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TO THOSE OF US WHO HAVE GROWN UP KNOWING PETER PAN, IT COMES as no surprise that he is still loved by children today. Flying through the air or battling Captain Hook, he generates an excitement that insures his continuance as one of our children's myths. The whimsy is as thick as icing, and most grownups find themselves pleasurably caught up, once again, by these powerful adventures. Barrie himself was entangled with this story over many years, so that even before it was first published he had written and rewritten it many times.
Peter Pan first appeared in a novel called The Little White Bird(1902). A 100-page section called "Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens" was in the form of a story told to a 7- or 8-year-old boy by a man who wished the boy were his son.
It is tempting to try and understand this myth in terms of its creator, but to do so would be a mistake. For Barrie too was drawn to this story—almost to re-create in his own terms (Barchilon, 1973) a story that has existed for a much longer time. There are certain human conflicts and patterns that inevitably result from real and developmental experiences. It is my intention further to illuminate a particular constellation of these experiences and their results as it can be seen in this modern-day myth.