Was Barrie a Socialist?
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44UR English mistress is crazy about James 0 Barrie," said Maggie's niece Charlotte. "What do you think she, has set us for our holiday essay? "
"Barrie is not a writer whose 'progress I have watched with all that interest," said Cromwell. "I did once see ' Mary Rose.' It was about a character who disappeared for several years, and then turned up about as opportunely as an ex-haulier looking for his old business. Then I wasitold all Barrie's plays were about people who got lost, or did not exist, or went away for long periods. I took it he was being unkind to London Transport, or British Road Services, and crossed him off my list. Too much of that sort of weak political satire goes on."
"Stop teasing Lottie," said Maggie, "and let her tell us what she has to do.
"If Uncle only knows 'Mary Rose,'" said Charlotte, "he may not be able to help much. Miss Entwistle wants us to discuss the use of symbolism in 'Peter Pan.'" "I thought that was by Walt Disney," said Cromwell. "All the same, I am not bad at symbolism, so let me see what I can do. How does the plot go?"
"Peter takes Wendy and the children to join the little lost boys in the Never-never Land," said Charlotte. "They fight the pirates, make friends with the Indians, and live in a hole under a tree."
"There's a symbol straight away," said Cromwell. "You always find a cave in these pantomime stories, and of course that is a pushover for the psycho-analysis boys."
"I am not sure that Miss Entwistle knows all she should about Freud." Charlotte demurred.
One of Maggie's Looks "There are plenty Of other interpretations," Cromwell went on hurriedly, having found himself the target for one of Maggie's looks. " I expect the little lost boys are hauliers, in which case the cave represents the 25-mile ,limit. Or they may be the Thesiger Committee—who did seem to be lost at one time—and the cave represents their somewhat restricted terms of reference, which nevertheless suited them down to the ground, or even lower. To settle the problem, perhaps I should know alit& more about this Pan character."
"He. never, grows up," said Charlotte, "and he very kindly teaches Wendy and the children to fly." "Then, he must be a Conservative Minister of Transport—and of Civil Aviation," said Cromwell. "And in that case the children must be the hauliers—the 'little men,' of course—to whom he has given their freedom."
"In the film," I said, "he makes them fly by sprinkling them with a kind of stardust, or fairy powder, which will be coming on the market any day now under the trade name of 'Levy-tation.' " 'And the Never-never Land is easily explained," said Cromwell. "Most of the little men will be getting their transport units on the never-never, and it looks as if we may have to get our roads in the same way."
"Very good so far, Uncle," said Charlotte. "'Now tell me what is meant by the shadow."
"It can only be' the threat of renationalization."
"Not that shadow," I said. "Lottie is referring to an incident at the beginning. Wendy shuts Peter's a16 shadow in a drawer, and the adventures start when he comes to look for it."
"In that case," said Cromwell, "it must represent the Conservative pledge to denationalize."
"But Wendy sews the shadow on for him," said Charlotte.
"That is just what the hauliers did," said Cromwell. `' Pinned the p/edge on to the Conservatives. Is there nothing about the last General Election? Who put the Minister among the hauliers in the first place?"
"I always think that part is a bit soppy," said Charlotte. "There is a nurse who is a dog called Nana, and owing to a misunderstanding the children's father sends her out of the nursery down to the doghouse in disgrace."
Going on the Spree "Now things become clearer," said Cromwell. "Nana is the Labour Party, and the misunderstanding was the last election. With the Socialists out of the way, there is nothing to stop the hauliers from going on the spree. Is there no good fairy to watch over them?"
"Only Tinkerbell," said Charlotte, "and she is not altogether good. For one thing, she does not like Wendy and the children."
"Natural enough," said Cromwell. "She is the symbol of the British Transport • Commission, and cannot be expected to like people who take things from her. Tell me some more about this not unattractive character."
"She talks to Peter by ringing a bell, and he has to explain to everybody what .she has said."
"Is that not just like the B.T.C. and the Minister?"
"When the pirates try to poison Peter, she saves his life by drinking the poison, and only keeps alive because the boys and girls in the audience say they believe in fairies. A little mawkish, I think," Charlotte added.
"But a beautiful touch, all the same," said Cromwell. "What could be more dramatic than the B.T.C. coming to the rescue of the Minister, and then languishing until the .customers in the front stalls affirm their 'belief in integration? And the pirates must represent the abstractors of traffic, operating Under the Jolly Roger of the C-hiring margin, or under no licence at all."
"You have forgotten the Indians," I said.
"Not for one moment," said Cromwell. "They are the Licensing Authorities; friendly to the hauliers on the whole, and opposed to the pirates; but lacking enough staff to guard against anybody poisoning the Minister's cup of tea."
"The pirates are not very much -frightened of the Indians," said Charlotte. "In fact, Captain Hook fears only Peter and the crocodile."
"A symbol, no doubt, of the abolition of the 25-mile limit at the end of next year," said Cromwell.
" The crocodile has swallowed an alarm clock," said Charlotte, "and it keeps ticking inside him."
"To mark the passage of time," said Cromwell. "You see how well it all fits in. Denationalization is nothing but a bad case of infantile regression. Barrie tries not to reveal his own opinions, but I expect he had to do so in the end. What happened anyway?" The children go back and leave Peter in the Nevernever Land."
"So we can see plainly enough where Barrie's sympathies lay," said Cromwell.