Peter Pan Syndrome - Research Paper Example

Peter Pan Syndrome Children all over the world, regardless of race, creed or gender love to hear fairy-tales. In fact, a Harvard college professor, Maria Tatar, cited the importance of reading fairy tales to young children. “Fairy tales have a real role in liberating the imagination of children. No matter how violent they are, the protagonist always survives.” ( qtd.from Boyd, 2008). One classic fairy tale that has endured for many generations and captured the imaginations of millions of children is Peter-Pan. The original story is titled “ Peter-Pan in Kensington Gardens” was written in 1920. Peter-Pan to all of us represents a boy who simply refuses to grow-up thereby causing him to face dire consequences. In fact, there is a little “Peter-Pan “inside of adults which can easily relate to the challenges faced by the protagonist. It is for this reason that the story itself can be analyzed using a psychological approach in relation with “Peter Pan Syndrome”. Although this syndrome is not yet recognized as a personality disorder or a psychological problem, a professor of of the Department of Personality, Evaluation and Psychological Treatment of the University of Granada and an expert in emotional disorders- Humbelina Robles Ortega argues that there is a probability that parents who are overprotective of their children can produce this syndrome in their children ( ScienceDaily, 2007). Ortega characterized the disorder by: “ inability of individuals to take on responsibilities, to commit themselves or to keep promises, excessive care about the way they look and personal well-being and their lack of self-confidence, even though they don’t seem to show it and actually come across as exactly the opposite” ( Science Daily, 2007). It can be inferred then from the given symptoms that person who has these characteristics are immature since they haven’t developed the emotional stability to discipline themselves. In view of this, the paper analyzes the elements of the famous fairytale by J.M. Barrie which uses conflicting concepts such as aging and youthfulness, enchantment and reality, as well as the eternal struggle between good and evil to present the theme of immaturity. Youth Vs Age In the story Peter Pan, Peter is granted eternal youth as he resides in Neverland. He is given this ability by “forgetting his adventures and what he learns about the real world”. Peter may not be able to age physically while living in Neverland but the time of his existence still lingers on. He still has yet to lose his baby teeth. In real life, as people grow older, they gain knowledge. When Peter chooses to forget the things he learns, his body will not age. This could mean that Peter Pan represents adults who refuse to give up long-held beliefs even when it is time to change. Peter Pan ( if he is a real person)is someone who lives in the past and refuses to adapt to new things. This could possibly happen to a person who has not experienced a healthy childhood due to many reasons as argued by Galligan( 2000) in her article about the importance of play, to cite : “The intermediate area (Neverland) is necessary for the initiation of a relationship between the child (Peter Pan) and the world. This relationship is made possible with "good-enough" mothering (e.g., Wendy, not necessarily the infants biological mother) during the critical stage of separation-individuation and transitional object/transitional phenomena formation (Winnicott, 1971).(Galligan) In the world of Peter Pan, knowledge is what urges the body to age. In real life, we accumulate maturity as we grow older though painful and sad experience. Peter Pan would not like that knowledge to capture him and make him older. As stated in the book ” he escaped from being human when he was seven days old” (p.4). It is obvious; Smee is a wise man. Though he never grows up, the many “manifestations” of Peter Pan proves otherwise. The original work by Barrie has few descriptions of Peter Pan, thus, popular culture tried to project Peter Pan in different ways. He can just be perceived as a little boy as shown by a statue of Peter Pan, erected as a model, in Kensington Gardens where it depicts Peter Pan in the appearance of a 6-year-old boy. In his first appearance in Barry’s novel, The Little White Bird, Peter is only 7-days-old and retains his baby teeth. In the Disney movies, Peter is shown to be between the ages of 10 and 13 while in the movie Hook, he was portrayed as being an aged man. Just as Peter’s youth stays the same, his personality does not make any notable changes. He is a boastful child and tries to impress others, a behavior which counteracts how the average mature person acts. Peter remains immature despite the experience since he shuns away from remembering them. . Because of this, the fairy-tale can be a good vehicle in teaching children the value of growing up, or even growing old. Aging is a normal and natural process which should not be avoided. Enchantment Vs Reality Peter has a strong dislike for aging. It is shown when the Lost Boys, his gang members, suggest that they go home. Peter mistook the context in which the Lost Boys were speaking and assumed that they wanted to return to the real world. Enraged, Peter warned them about aging. Peter’s nemesis is an old pirate named “Captain Hook” whom he is always fighting against. During a duel between the two, Hook reminds Peter that Peter’s love interest, Wendy Darling, will age and grow into a married woman with a family of her own. Peter, struck by Hook’s words, lost his will to fight. Somehow, this reveals his personality s quite selfish, he could not give more of himself to people he loved like Wendy. The story is about enjoying your childhood while it still lasts. Peter’s refusal to age suggests that one must learn to grow up in the end. One cannot simply dismiss the things we learn to give up aging; it does not work that way. Eventually, childhood will end so it is important to cherish it and live it to the fullest. For this reason, when we accept that we grow old and die, people begin to live in the present. Immature people always think of the past and dream about the future. “Peter was not quite like other boys; but he was afraid at last…Next moment he was standing erect on the rock again, with that smile on his face and a drum beating within him. It was saying, ‘To die will be an awfully big adventure.’” Even in his statements, it can be inferred that Peter Pan did not really grasp the true meaning of death. He was dismissing it as something trivial. For normal human beings, death is an end which connotes sadness. It is terminal and final. Good Vs Evil Peter Pan and his struggle with Captain Hook is the eternal battle between good and evil. The character of Peter Pan symbolizes innocence and child-like unwavering faith. Captain Hook is a tyrant that enslaves people. There have been many critics who viewed Peter Pans cause to fight evil with the intention to present himself as a hero. Others find Peter Pan craving for motherhood as he seems to lack maternal caring. “Several, related themes emerged in the Peter Pan play. One was intense envy of those who have a maternal caretaker on the part of those who lack that good fortune. Another involved the intolerable pain experienced by someone who is rebuffed, rejected, and unwanted….even Captain Hook was furious that he had no mother.”( Silvermann, 2004) Because of such, he is over zealous in protecting others and turns it into a cause. Peter Pan’s impulsiveness teaches him a valuable lesson : “Peter, we who have made the great mistake, how differently we should all act at the second chance. But Solomon was right; there is no second chance, not for most of us.”(p.72) Nevertheless, no matter from what perspective we look at it, Peter Pan has shown that good people must do something to stop evil people like Captain Hook , though sadly, at his own personal expense. The fairy tale Peter Pan shows us that all of us try to resist growing up in one way or another, in some point of our lives. May it be long held beliefs, practices or mindset, that resistance to growth hinders us from becoming more mature individuals. Nevertheless, Peter Pan as a fairytale successfully portrays the dangers of immaturity and impulsive behavior. The lessons taught are subtly interwoven in the scenes such as Peter Pan’s struggle in learning how to fly and his difficult assimilation into the society of Neverland. By showing us conflicts between good and evil, aging against youthfulness, and enchantment versus reality, children see the valuable message in Peter Pan: all people grow old as a consequence of being a normal human being. Indeed, when we resist to be “experienced” and become wise, we become stuck. In doing so, we die as a child with all the memories of Neverland, a state of being that never happens at all. In conclusion, fairy tales such as Peter Pan may play a role in teaching children values but from a psychological point of view, Peter Pan’s character is not worth emulating. People have to grow up and face the consequences of adult life to fully experience life’s meanings. Works Cited : Barrie, J. M. ( 1978) Peter Pan. Plain Label Books. < http://books.google.com.ph/books? id=yrlms0o9IQAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=peter+pan&source=bl&ots=RmKudxeWpE&sig=OhNKAfTdBFzQBj9r7vmLPJ2MRUI&hl=en&ei=2jaKS_TWCIqUkAWFy7wn&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=12&ved=0CDAQ6AEwCw#v=onepage&q=&f=false .. 20 Feb 2010. Barrie, J. M., and Arthur Rackham. Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1920. Questia. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. Boyd, C. "Why Fairy Tales Matter." Education.com | An Education & Child Development Site for Parents | Parenting & Educational Resource. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 April. 2010. . Galligan, Ann Costello. "That Place Where We Live: the Discovery of Self through the Creative Play Experience." Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing 13.4 (2000): 169+. Questia. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. " Peter Pan: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article." AbsoluteAstronomy.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2010. . University of Granada. "Overprotecting Parents Can Lead Children To Develop Peter Pan Syndrome." ScienceDaily 3 May 2007. 29 April 2010 . Silverman, Martin A. "Insecurity and Fear of Attachment in a Troubled Adoption: a Clinical Example." Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy 3.3 (2004): 313+. Questia. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. Read More