner. “Make-believe was so real to him that during a meal of it you could see him getting rounder” (Barrie, 2003: 97). The other boys might be going hungry, but Peter himself was able to make his fantasy reality if he could just hold the thought long enough. Mary Poppins offers a clear distinction between fantasy and reality as well since the children encounter many adventures with her that they never would have experienced alone. While her arrival is unusual enough, seeming to have been blown in by the wind, floating up the stairway banister and removing her necessary items from an empty carpet bag, Mary Poppins has shown them almost nothing yet. The first glimpse really given of the fantasy world in this book is when Mary goes to tea with Bert by stepping into one of the pictures he drew on the sidewalk with chalk. The picture “was the country – all trees and grass and a little bit of blue was in the distance, and something that looked like Margate in the background” (Travers, 1962: 30). This view of the natural world from the streets of the city is not the only glimpse of fantasy in the midst of reality, though. Upon entering Uncle Wigg’s house, the children discover that rather ordinary rooms can also transport them to a fantasy world as long as everyone participates in it together. “Mr. Wigg began to laugh again loudly, and as he laughed he went bouncing and bobbing about in the air, with the newspaper rattling in his hand and his spectacles half on and half off his nose” (Travers, 1962: 41). When they begin laughing at the sight, the children are able to join Mr. Wigg on the ceiling as well and then they have a very happy meal in the air with Mary Poppins. Indeed, in each element of their lives, the children are introduced to the idea that the fantasy world is always just around the corner. Mary takes them on a fast trip around the globe when they discover a compass, the children are directed by an unseen voice through the city streets to the entrance to the zoo, where everything has turned upside down and the animals are free to observe the humans in cages and the twins are able to converse neatly with a wild starling perched on their windowsill until their first teeth come in. While both books make a clear distinction between what is fantasy and what is reality, they also both manage to blur the boundaries somewhat, encouraging children and adults alike to look for the magic in their own lives. Peter Pan takes place almost exclusively in the land of fairy, but fantasy and reality can be seen to co-exist in both London and Neverland. In Peter Pan, the boundaries between real and make believe are first crossed with the introduction of Nana, a great St. Bernard dog, as the children’s nursemaid. While she performs in many ways like a dog should perform, she is nevertheless overly fussy about the things that a proper human nanny should be fussy about and she seems to have a special means of communicating complicated messages to the family. Peter is caught visiting the land of reality when Nana slams the window shut on him, tearing his shadow free, which Wendy is then obliged to sew back on for him. As the children approach the fantasy island, they all recognize it immediately, indicating that it must exist in some form in their own world: “Strange to say, they all recognized it at once, and until fear fell upon them they hailed it, not as something long dreamt of and seen at last, but as a familiar friend to whom they were returning home for the holidays” (Barrie, 2003: 58-59). Even when they are in Neverland, there is a great deal of reality involved in the pages as first Wendy requires attention and shelter and the boys build her a proper house and then in the description of her everyday activities as Wendy takes on the role and duties of the housewife and mother, “Really there were whole weeks when, except perhaps with a stocking in the evening, she was never above ground” (Barrie, 2003: 97). Peter himself takes on the role of father to such a degree that he frightens himself about whether he is still in make-believe or if he is, in reality, the father of the boys, a distinction that is not abundantly clear to the reader either. This type of blurring of boundaries is also found in Mary Poppins, particularly in the ordinary means by which the children encounter magic or unusual events. A prime example of this, of course, is their visit with the otherwise quite proper gentleman Uncle Wigg and his landlady Miss Persimmon. While Uncle Wigg is able to let go of his dignity long enough to spend his birthday bobbing along on the ceiling, Miss Persimmon is unable to imagine such a thing and would not consider it desirable if she could. Instead of accepting her invitation to table, Miss Persimmon immediately heads back to the floor after delivering the hot water she brought up muttering her opinions of the episode, “So undignified – and me a well-behaved, steady-going woman. I must see a doctor” (Travers, 1962: 49). The discovery of a compass on the path ahead of them becomes a whirlwind trip around the globe that ends as quickly as it began. Michael begins chasing the great-great-grandson of the Indian they visit around a giant pine tree, pursuing him as fast as he can and able to hear him laughing only to be interrupted by Mary, who asks him why he was running around a garden seat in the park where they’d found the compass (Travers, 1962: 95-96). On another day out walking, the children witness Mary interpreting for Andrew, the next door lady’s dog, as he insists that his friend, “that seemed to be half an Airedale and half a Retriever and the worst half of both” (Travers, 1962: 63), be permitted to stay at the house. Through these presentations, while there are clear distinctions made between the fantasy land and the land of reality, the distinctions emerge as being not so much a place as a state of mind. The children of Peter Pan are able to get a glimpse of the land beyond the seas, but life there is really very much like life in London with the only real difference being primarily what you perceive. Actions and tasks are still much the same, with requirements for food, shelter and clothing a constant concern and the need to compete with others for resources and survival taking on only a slightly more concrete interpretation. For the children of Mary Poppins, magic can happen just about anywhere people are willing to adopt an open mind and a loving heart rather than filling themselves up with self-important notions of gentility, dignity or misplaced propriety. Those able to embrace the magic of life are able to experience life to the fullest, happy and laughing and always able to find a friend. Those who reject the magic become adults, constantly concerned with appearances to the exclusion of nearly everything else. Works Cited Barrie, J.M. Peter Pan. New York: Starscape Books, 2003. Travers, P.L. Mary Poppins. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1962. Read More