THE END OF CHILDHOODARCHETYPE

Falling Down and Growing Up

I won’t grow up!

But, we all must grow up.

PETER PAN (DISNEY SONG)

PETER PAN:

Repeat after me:I won't grow up,I don't want to go to school.Just to learn to be a parrot,And recite a silly rule.

If growing up meansIt would be beneath my

dignity to climb a tree,I'll never grow up, never

grow up, never grow upNot me!

I won't grow up,I don't want to wear a tie.And a serious expressionIn the middle of July.

And if it means I must prepare

To shoulder burdens with a worried air,

I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up

Not me! http://www.youtube.com/watch

?v=0FcrzfF3eYk

PETER PAN BY J.M. BARRIE OPENING LINES: All children, except one, grow up. They soon

know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this. One day when she was two years old she was playing in a garden, and she plucked another flower and ran with it to her mother. I suppose she must have looked rather delightful, for Mrs. Darling put her hand to her heart and cried, "Oh, why can't you remain like this for ever!" This was all that passed between them on the subject, but henceforth Wendy knew that she must grow up. You always know after you are two. Two is the beginning of the end.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

What does it mean to “grow up”?

What do we gain when we grow up?

What do we lose?

How will you know when you have “grown up”?

LET’S DEFINE SOME TERMS Innocence

Experience

DEFINITION: The End of Childhood archetype

represents:

The loss of innocence and the gaining of knowledge/experience

The end of the golden age or summer of our lives

The realization that the experience of evil, sorrow and harsh reality is unavoidable.

APPEARS IN LITERATURE ON 2 LEVELS The individual level

The societal level

INDIVIDUAL LEVEL Can you think of something that

might cause the End of Childhood for an individual?

  

LET’S LISTEN: The End of The Innocence by Don

Henley http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLON

gF8a_Ig

Do you know any other songs that speak to this archetype?

What about movies?

END OF CHILDHOOD ARCHETYPE ON THE SOCIETAL LEVEL Community-wide awareness of loss or

national shock In myth: a story that describes the

origin of evil

Can you think of some examples of the End of Childhood archetype on a societal level? (history, movies, etc.)

3 LOSS OF CHILDHOOD PROCESSES: Rites of passage: a transition from one

state to another

Initiation Rituals: a young person passes through certain tests or traditions and becomes an adult

Epiphany: the “aha!” moment. A realization that redefines the individual.

REFLECTION At what age did you realize Santa Claus,

the Easter Bunny, and/or the Tooth Fairy did not exist? How did this impact you?

At what age did you realize that your parents/guardians were fallible (not perfect beings)? How did this impact you?

At what age did you first realize that a friendship you had fostered was not what you thought it was (for some reason)? How did this impact you?

REFLECTION 2 Now that you are thinking about a time

when you lost some of your innocence, consider: Was it a sad situation or a happy one? Perhaps there is another adjective that should be used. Was your experience positive or negative?

Innocence and Experience: which do you prefer? Why?