Comparison Essay of Tuck Everlasting and Peter Pan
The novel Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt follows the story of an overprotected girl named Winnie Foster and her journey with the Tuck family. She learns from them about a different way of life as well as the secret of their immortality and comes to understand how important the cycle of life really is. Similarly, in Peter Pan, the 2003 movie, directed by P.J Hogan, we observe Wendy Darling who goes through a journey very much like that of Winnie Foster, in which Wendy travels to Neverland with Peter Pan. She learns the importance of growing up and accepts the necessary change from childhood to adulthood and the challenges of mortality. Both literary pieces contain similar themes that revolve around growing up. Both Winnie and Wendy learn the importance of growing up and that living life to its fullest is most important thing. They learn these lessons through the characters they meet and it becomes a true coming of age story for both of them.
One comparison that is evident would be through the characters of Winnie in Tuck Everlasting and Wendy in Peter Pan. These two characters are similar in many aspects. They are close to the same age, they don't want to grow old and become adults like their parents and who both go on a life changing adventures. Winnie Foster is a ten year old girl living in a small community where she feels enclosed and not able to do the things she wants. She wants to make an impact on this world but her family makes sure that she remains safe. “That's just what I mean. It's like that every minute. If I had a sister or a brother, there'd be someone else for them to watch. But, as it is, there's only me. I'm tired of being looked at all the time. I want to be by myself for a change […] I'm not exactly sure what I'd do, you know, but something interesting—something that's all mine. Something that would make some kind of difference in the world"(p.14). In this quote we can see that Winnie wants to break out of her protected shell, which is her parents. Similarly Wendy Darling has to go through the same struggle. Wendy too is raised in an oppressed house where soon she must find a husband and start her work life. “Tomorrow, [Wendy] will begin your instruction with Aunt Millicent. It's time for you to grow up!”(Mr.Darling). Both these characters want to stay young and want to explore the world around them. Winnie and Wendy are both not ready for adulthood but are looking for an adventure to change their lives and explore who they are and what they want to become of themselves. This is evident with the conversation Wendy has with her aunt Millicent. Wendy: “My unfulfilled ambition is to write a great novel in three parts about my adventures.” Aunt Millicent: “What adventures?” Wendy: “I've yet to have them, but they will be perfectly thrilling.”
In order to have the adventures both Winnie and Wendy meet very unique and interesting characters who help them explore and le...
