Peter Pan Summary by JM Barrie

A Magical Child

The story is a celebration of the innocence of children and their love fantasy. The protagonist is a magical child named Peter Pan who lives in a mysterious place called Neverland. He never gets old. He is brave, generous and caring. He takes care of other orphans which he calls as the Lost Boys.

However, Peter misses his mother a lot and often visits other homes to hear mothers telling stories to their kids. One such family belongs to the Darlings and their three children, daughter Wendy and two sons.

Children Catch Him

The children know about the stranger at night but their mother rubbishes it as their fanciful imagination. One day when Peter is hearing her narrate a story, Mrs. Darling catches a glimpse of him. Hurried and scared, he runs away but leaves behind his shadow at their place.

The next night when tries to salvage it, he is caught by Wendy. Peter tells her about his place and the lost boys. Wendy is excited to visit the place but does not want to leave her two brothers alone.

Children Go to Peterโ€™s Place

So, Peter takes them all to his place. Once they arrive at Neverland, Wendy is accidentally injured and spends some time to recover. However, once she is well she starts to develop motherly feelings toward lost boys and romantic feelings toward Peter.

Peter, on the other hand, is busy fighting off his arch-nemesis Captain Hook, who is a pirate and a criminal. Peter and Hook have been sworn enemies since their fight when Peter cut off his hand.

Captain Hook is determined to cause Peter pain and so he abducts Wendy and her brothers. Peter manages to save them and in a final battle ends up finishing off his nemesis.

Wendy Misses Home

However, Wendy and her brothers start to miss their home and their parents. Wendy is certain that her mother must be waiting in their room for their return. Pewter, however, is less hopeful and tries to keep them in Neverland.

In the end, Wendy and the kids return to the house to find their mother waiting for their return, The Darlings also adopt the lost boys and they become one happy family.

Peter refuses to stay and decided to return to Neverland where he never ages or grows old. He still visits Wendy and also takes her back to Neverland sometimes but he realizes that Wendy will soon outgrow him. Thus, the story of Peter Pan ends at this sad reality of two different worlds of Peter and Wendy.