Peter and the Starcatchers

Molly Aster is the secondary protagonist of the novel, a girl near Peter’s age with “large, wide-set green eyes and long brown hair that curled slightly and turned to gold at the tips. […] She was perhaps an inch taller than Peter, and by the look of her she took baths” (19). Molly’s obvious affluence and self-possession intimidate and intrigue Peter, and the two share a mutual attraction. Molly is a stark contrast to her counterpart Wendy from Barrie’s Peter and Wendy. Wendy mothers the lost boys and nurses an unrequited love for Peter Pan. Instead, Molly is a Starcatcher-in-training, part of a legendary Starcatcher family, and a formidable young person who speaks the porpoise language, can read the stars, and knows many secrets about the true history of the world and the struggle to keep starstuff secret. Still, some elements of Molly characterization echo those of Wendy: She is naturally thoughtful, feeding Peter and the other orphan boys aboard the ship; likewise, Molly’s jealousy of the mermaid Teacher’s telepathic connection with Peter hints at her true feelings and nods to Wendy’s attraction to Peter Pan.

Molly feels immense pressure to protect the starstuff after she discovers it aboard the Never Land, and this pressure increases after her father, Leonard Aster, is briefly lost at sea. Molly, “still only an apprentice” Starcatcher (161), is unprepared for the challenge of outwitting both Slank and Black Stache on her own. During the novel, she must learn how to find allies who will support her—and whom she can help in turn. At Peter’s insistence, Molly tells him about the starstuff and gains a friend to her cause. She struggles on Mollusk Island to choose between taking care of her new friends and going off on her own to find the trunk of starstuff, but after rescuing Peter, Alf, and the boys from Mr. Grin, Molly realizes that their best chance at victory is working together. With the aid of her new friends, Molly finds the resolve to attack Slank openly on the beach. Still, even after reclaiming the trunk from Slank, Molly feels she is “no match for the crushing burden of responsibility for solving a problem far beyond her limited Starcatcher training” (415) and is relieved when her father returns. Like Peter, Molly grows emotionally over the course of the story and learns to trust others, but she maintains some essential qualities of childhood. By the end of the novel, Peter and Molly have saved each other several times; she is very sad to leave Peter behind on Mollusk Island and lingers on the beach to say goodbye. 

William Slank is the primary antagonist of the novel, a “thick, bald man in a grimy officer’s uniform” (5). Slank belongs to the evil order known as the Others and attempts to smuggle starstuff to Rundoon as second-in-command of the Never Land. Slank is arrogant, clever, and “didn’t like being second in anything” (5). Slank holds all real authority aboard the Never Land, undermining Captain Pembridge by mocking him openly in front of the crew. Unlike Black Stache, Slank is rarely ridiculous or silly. He earns the infamous pirate’s respect when he shows no fear during Black Stache’s occupation of the Never Land. Slank does not have a similar respect for Black Stache and ridicules the pirate for chasing a water barrel instead of the trunk of starstuff by mistake.

Slank forces the enormous strongman Little Richard to help him keep order on the Never Land and later to help him recover the starstuff on Mollusk Island. When Little Richard hesitates to obey, Slank forces Little Richard to do his bidding at gunpoint. Slank is similarly violent with Molly: Several times in the novel, he grabs her by the hair or threatens her with a knife. Slank shows no hesitation to kill a child or his crew if murder brings him closer to power. By the end of the novel, Slank’s arrogance becomes his downfall. Slank does not believe that Peter, a boy, could outsmart him and falls for Peter’s empty trunk trick—a trick similar to Slank’s own earlier gambit of placing a decoy trunk of sand on the Wasp. Slank is washed out to sea, furious at being defeated by “A boy and a girl” (409).

Captain Black Stache is “the most feared pirate on the Seven Seas” (14) and the novel’s second major antagonist. Black Stache, named for his beloved foot-long moustache, references both the character of Captain Hook from Peter and Wendy and the legendary historical pirate Blackbeard. Unlike the fastidious Captain Hook, Slank looks “strikingly unpleasant” with a greasy face and hair and he wears a stained sailor’s uniform. His eyebrows are so “bushy that he had to brush them away” to use a spyglass (33). Black Stache’s absolute ruthlessness is often revealed in humorous episodes with his dim-witted first mate Smee, or in his unusual but effective strategies; for instance, Black Stache’s brassier-shaped sails prove both deadly and hilarious in the attack on the Wasp.

Black Stache prefers his pirate crew unintelligent so that they are easier for him to manipulate. Like Slank, Black Stache shows no hesitation to kill or abandon his crew as suits his purposes, and he once marooned his own mother. At first, only greed compels Black Stache to chase the rumored treasure aboard the Wasp. As Black Stache learns more about the true nature of the treasure, he grows more interested, longing for power. Like Slank, Black Stache underestimates Peter’s abilities because Peter is young. At the end of the novel, Peter defeats Black Stache in a knife fight by flying and cutting off his hand. Black Stache only retreats, however, when Mr. Grin chases him after eating the severed hand. With no way to get back to their ship, the Jolly Roger, Black Stache and his pirates remain on Mollusk Island, retreating up the mountain to plot their revenge. 

Alf is an old sailor in the Never Land’s crew, and the only adult in the novel to trust and actively aid the children in their adventures. At the beginning of the novel, Alf reveals that he has “never known true happiness, and he [doesn’t] expect to” (10). When he touches the trunk of starstuff while loading it onto the Never Land, Alf feels euphoric and longs to touch the trunk again. At first, Alf’s desire to ease his own pain motivates him to help Peter sneak into the room where the trunk is kept. However, after Alf learns that Peter wants to discover what is in the trunk because it will give meaning to his life, Alf becomes emotionally invested in Peter’s happiness as well. This emotional connection between a younger boy and an older man supports Barry and Pearson’s exploration of the similarities and differences in the emotional lives of children and adults.

Despite offending the native people, Alf shows great bravery on Mollusk Island by defending the boys from Mr. Grin to the best of his abilities and fighting the much larger and stronger Little Richard to help Molly save the trunk. By the end of the novel, Alf and Peter have become such good friends that Peter asks Alf to stay on Mollusk Island. However, Alf tells Peter that he is “an old man, and I’ve had all the adventures I want to have” (444). Alf bids Peter a tearful goodbye, having at last experienced true happiness through friendship.