Peter and the Starcatchers

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2004

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-7

Chapters 8-16

Chapters 17-32

Chapters 33-58

Chapters 59-79

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Symbols & Motifs

Allusions to J.M. Barrie’s Peter and Wendy

Barry and Pearson make frequent allusions to J.M. Barrie’s classic novel Peter and Wendy (1911) to both acknowledge the source material and establish their novel as a separate text. Their allusions often offer additional context or reconfigure iconic elements of the original Peter Pan mythos: Peter Pan’s fairy sidekick Tinkerbell becomes a green bird transformed with starstuff into Peter’s magical guardian; a ship named the Never Land is the namesake of the realm of children’s imagination where Barrie’s story is set; Black Stache loses his hand to a crocodile, just like Captain Hook—but Peter is the one who cuts it off in the first place; starstuff replaces and augments the magical properties of fairy dust. Like Barrie’s original, the modern novel also includes pirates, native island people, orphaned British boys, a precocious young girl (Molly versus Wendy), and a brave, never-aging boy who can fly.

Barry and Pearson also make more subtle references to their source text. Mr. Grin waddling after Black Stache as though the reptile has “all the time in the world” (439) references the clock swallowed by the crocodile in Peter and Wendy. The image of the children holding hands as they fly out of Mr. Grin’s cage alludes to the iconic image of the Darling children holding hands and flying in the 1953 Disney animated film adaptation of Barrie’s novel. Even the short chapter describing Peter’s resuscitation from drowning references an important symbol in Barrie’s novel: While Barry and Pearson’s Peter struggles to remember his mother’s kiss and dreams of kissing Molly, Barrie’s Peter Pan has no idea what Wendy means when she declares her desire to give him a kiss, and Mrs. Darling has a secret kiss in the corner of her mouth. Kisses in Peter and Wendy represent unknown magic and adult romance; kisses in Peter and the Starcatchers represent unattainable affection of a more mundane but no less meaningful kind.

Farcical Humor and Theatricality

J.M. Barrie’s novel Peter and Wendy was based on his 1904 play of the same name. Barry and Pearson nod to the dramatic origins of the story with theatrical dialogue, enhanced by Barry’s experience as a humorist. The novel is filled with instances of absurd physical comedy: Preston and Harbuckle squirming in their dory, Little Richard smiling at the mermaids and their subsequent fights, the unfurling of the brassiere-shaped sails, Slank and Little Richard milking a cow to escape their imprisonment, several instances of characters realizing that they are flailing around in shallow water. These situations embody the dramatic tradition of farce, which features improbable situations and ludicrous logic for comic effect. Barry and Pearson typically form their farcical humor around the villains of the story, tempering situations of danger with comedy to de-escalate reader emotions in a way appropriate for a children’s adventure story. Further indicating this, Barry and Pearson interrupt the climactic exchange between Slank and Peter with a comical interlude depicting Black Stache’s misadventures. The authors intentionally undermine the life-or-death stakes of Peter and Molly’s escape from Slank to remind the reader of the quintessential lightheartedness of the novel.

However, Barry and Pearson do occasionally give their heroes equally theatrical silliness, such as Molly’s difficult communication with the porpoises or Tubby Ted’s preoccupation with food. In these cases, the ridiculous is presented as enjoyable for both the characters and the reader, emphasizing intentional fun.

Miscommunication and Languages

Characters in the novel speak several human and non-human languages, creating opportunities for humor and characterization. Molly’s repeated silly confusion of “My teeth are green” for “Hello” (88) in the porpoise language indicates her inexperience as a Starcatcher and the Starcatchers’ willingness to work even with non-human collaborators. Conversely, the multilingual Fighting Prawn fears all outsiders. Alf and Peter’s astonishment that he speaks English communicates the disregard that English colonizers had for the intelligence and skill of Native peoples. Barry and Pearson find opportunity for humor even in this tense dynamic, as the exasperated Fighting Prawn switches to French, asking Peter, “Préférez-vous que je parle francais?” (280). Fighting Prawn’s knowledge of European languages was forced by his former enslavement, where Molly’s knowledge of languages is a chosen privilege.

Even when characters speak the same language, communication can be humorously difficult. Smee and Black Stache often misunderstand one another: For example, their discussion of a new, pirate-appropriate name for the Wasp is almost a standup routine: “‘I shall give it the name of […] the pirate flag, Smee.’ ‘That’s a fine name, Cap’n.’ ‘What is?’ ‘The Pirate Flag, Cap’n.’ […] ‘You have seaweed for brains. […] The name of the ship will be the Jolly Roger.’” (132). Smee’s wrong assumption emphasizes Black Stache’s isolation from others in his quest for power. Peter and Molly communicate much more effectively: Molly explain the complex history of Starcatcher to Peter in one conversation—something unimaginable between Smee and Black Stache.