The true inner child: Peter or Wendy?

[Alex B.]

If you compare both characters, who do you think really represents the inner child?
Peter really never grew up, but has both positive and negative characteristics of a child like grief and anger. Like I said in another post, maybe Wendy is the better metaphor, because she did grow up, but preserved her memories about Neverland and grew up being an adult, still enjoying the time she had, while Peter forgets everything sometime.
If everyone's inner child would be like Peter, you wouldn't even recognize your brother tomorrow.

Sorry, if that is indeed a popular interpretation. I just finished the book yesterday and not really looked up theories on the internet, before posting this.

[Teresa]

Independently of being a popular interpretation or not, is what you felt like after reading the book without external input.

In my opinion both are representations of the inner child - only Peter is more of a static object of analysis, whereas Wendy is dynamic - she moves through both worlds, compares and assesses them, she changes them.

Who is able of leaving a long lived impression on Never Land?
Peter, Wendy, Hook - and they all react to Peter as a frozen picture of rebellious boyish childhood.

Hook disappears, Peter changes slightly and then goes back to who he was before - but Wendy goes on while keeping everything from the past alive in her.

I suppose we could think of Wendy as either:
a) the main character (her reactions facing Peter as the embodiment of the childhood she has to abandon)
b) the scenario through which we adults can analise Peter as the embodiment of childhood, a strange sometimes scary and yet fascinating state we cannot quite relate to anymore

[Hannah]

Alex wrote: "If you compare both characters, who do you think really represents the inner child?
Peter really never grew up, but has both positive and negative characteristics of a child like grief and anger. L..."

What he said.