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Occasionally in her travels through her children's minds Mrs. Darling found things she could not understand, and of these quite the most perplexing was the word Peter. She knew of no Peter, and yet he was here and there in John and Michael's minds, while Wendy's began to be scrawled all over with him. The name stood out in bolder letters than any of the other words, and as Mrs. Darling gazed she felt that it had an oddly cocky appearance. 'Yes, he is rather cocky,' Wendy admitted with regret. Her mother had been questioning her.

J. M. Barrie#26

FamilyChildrenMystery

About this quote

What does it mean?
Mrs. Darling notices her children are obsessed with the name Peter, which appears boldly in their thoughts.
In plain terms
Mrs. Darling finds her children thinking so much about Peter that his name stands out in their minds.
What can you take from it?
Obsessive names can dominate a child's mind.

Where it applies

  • parental concern
  • child development
  • reading literature

Putting it to work

  • parenting
  • story analysis

Questions to consider

  • What names dominate your child's thoughts?
  • How do you handle external influence?

Another view

It implies parental anxiety over external influences is normal.

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