Handley Barnette
Mythology
December 15, 2002
Peter Pan's Heroic Quest
In the Disney movie Peter Pan, one of the main characters that goes through the heroic quest is Wendy. The heroic quest has three main parts: the departure, the initiation, and the return. Through each of these stages, Wendy endures certain tasks in order to proceed to the next stage. The first step in the departure stage is the "call to adventure". This happens when Wendy's father becomes very angry because his children had drawn a treasure map on part of his dress suit. Her father blames her for telling her brothers, John and Michael, stories about Peter Pan. He then tells her that it will be her last night in the nursery, for it was time for her to grow up. Coincidentally, Peter Pan shows up at Wendy's house to look for his shadow that he had lost. When Peter Pan hears about Wendy's problem, he suggests that she come with him back to Neverland, where they will never have to grow up. This is the "acceptance/refusal" stage because Wendy asks Peter Pan if she can bring her two brothers with her, and when he says yes she decides to go with him to Neverland. Peter Pan plays Wendys "mentor or helper", which the next step in the departure stage. When it is time for Wendy to "cross the threshold", Tinkerbell gives Wendy, John, and Michael some her magic dust and they fly with Peter Pan back to Neverland.
Once Wendy crosses the threshold, she has completed the departure stage.
After the departure stage, Wendy begins the initiation stage in Neverland. Wendy goes through several different "trials/tests". Her role with the Lost Boys, is to play their mother, since it had been so long since they had one. Wendy also has to go with Peter Pan to help save Tigerlily, who had been kidnapped from her tribe by Hook. Wendy has to be very courageous during all of her tests to prove to Peter Pan that she can handle moving to Neverland. Another test she has to undergo is collecting the firewood for the Indians during there celebrations for the return of Tigerlily. The last main test Wendy endures is at the end when Hook makes her walk the plank of his ship. Wendy then has a "confrontation/ reconciliation with the parental or authority figure". This stage can be seen when Wendy explains to the Lost Boys what a mother is. After she does this they all realize what they are missing and want to go home to their mothers. Peter Pan reminds them though that once they leave and grow up, there is not turning back. After listening to Peter's reasons, the Lost Boys decide to stay, but Wendy, Michael, and John, decided to fly home. Before they can do so though, Peter receives what can be perceived as "the ultimate boon". Peter receives a present from Hook with a letter on the top that says, "To Peter with love from Wendy. Do not open until 6 o'clock." Peter Pan then waited for time to pass to open the present, but right before 6 o'clock arrived he realized that it was really a bomb sent from Hook, not Wendy. This then lead to the return stage.
The return stage, began when Wendy and her brothers left Neverland to return to the home. "The return" happened when they all got into Hook's ship, which they had taken over and turned into gold with Tinkerbell's fairy dust. Besides being gold, the ship could also fly and so they all got home much faster. By overtaking Hook ship, it "benefited the original community", which was the Peter Pan, the Lost Boys, and Wendy and her brothers. Wendy then became almost a "master of the two worlds", because she knew what it was like in the real world where she lived with her parents and had to grow up, but she also knew what Neverland was like and what it would be like to never have to grow up. Peter Pan did not have a specific "mythological status", but he portrayed certain god-like qualities, such as being able to fly, losing his shadow, and living in a place where no one ever grows old. Through all of these different stages, it is revealed that Wendy progresses through the heroic quest in Peter Pan.