# The Home Under the Ground explained — Peter and Wendy

> Chapter companion for Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie.

## What happens

Wendy and the boys settle into their underground home, where Wendy takes on a maternal role, cooking, sewing, and trying to keep the memory of their parents alive through examination papers. Peter invents a game of pretending not to have adventures, and the chapter describes various possible adventures, including battles with redskins, the Never bird, and Tinker Bell's attempt to float Wendy away. The chapter ends with a decision to tell the adventure of the lagoon.

## Themes in this chapter

### Childhood vs. Adulthood

Peter's game of pretending not to have adventures contrasts with Wendy's domestic duties, highlighting the tension between childish play and adult responsibilities.

### Motherhood and Family

Wendy fully embraces her role as mother to the Lost Boys, cooking, sewing, and trying to preserve memories of their real parents.

### Memory and Forgetting

Wendy and the boys struggle to remember their parents, as shown by the examination papers and the past-tense questions, indicating gradual forgetting.

## Character check-ins

### Peter Pan

Despises all mothers except Wendy; cannot write or spell; invents a game of pretending not to have adventures; often forgets his adventures; changes sides in fights.

### Wendy Darling

Acts as mother to the boys, cooking and sewing; sets examination papers to remind them of their parents; begins to forget her own parents; enjoys a breathing time after the boys go to bed.

### John Darling

Participates in the examination papers but makes many crosses; remembers his parents only vaguely.

### Michael Darling

Willing to believe Wendy is his real mother; participates in the games and examinations.

### Slightly

The only boy who replies to every question on the examination, but his answers are ridiculous and he comes out last.

### Tootles

Participates in the redskin battle, declaring himself a redskin at Peter's command.

## Key lines

> For one thing he despised all mothers except Wendy, and for another he was the only boy on the island who could neither write nor spell; not the smallest word.

Peter hated all mothers except Wendy, and he was the only boy on the island who couldn't write or spell at all.

_Highlights Peter's unique disdain for mothers and his illiteracy._

> Make-believe was so real to him that during a meal of it you could see him getting rounder.

Pretend food was so convincing to Peter that he actually appeared to grow fuller during a make-believe meal.

_Illustrates Peter's immersive imagination._

> Wendy, you see, had been forgetting too.

Wendy was also starting to forget her own parents.

_Shows the gradual erosion of memory even in Wendy._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/peter_and_wendy_se/chapters/vii-the-home-under-the-ground
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/peter_and_wendy_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/peter_and_wendy_se/chapters