Peter and the Starcatchers

“Boys get into all sorts of trouble.”

Alf’s thought upon seeing Peter on deck of the Never Land foreshadows the adventure to follow, and humorously indicates Alf’s involvement. Though Alf, an old seaman, considers himself too grown up to be bothered by children, he will find that he has more in common with Peter and the orphaned boys than he assumes. 

“The shipping company, following sound business practices, had given Pembridge the most worthless ship, staffed with the most incompetent and disposable crew. […] It was Slank who ran the Never Land.”

Pembridge is so incompetent that his own shipping company will not trust him with anything but their most insignificant sailors and resources. However, the disorder and lack of leadership make the Never Land the perfect environment for Slank to smuggle the starstuff to King Zarboff III without raising suspicions. 

“Black Stache had no love for the Queen, no love for women of any sort, except for his ma. He had a real soft spot for his ma, and was truly sorry for the time he’d marooned her.”

Black Stache has no loyalty to anyone but himself. Barry and Pearson playfully portray the pirate’s ruthlessness through this casual mention of Black Stache’s murderous treatment of his own mother—the only person he claims to care for.

“How could a rat fly? What was going on in that hold? Why were they guarding it? Why was Molly down there? Had those been her eyes he’d seen in the dark? They had to have been! But what kind of person has eyes like that, eyes that glow in the dark? How on earth could a rat fly?”

Peter’s string of questions after encountering the flying rat while searching for food helps the reader to keep track of important details while communicating Peter’s awe and curiosity. Molly’s glowing eyes—which match those of her father Leonard—indicate her use of starstuff, and each of Peter’s questions will be answered in the coming chapters. 

“Peter noticed Molly on the other side of the circle. Their eyes met for a moment, then Peter looked away. Why do I always look away?”

Having encountered very few girls before Molly, Peter does not recognize his feelings for her as a crush. Molly intimidates and intrigues him; she is more confident than Peter and he admires her obvious intelligence.

“Molly squeaked and clicked (the clicks were the hardest) something back, which she hoped was ‘Hello.’ What she actually said was ‘My teeth are green,’ but the porpoise was too polite to point that out.”

Molly’s humorous mistake is repeated several times throughout the novel both for comic effect and to emphasize Molly’s inexperience. She is still training to be a Starcatcher, and her responsibilities threaten to exceed her skills. Thankfully, Molly has the full support of the other Starcatchers—human and porpoise both. 

“I see now that not all the rats on this ship are four-legged.”

Peter is hurt when Molly refuses to trust him with the secret of the trunk and lashes out at her in his disappointment. Peter’s angry words are more accurate than he realizes, however, as the dishonest Slank is also a “rat” aboard the Never Land.

“I don’t have much of a life now, and from what I’m told I’ll have even less where I’m going. If there’s something wonderful on this ship, I want to know what it is. This is my only chance, sir.”

Peter is determined to discover the secret of the trunk, no matter the cost. Peter’s rationale for his determination reveals to Alf the sadness and disappointment underneath his longing for adventure.

“Peter, have you ever seen a shooting star?”

Molly’s seemingly simple question launches her lengthy explanation of the history of starstuff, the Starcatchers, and the Others. Barry and Pearson set up the exposition to come from an intriguing yet accessible idea: Shooting stars are rare and special to encounter but provide a familiar entry to an unfamiliar idea. 

“‘All right, then,’ said Molly. ‘We’ll go toward the shout, but we’ll go quietly. Agreed?’ Peter said nothing. He wasn’t sure about taking orders from her.”

Although Peter likes and respects Molly, he remains competitive with her and unwilling to let go of his idea of himself as the leader. Peter’s petulance, even in situations of grave danger, indicates his immaturity and gives a playful tone to the novel even in its tensest scenes, such as this instance in which Molly and Peter are afraid that Fighting Prawn will kill Alf. 

“‘We’re not savages here,’ continued Fighting Prawn. ‘I know. I’ve seen savagery. I saw it often when I was a…guest of the British navy. I experienced it many times myself, at the wrong end of a whip. Oh yes, boy, I know what savagery is, and it’s not to be found here. Except when we have visitors.’”

Fighting Prawn takes offense at being called a “savage” and exposes the hypocrisy of the English, who consider themselves more civilized than the Native peoples they displace and enslave. Fearing for the safety and secrecy of his people, Fighting Prawn feels that he has no choice except to treat his English prisoners with the same ruthlessness he experienced while enslaved. Though his fears have legitimate basis, his strict enforcement of Mollusk law leaves no exception even for harmless children—replicating the conditions of enslaved children under European and American rule.

“Before they could act, Peter jumped over the wall to join his mates. And Mister Grin.”

Peter demonstrates extraordinary bravery and loyalty as he willingly joins his friends in Mr. Grin’s dangerous cave, rather than struggling to save himself. Barry and Pearson use Peter’s willingness to risk his life for others as evidence of his innate leadership and strength of character, even as he is simultaneously a competitive and playful child. 

“‘COME ON, YOU DEVIL!’ Alf was shouting. ‘COME ON AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN!’”

As the only adult, Alf believes that it is his responsibility to protect the boys from Mr. Grin. Barry and Pearson render Alf’s bravery humorously, as he demands that a giant reptile “fight like a man”—a silly impossibility that comes from a brave and dignified sentiment.

“Power is better than gold, men. Much better than gold. With the power this treasure gives you, you can have all the gold you want for the takin’.”

Black Stache’s interest in the trunk only grows when he realizes that it contains magic rather than treasure. Devious and corrupt, Black Stache represents exactly the kind of evildoer the Starcatchers fear: someone who lusts for power.

“‘YOU DON’T THINK!’ thundered Stache, causing Smee and the others to jump like a gaggle of puppets all attached to the same string. ‘I do the thinking, you understand?’”

Black Stache’s total command over his crew depends on tricking and manipulating the dim-witted pirates. As the pirates grow more apprehensive about tracking the magical trunk through the dangerous forest, Black Stache fears that they will begin to think for themselves. Here, Barry and Pearson use puppet imagery to indicate the totality of Black Stache’s influence over his crew, and his tendency to treat them as tools for his own purposes, rather than as human beings. 

“He tried to see her face, but the memory wouldn’t allow it. It felt more like a shadow, old and faded by the light.”

As Peter receives mouth-to-mouth resuscitation from Teacher, he remembers the woman who may be his mother. Barry and Pearson allude to J.M. Barrie’s Peter and Wendy by comparing the memory to a shadow; in Barrie’s novel, Peter Pan loses his shadow and longs to regain it, just as Barry and Pearson’s Peter longs to regain the memory of his mother’s kiss.

“Molly knew this was the moment: either she was a Starcatcher, or she wasn’t, and if she was, this was when she proved it, with or without Peter.”

Molly struggles throughout the novel with knowing what to do next, as she is still in training as a Starcatcher and used to relying on her father’s instructions. As she watches Slank prepare to sail away with the trunk, Molly is finally able to self-actualize, taking ownership of her bravery and accepting her responsibility as an individual—a very mature thing to do. 

“The great Leonard Aster. The great Starcatcher. Only he wasn’t so great, was he? Got on the wrong ship, he did. We fooled him good, the great Leonard Aster.”

Slank reveals himself as one of the Others to Molly and taunts her about tricking her father. His mention of Leonard’s reputation reinforces the epic scale of the centuries-old struggle between Starcatchers and the Others, and serves as a moment of irony: Slank will be tricked in a similarly simple way when Peter gives him an empty trunk. 

“‘He’s a good person,’ said Molly. ‘He did what he thought was right. You wouldn’t understand that.’”

Molly defends Peter when Slank calls him foolish for trading away the trunk. Molly’s retort is brave—Slank could easily harm her out of anger—and reveals her admiration for Peter’s strength of character, even as she disagrees with his decision.

“He stared back at the boy and the girl who had somehow defeated him. A boy and a girl.”

The repetition in this quote emphasizes the adult Slank’s disbelief that two children outsmarted him. Slank’s arrogance prevented him from recognizing Molly and Peter’s bravery and intelligence; because he did not respect the children, he never considered them a true threat.

“‘I dunno,’ said Peter. ‘I just know. I can feel her thoughts, and she can feel mine. Isn’t that incredible, Molly?’

‘Yes,’ said Molly, sounding quite unhappy, although Peter didn’t notice.”

Molly’s jealousy of Teacher’s telepathic connection to Peter, and Peter’s obliviousness to her jealousy, allude once more to J.M. Barrie’s characterization of Peter Pan, who never realizes that women have romantic interest in him. Unlike Peter Pan, however, Peter returns Molly’s affections; his obliviousness comes from inexperience, rather than indifference. 

“Peter, I feel a great weight of responsibility for this. If not for me—for us—none of this would have happened to you.”

Leonard Aster tries to persuade Peter to return to England by taking responsibility for Peter’s exposure to starstuff. By having Leonard, an accomplished adult and powerful Starcatcher, express how taking charge is a burden, Barry and Pearson posit that concern for others is the duty of good leadership.

“‘Because I’m not who I was,’ said Peter. ‘I’ve changed, Molly. I can do things now that I couldn’t do before. […] Here, on this island, I have the freedom to be who I am.’”

Peter explicitly refers to his new powers because of the starstuff, but his desire for freedom implies an emotional change as well. Peter has matured through his adventures, so a return to England would represent a reversal of the progress he has made from a witty but frightened orphan to a brave and capable boy.