FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE IN PETER PAN

KETWARIN SAIPHUNKHAM

An Independent Study Submitted to University of Phayao

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
 for Bachelor of Arts Degree in English
November 2021
Copyright 2021 by University of Phayao

ACKNOWNLEDGEMENT
First of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks to
Miss. Kulthida Khamme, my research advisor for her guidance,
knowledge, advice, suggestions, and useful critiques for
completing this research. Her support and helps delighted
me in keeping my progress on schedule and also give the
advice to analyze and solve when I have a big problem.
Without her fruitful suggestions, this research will not be
complete.
Finally, and most importantly, I am very grateful for my
family who supports me during the research procedure. In
addition, I feel thankful to my friends who help me to peer
review this research writing.

Ketwarin
Saiphunkham
 Title: Figurative Language in Peter Pan
Author: Ketwarin Saiphunkham, Independent study
B.A. (English),
University of Phayao, 2020.
Advisor: Miss Kultida Khammee
Keywords: Figurative Language, Novel, Peter Pan

ABSTRACT
This study aimed to Determine the types of
figurative language in Peter Pan Novels and provide the
details of each type of figurative language used in the
novel. The samples in this study were selected from all
chapters of the Peter Pan novel. This research was mix-
method research including quantitative analysis from the
occurrence in the use of figurative language in the novel
and qualitative analysis by using content analysis. The
researcher found that there are four types of figurative
language used in the novel. They are simile,
personification, metaphor and hyperbole. figurative
language is used to express the deep meanings in the
context and more beautiful.
Key words: figurative language, analysis, novel.
 Introduction
This chapter presents the background of the study,
objectives, scope of the study, significant of the study.
Figurative language is the way how to create the
gorgeous words, phrases in language. It used to show and
indicate the exceptional meanings in the texts. Figurative
language must be clarified in literal form. It is usually used in
writing work such as novel, book, or song to express the
writer feeling and imagination through their language.
In this study, the researcher selected the Peter pan
fiction to study. Peter pan is very famous work fiction of J.M.
Barrie who is a Scottish novelist and playwright. Peter Pan is a
boy who is mischievous, innocent and never grow up. He can
fly and adventure on the Neverland with his friends. Peter
pan was published in 1904 as a play and 1911 as a novel.
J.M. Barrie had written the story of Peter Pan inspiring by his
adopted children whose name is Sylvia and Arthur. He used
their name as characters in the story. He became famous
after publishing his work, Peter pan. After his death, he
transferred the Peter pan of the copyright to Great Ormond
Street Children's Hospital. The best known of Peter Pan was
appeared as animated film named Return to Neverland in
1953 by Walt Disney Animation Studio. Peter Pan also
appears in Kingdom Hearts Series as a video game in the
same year and become a traditional symbol of youthful
innocent who never grow up and dreamlike which can be
linked to Peter Pan Syndrome (1983). It is about the truth of
growing up to be adult not to be eternal youth in children’s
thought.

This study intended to study on figurative language used

in Peter pan by using the theoretical framework of figurative
language that employed from the book of Knickerbocker &
Reninger (1963) and Keskomon & Tipayasuparat (2015) which
consists of Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, Personification, and
Onomatopoeia.

Objectives
 1. To Determine the types of figurative used in Peter Pan
of J.M. Barrie
2. To provide the details of words or sentence with respect
to figurative language in Peter Pan
The scope of the study
The study focuses on the types of figurative language
used in Peter Pan which based on the theoretical framework
of Knickerbocker & Reninger (1963) and Keskomon &
Tipayasuparat (2015) which consists of Simile, Metaphor,
Hyperbole, Personification, and Onomatopoeia.
Significance of the Study
This study has provided new developing knowledge
about figurative language which has changed all the time
with new language.
The results of the study can be applied to improve the
learners’ critical thinking, especially in the English novel. The
researcher hope that this study can inspire further studies
about the figurative language.
Method of research
The data are analyzed by the used of figurative
language. It is to find the types of figurative language in the
Peter Pan written by J.M. Barrie.
Review of related study
 1. WINDI DAMAYANTI (2018), he analyzed about “THE
ANALYSIS OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGES USED IN THE
NOVEL THE BOOK OF FORBIDDEN FEELINGS WRITTEN
BY LALA BOHANG”. The result had found that there
are five types of figurative language in the novel
which are simile, personification, metaphor,
apostrophe, and hyperbole. Metaphor is often found
in the novel.
2. Mohammad Harun and the researcher (2020), they
had analyzed “Figurative language used in a novel by
Arafat Nur on the Aceh conflict”. This novel is about
the 32 years of conflict between Indonesian
government and the Free Aceh Movement. The result
had found that there are simile 32 occurrences, satire
22, hyperbole 18, metonymy 16, metaphor 13,
sarcasm 11, synecdoche 9, personification and irony
(each with 8 occurrences), and with litotes 6.

Definition of key terms

Figurative language : refer to the used to express the
literal meanings by the words, sentences
or phrases. It usually used in the written
work to make the language more
beautiful.
Novel : the written book length which show the
characters and action and events with the
narrative language.
Discussion
There are five types of figurative language which are
simile, metaphor, personification and hyperbole as followed
Types of figurative language
1. Simile is the comparing between the two dissimilar
things by using the word “like, as or as if”. For
example, Barrie is white as a cotton.
2. Metaphor is implicit comparison about two unlike
things without using the word “like or as”. For
example, one hundred is nothing.
3. Personification is to make the things or non-human to
be a live as human’s characters. For example, eat
until happiness hit your dust.
4. Symbolism is a literary device that uses symbols, be
they words, people, marks, locations, or abstract ideas
 to represent something beyond the literal meaning.
For example, 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.

Chapter 2
Review of previous studies
Review of previous studies
The first research’s name is Figurative language used in a
novel by Arafat Nur on the Aceh conflict written by
Mohammad Harun and the other researcher (2020). The
writer studied about the figurative language used in the novel
“Burung Terbang di Kelam Malam” (hereafter, BTKM, or
translated as ‘A Bird Flies in The Dark of Night’), written by
Arafat Nur in 2014. The story was about the conflict between
Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement. The
findings were found that the most figurative language used is
simile for 32 times followed by satire for 22 times, hyperbole
for 18 times, metonymy for 16 times, metaphor for 13 times,
sarcasm for 11 times, synecdoche for 9 times and 8 times for
irony and personification. They summarized that the least
was found in the novel is litotes for 6 times.
The second journal is written by WINDI DAMAYANTI
(2018) named “THE ANALYSIS OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGES
USED IN THE NOVEL THE BOOK OF FORBIDDEN FEELINGS
WRITTEN BY LALA BOHANG”. The target of this journal is to
find types of figurative language used in novel book named
FORBIDDEN FEELINGS WRITTEN BY LALA BOHANG. The result
is there are five types found in the book, which are simile for
5 numbers, personification for 7 numbers, metaphor for 8
numbers, apostrophe for 1 apostrophe, and hyperbole for 3
numbers. The most figurative language used found is
metaphor.
The third is “AN ANALYSIS OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGES
USED IN COELHOS’S NOVEL ENTITLED “ALCHEMIST” written
by Trisna Dinillah Harya. The objective of this study is to
indicate and find types of figurative language used and
contextual meanings in the book. The finding was found that
there are mostly 70 sentences found in the book. There are
42.9% of simile, 27 items or 38.6% of personification, 12
items or 17.1% of metaphor, and 1 item or 1.4% of
hyperbole. The researcher had summarized that the most
figurative language used in the book is simile. The researcher
found that the figurative language is very crucial for novel to
entertain and interested the reader when reading novel.
The last is “ANALYSIS ENGLISH FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE IN
NOVEL “LITTLE MEN” BY LOUISE MAY ALCOTT”, written by
Arsyani, Albert Rufinus and Eni Rosnija. The object of this
research is to find figurative language used which are simile
and metaphor in the book. The result is there are 21
figurative languages found in the book which are 33.06% of
metaphors and 66.94 % of simile. This led to the conclusion
that there mostly are comparison found in the book. This
makes the language used in the “LITTLE MEN” novel is more
beautiful and passion.

Definition of Key terms

There are many key terms in this study to understand
all the information as below:
Figurative language: refer to the used to express the
literal meanings by the words, sentences
or phrases. It usually used in the written
work to make the language more
beautiful.
Novel: the written book length which show the
characters and action and events with the
narrative language.

Theoretical Framework
This part discusses about figurative language. There are
divided into three part which are figurative language
definition, the theory of figurative language from
Knickerbocker & Reninger (1963).

Figurative language
Figurative language is the used of language that showed
the literal meanings. As Mohammad Harun and the
researcher said that Figurative language is giving an effect to
language that is considered ordinary or standard and these
figures are essential to the way we think and perceive the
world. Figurative language is the way to express one’s feeling
with context as Sakadolskis (2003, p. 24), “figurative language
expresses one thing in terms normally denoting another with
which it may be regarded as analogous”.

The figurative language theory of Knickerbocker &

Reninger (1963)
1. Simile is the comparing between the two dissimilar
things by using the word “like as or as if”. For
example, Barrie is white as a cotton.
2. Metaphor is implicit comparison about two unlike
things without using the word “like or as”. For
example, one hundred is nothing.
3. Personification is to make the things or non-human to
be a live as human’s characters. For example, eat
until happiness hit your dust.
4. Symbolism is a literary device that uses symbols, be
they words, people, marks, locations, or abstract ideas
to represent something beyond the literal meaning.
For example, the flower symbolizes Wendy’s
childhood and innocence. Wendy's inability to resist
plucking the flower symbolizes that her fate is out of
her control. Although she does not grow up at this
precise moment, her instinct to pluck the flower is a
metaphor that foreshadows her inability to stay young
forever.

Chapter 3
 FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE IN PETER PAN
Introduction
This chapter will discuss about data analysis and the
analysis of figurative language used in Peter Pan which used
the Knickerbocker & Reninger (1963) of theory.
A. Research design
The objective of this research is to find the types of
figurative language in Peter Pan written by J.M. Barrie by using
the free online book from Free classic E-book and indicate
what types of frequency of figurative language used
conducted by Knickerbocker & Reninger (1963) of classified
figurative theory.
B. Data collection
The data was based on the Knickerbocker & Reninger
(1963) of theory.
The progress had showed below;
1. The researcher uses the free online book of Peter Pan
from Free classic E-book online. com
2. The researcher read all the content of Peter Pan to
understand the plot of and the characters of the
movie
 3. The researcher collects the words, phrase or
sentences to analyze and indicate the types of
figurative language
C. The instrument of research
The instrument of this research is observing the
information from the novel. The observing is to review
all the context to gathering information. This method
helps the researcher to spend less time review all the
chapter.

Chapter 4

This chapter reviewed about the analysis and discussion

about types of figurative language in Peter Pan novel.
A. Finding

Analysis of the figurative language

 1. Simile
A simile is a figure of speech that makes a collation,
performance similarities between two dissimilar things. It
is schemed to appoint an unusual, interesting,
sensational, or other effects often using words for
instance “like”, “as”, and “than”, or by a verb as
“appears” or “seems”. It is a comparative relation of
one thing with another.

For example:
- Her romantic mind was like the tiny boxes, one
within the other, that come from the puzzling East,
however many you discover there is always one
more; and her sweet mocking mouth had one kiss on
it that Wendy could never get, though there it was,
perfectly conspicuous in the right-hand corner.

Based on the type of simile, the quotation above is

categorized as simile because the author intends to compare
Mrs. Darling’s mind to matryoshka nesting dolls. These dolls
appear as one large doll, but it can be opened to reveal
smaller dolls inside of smaller dolls. The simile implies that
Mrs. Darling’s mind is full of sweet and romantic surprises.
(CHAPTER 1: PETER BREAKS THOUGH)
 - They sat thus night after night recalling that fatal
Friday, till every detail of it was stamped on their
brains and came through on the other side like the
faces on a bad coinage.
Based on the type of simile, the quotation above is
categorized as simile because the author intends to compare
the idea that Mr. and Mrs. Darling have rehearsed and
remembered the events of the night many times, and each
time they seem to find more blame for themselves. It is
likely an allusion to the adage that a “bad penny always
turns up,” meaning mistakes return to haunt the people who
make them. (CHAPTER 2: THE SHADOW)

- Michael was up by this time also, looking as sharp as

a knife with six blades and a saw, but Peter
suddenly signed silence.
Based on the type of simile, the quotation above is
categorized as simile because the author intends to compare
Michael's readiness for adventure with the keen edge of a
sharp blade. "Sharp" has connotations of being quick-minded
and ready for action. Perhaps the narrator chooses to over-
explain Michael’s readiness because Michael is the youngest
of the children and most willing to adventure. (CHAPTER 3:
COME AWAY, COME AWAY!)

- In a moment they were as busy as tailors the night

before a wedding.
Based on the type of simile, the quotation above is
categorized as simile because the author intends to compare
the Lost Boys are extremely busy. Tailors are responsible for
creating, mending, and altering clothing, so they would likely
have a lot of work to frantically get ready the night before a
wedding. (CHAPTER 6: THE LITTLE HOUSE)

- This had got on Hook's nerves; it made his iron claw

twitch, and at night it disturbed him like an insect.
Based on the type of simile, the quotation above is
categorized as simile because the author intends to compare
how Peter bothers Hook in a nagging sort of way, much like
an insect annoys a larger creature. This strong simile conveys
the way in which Peter and Hook are enemies by still
considering the fact that Peter is a child and Hook is an angry
grown up. (CHAPTER 12: THE CHILDREN ARE CARRIED OFF)
 - "I feel that I have a message to you from your real
mothers, and it is this: 'We hope our sons will die
like English gentlemen.'"
Based on the type of simile, the quotation above is
categorized as simile because the author intends to compare
on the Jolly Roger, Wendy delivers a message to the Lost
Boys who are on the brink of death. The message is an
imagined one from their real mothers, and it is the hope that
they will die "like English gentlemen." This simile represents
the fact that Wendy wants the Lost Boys to die with dignity.
(CHAPTER 14: THE PIRATE SHIP)

- All the boys were plucked from their trees in this

ruthless manner; and several of them were in the air
at a time, like bales of goods flung from hand to
hand.

Based on the type of simile, the quotation above is

categorized as simile because the author intends to compare
creates an image of the pirates carelessly tossing the boys
around as if they were simply objects. (CHAPTER 13: DO
YOU BELIEVE IN FAIRIES?)

2. Metaphor
 A metaphor is the expression of an understanding
one concept in terms of another concept, where there is
some similarity or correlation between the two.
Metaphor compares two unlike things, but metaphor
does not use the words “like” or “as”. It is implicit
comparison.
For example:
- It is the nightly custom of every good mother after her
children are asleep to rummage in their minds and put
things straight for next morning, repacking into their proper
places the many articles that have wandered during the day.
The sentence above is categorized as metaphor. This
metaphor shows how parents talk to their children before
bed. Parents are supposed to protect children, so when
things go wrong, they talk to them and make things right.
Children’s sense of wonder is a prevalent theme in the story,
and sleep represents the travels from the real world to
Neverland: the world of children’s dreams. (CHAPTER 1:
PETER BREAKS THOUGH)

- "I shall know when you give it to me," he replied stiffly,

and not to hurt his feeling she gave him a thimble.
 The sentence above is categorized as metaphor. This
metaphor is the result of a misunderstanding. Peter does not
know what a kiss is, and thinks that it is a physical object, so
when Wendy offers to give him a kiss, he holds out his hand
as if waiting for her to give him something. She gives him a
thimble, calling it a kiss, and an actual kiss gets referred to as
a thimble. (CHAPTER 1: PETER BREAKS THOUGH)

- Then all went on their knees, and holding out their

arms cried, "O Wendy lady, be our mother."
The sentence above is categorized as metaphor. When
Wendy arrives in Never Land, the Lost Boys ask her to be
their mother, and she becomes a metaphorical stand-in for
mothers in general. She is not the literal mother to the Lost
Boys, but she assumes the role, and their calling her their
mother makes it so. (CHAPTER 6: THE LITTLE HOUSE)

- The crocodile passed him, but not another living

thing, not a sound, not a movement; and yet he
knew well that sudden death might be at the next
tree, or stalking him from behind.

The sentence above is categorized as metaphor. Recall

how the crocodile is a metaphor for how time consumes
people. In this instance, the crocodile walks past him and
Peter is unable to notice anything else. Perhaps this
represents how Peter’s only fear is the progression of time.
(CHAPTER 13: DO YOU BELIEVE IN FAIRIES?)

- "Quiet, you scugs," he cried, "or I'll cast anchor in

you;" and at once the din was hushed. "Are all the
children chained, so that they cannot fly away?"

The sentence above is categorized as metaphor, shows

how Hook wants the children to lose their imaginations
before they die. Recall earlier when Peter teaches the Darling
children to fly, telling them to fly they just need to believe.
Keeping them in chains and preventing them from flying is
symbolic of ruining their ability to believe. (CHAPTER 14:
THE PIRATE SHIP)

- It was his grimmest deed since the days when he had

brought Barbecue to heel; and knowing as we do how
vain a tabernacle is man, could we be surprised had
he now paced the deck unsteadily, bellied out by the
winds of his success?
 The sentence above is categorized as metaphor. Barrie
uses this metaphor to describe how the reader might expect
Hook to act while walking on the deck of his ship after
capturing Wendy and the Lost Boys. He writes, "With Peter
surely at last removed from his path we, who know how vain
a tabernacle is man, would not be surprised to find him
bellied out by the winds of his success, but it is not so; he is
still uneasy, looking long and meaninglessly at familiar
objects, such as the ship's bell or the Long Tom, like one
who may shortly be a stranger to them." This metaphor is
hypothetical, a suggestion that while we might expect Hook
to be self-satisfied about having kidnapped the boys and
defeated Pan, turning himself into a "vain" "tabernacle," this is
not the case with Hook. (CHAPTER 14: THE PIRATE SHIP)

- "I'm youth, I'm joy," Peter answered at a venture,

"I'm a little bird that has broken out of the egg."
The sentence above is categorized as metaphor. In his
fight with Hook on the deck of the Jolly Roger, Peter utters
this confident cry. He proclaims that he is youth, that he is
joy, and that he is a bird coming out of an egg. These
metaphors make him seem all the more confident and
triumphant, and are images that suggest birth and victory.
(CHAPTER 15: "HOOK OR ME THIS TIME")

3. Personification
A personification is the idea or act of making non-human
or animal to have a human quality which are feeling, action,
conscious. The writer usually uses this method to express
feeling through the written work especially in children novel
to create their imagination.
For example
- “When you wake in the morning, the naughtiness and
evil passions with which you went to bed have been
folded up small and placed at the bottom of your
mind and on the top, beautifully aired, are spread out
your prettier thoughts, ready for you to put on”

Based on the types of personification, the quotation

above is categorized as personification because the meaning
of the quotation is about telling Mrs. Darling tidying up her
children before going to bed. The author described the
mother hood in Mrs. Darling that she had a good sense of
mother to take care of her children like others. She prepared
her children before new day coming. The author described
how prissy Mrs. Darling by using the word “the naughtiness
and evil passions” which was tidied by Mrs. Darling. (Chapter
1)

- “He heard the water gurgle greedily as it rose to

nibble on the rock.”
Based on the types of personification, the quotation
above is categorized as personification because the meaning
of the quotation is about how the writer use the
personification which are types of figurative language to
illustrate the rock to be lived by using the word “gurgle
greedily” to describe how the water was running when it
came to the rock. the word “he” presented to Peter Pan
while he was in the lagoon with Wendy and the mermaid.
After Wendy and Peter Pan were injured by Hook and his
clerk, the hook and his clerk moved to the Marooner’s Rock
to find them. Peter Pan and Wendy knew that they had
come nearby them. Peter Pan and Wendy needed to move
before the water came and the rock would get shrink in time.
(Chapter 10)
 - “There was a gleam of legs, and instantly the lagoon
seemed deserted. Marooners' Rock stood alone in the
forbidding waters as if it were itself marooned”.

Based on the types of personification, the quotation

above is categorized as personification because the meaning
of the quotation is about describe the Lagoon islands. It
located on Neverland where the mermaid lived in. the
author described the Marooners’ Rock to be alive by using
the word “stood alone” which acted as human characteristic.
While Peter and his crew were resting on the Marooners’
Rock, the pirate’s boat came nearer to them. They woke up
and move it as possible as if the rock was deserted and kept
silent. (Chapter 8)

- “They had caught her boarding the pirate ship with a

knife in her mouth. No watch was kept on the ship, it
being Hook's boast that the wind of his name guarded
the ship for a mile around. Now her fate would help
to guard it also.”

Based on the types of personification, the quotation

above is categorized as personification because the meaning
of the quotation is about describe Tiger Lilly was caught by
the Hook. The Hook used her to trace him to find Peter Pan.
She knew her destination that she might be died. She hoped
that her fate would protect her because she was one of the
daughter’s tribes of the Neverland. The writer uses the
sentence “the fate would help or guard her in time”. The
fate is abstract which the author made to be lived to protect
Tiger Lilly. (Chapter 8)

- “This is a difficult question, because it is quite

impossible to say how time does wear on in the
Neverland, where it is calculated by moons and suns
and there are ever so many more of them that on the
mainland”

Based on the types of personification, the quotation

above is categorized as personification because the meaning
of the quotation is about the Neverland time. Wendy thought
of her parents and her Nana. Peter Pan told her about the
Neverland that when she came here, she never knew about
the time how long she left them behind because the time in
Neverland never stopped. Peter said he had been here for
long time. The author used the word “the moon and the
sun” to illustrate that there was time that can count on by
the moon and the sun. The moon and the sun are abstract
which the author made to be lived. (Chapter 7)
 - “They were his dogs snapping at him, but, tragic figure
though he had become, he scarcely heeded them.
Against such fearful evidence it was not their belief in
him that he needed, it was his own. He felt his ego
slipping from him. "Don't desert me, bully," he
whispered hoarsely to it”.

Based on the types of personification, the quotation

above is categorized as personification because the meaning
of the quotation is about Hook’s fear of the unknown sound.
After Tiger Lilly was caught by Hook, they ran the boat to find
the Redskin. Peter Pan saw them and wanted to help Tiger
Lilly by shouting to them. Peter Pan imitated Hook sound to
let Tiger Lilly go. They were arguing between Hook and Peter
Pan. The making sound of Peter made Hook fear. The author
used the Hook’s feeling like ego that alive. The author
described Hook’s character to be ego or it could say that he
had high confident. Hook feared of the sound, so he told his
ego that did not leave him. (Chapter 8)

3. Symbolism
 Is a literary device that uses symbols, be they
words, people, marks, locations, or abstract ideas to
represent something beyond the literal meaning.

- 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.
The flower symbolizes Wendy’s childhood and
innocence. Wendy's inability to resist plucking the flower
symbolizes that her fate is out of her control. Although
she does not grow up at this precise moment, her
instinct to pluck the flower is a metaphor that
foreshadows her inability to stay young forever.
(Chapter 1)

- It was a girl called Tinker Bell exquisitely gowned in

a skeleton leaf, cut low and square, through which
her figure could be seen to the best advantage.
Tinker Bell is a small fairy, often described as a ball of
light, who always follows Peter. Fairies are born when
babies are born, and they die any time a child claims
that fairies do not exist. In this way, fairies are symbols
of children’s imaginations. (Chapter 3)
 - "No. You see children know such a lot now, they
soon don't believe in fairies, and every time a child says,
`I don't believe in fairies,' there is a fairy somewhere that
falls down dead."
Fairies are symbolic of children’s imaginations, so when
a child proclaims that they no longer believe in fairies and a
fairy dies, their sense of wonder and imagination have also
gone. Peter never wants to lose his imagination and never
will because he is constantly interacting with fairies. (Chapter
3)

- "Oh," cried Wendy, "to see a mermaid!"

Wendy dreams of seeing a mermaid, and Peter uses this
to try to lure her to Neverland. In the story, Neverland
symbolizes children’s ideal reality, a place where dreams
become reality. (Chapter 3)

- "Second to the right, and straight on till morning."

These directions to Neverland don’t really have any
literal significance, meaning there is no way to actually follow
this to any location. Since Neverland is a place where
children do not grow old and never gain any responsibility,
these impossible directions symbolize how growing old is out
of people’s control. (Chapter 4)

- Want of practice, they called it; but what it really

meant was that they no longer believed.
Peter was right all along. While the children had
personally experienced Neverland, they quickly forget it
when put into the real world. This symbolizes how easily
people lose memories of childhood because of brain
maturation. In forgetting these memories, they also forget the
carefree and adventure-driven lifestyle they loved when they
were young. (Chapter 17)

- "But, alas, he forgot all about me," Wendy said it

with a smile. She was as grown up as that.
Peter symbolizes eternal youth, so his ability to forget
Wendy parallels her ability to forget her adventurous, young
self. In Neverland, dreams become reality, but back home
dreams vanish and reality takes hold. Once Wendy became
fully immersed into the real world where she was to grow
up, her imagination and memories of Peter fade. (Chapter
17)
 CHAPTER 1: PETER BREAKS THOUGH
 Simile is the comparing between the two dissimilar
things by using the word “like as or as if”.
- Her romantic mind was like the tiny boxes, one
within the other, that come from the puzzling East,
however many you discover there is always one
more; and her sweet mocking mouth had one kiss on
it that Wendy could never get, though there it was,
perfectly conspicuous in the right-hand corner.
- Mrs. Darling was married in white, and at first, she kept
the books perfectly, almost gleefully, as if it were a
game, not so much as a Brussels sprout was missing;
but by and by whole cauliflowers dropped out, and
instead of them there were pictures of babies without
faces.
- You would see her on her knees, I expect, lingering
humorously over some of your contents, wondering
where on earth you had picked this thing up, making
 discoveries sweet and not so sweet, pressing this to
her cheek as if it were as nice as a kitten, and
hurriedly stowing that out of sight.

 Metaphor is implicit comparison about two unlike

things without using the word “like or as”. For
example, one hundred is nothing.
- It is the nightly custom of every good mother after
her children are asleep to rummage in their minds
and put things straight for next morning, repacking
into their proper places the many articles that have
wandered during the day.
- "I shall know when you give it to me," he replied
stiffly, and not to hurt his feeling she gave him a
thimble.
- It is quite like tidying up drawers.
- He was accompanied by a strange light, no bigger
than your fist, which darted about the room like a
living thing and I think it must have been this light
that wakened Mrs. Darling.
- If you or I or Wendy had been there we should
have seen that he was very like Mrs. Darling's kiss.
 Personification is to make the things or non-human
to be a live as human’s characters. For example, eat
until happiness hit your dust.
 Symbolism is a literary device that uses symbols, be
they words, people, marks, locations, or abstract
ideas to represent something beyond the literal
meaning.
- 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.

CHAPTER 2: THE SHADOW

 Simile is the comparing between the two dissimilar
things by using the word “like as or as if”.
- They sat thus night after night recalling that fatal
Friday, till every detail of it was stamped on their
brains and came through on the other side like the
faces on a bad coinage.
- Mrs. Darling screamed, and, as if in answer to a bell,
the door opened, and Nana entered, returned from
her evening out. It was dreadful the way all the three
were looking at him, just as if they did not admire
him.
 - It was dreadful the way all the three were looking at
him, just as if they did not admire him.
They were crowding round the house, as if curious to
see what was to take place there, but she did not
notice this, nor that one or two of the smaller ones
winked at her.

 Metaphor is implicit comparison about two unlike

things without using the word “like or as”. For
example, one hundred is nothing.
- They would sit there in the empty nursery, recalling
fondly every smallest detail of that dreadful evening.
It had begun so uneventfully, so precisely like a
hundred other evenings, with Nana putting on the
water for Michael's bath and carrying him to it on her
back.
- "It was then that I rushed in like a tornado, wasn't
it?" Mr. Darling would say, scorning himself; and
indeed he had been like a tornado.

 Personification is to make the things or non-human

to be a live as human’s characters. For example, eat
until happiness hit your dust.
 CHAPTER 3: COME AWAY, COME AWAY!
 Simile is the comparing between the two dissimilar
things by using the word “like as or as if”.
- Michael was up by this time also, looking as sharp as
a knife with six blades and a saw, but Peter
suddenly signed silence.

 Metaphor is implicit comparison about two unlike

things without using the word “like or as”. For
example, one hundred is nothing.
- If he thought at all, but I don't believe he ever
thought, it was that he and his shadow, when brought
near each other, would join like drops of water, and
when they did not he was appalled.
- "How awful!" she said, but she could not help smiling
when she saw that he had been trying to stick it on
with soap. How exactly like a boy!
- It was not really a happy question to ask him; it was
like an examination paper that asks grammar,
when what you want to be asked is Kings of England.
 Personification is to make the things or non-human
to be a live as human’s characters. For example, eat
until happiness hit your dust.

 Symbolism is a literary device that uses symbols, be

they words, people, marks, locations, or abstract
ideas to represent something beyond the literal
meaning.
- It was a girl called Tinker Bell exquisitely gowned in
a skeleton leaf, cut low and square, through which
her figure could be seen to the best advantage.
- "No. You see children know such a lot now, they soon
don't believe in fairies, and every time a child says, I
don't believe in fairies,' there is a fairy somewhere
that falls down dead."
- "Oh," cried Wendy, "to see a mermaid!"
CHAPTER 4: THE FLIGHT
 Simile is the comparing between the two dissimilar
things by using the word “like as or as if”.
- Nothing horrid was visible in the air, yet their progress
had become slow and laboured, exactly as if they
were pushing their way through hostile forces.
 - As if in answer to his request, the air was rent by the
most tremendous crash he had ever heard.

 Metaphor is implicit comparison about two unlike

things without using the word “like or as”. For
example, one hundred is nothing.
- "There he goes again!" he would cry gleefully, as
Michael suddenly dropped like a stone.

 Personification is to make the things or non-human

to be a live as human’s characters. For example, eat
until happiness hit your dust.

CHAPTER 5: THE ISLAND COME TRUE

 Metaphor is implicit comparison about two unlike
things without using the word “like or as”. For
example, one hundred is nothing.
- The redskins disappear as they have come like
shadows, and soon their place is taken by the
beasts, a great and motley procession: lions, tigers,
bears, and the innumerable smaller savage things that
 flee from them, for every kind of beast, and, more
particularly, all the man-eaters, live cheek by jowl on
the favoured island. Their tongues are hanging out,
they are hungry to-night.

 Personification is to make the things or non-human

to be a live as human’s characters. For example, eat
until happiness hit your dust.

CHAPTER 6: THE LITTLE HOUSE

 Simile is the comparing between the two dissimilar
things by using the word “like as or as if”.
- In a moment they were as busy as tailors the night
before a wedding.
- The little house was so pleased to have such a
capital chimney that, as if to say thank you, smoke
immediately began to come out of the hat.
- "That doesn't matter," said Peter, as if he were the
only person present who knew all about it, though he
was really the one who knew least. "What we need is
just a nice motherly person."
 Metaphor is implicit comparison about two unlike
things without using the word “like or as”. For
example, one hundred is nothing.
- Then all went on their knees, and holding out their
arms cried, "O Wendy lady, be our mother."
- Foolish Tootles was standing like a conqueror over
Wendy's body when the other boys sprang, armed,
from their trees.

 Personification is to make the things or non-human

to be a live as human’s characters. For example, eat
until happiness hit your dust.

CHAPTER 7: THE HOME UNDER THE GROUND

 Simile is the comparing between the two dissimilar
things by using the word “like as or as if”.
- These things scared her a little, and nobly anxious to
do her duty, she tried to fix the old life in their minds
 by setting them examination papers on it, as like as
possible to the ones she used to do at school.

 Metaphor is implicit comparison about two unlike

things without using the word “like or as”. For
example, one hundred is nothing.
- The bed was tilted against the wall by day, and let
down at 6:30, when it filled nearly half the room; and
all the boys slept in it, except Michael, lying like
sardines in a tin.
- Perhaps a better one would be the night attack by
the redskins on the house under the ground, when
several of them stuck in the hollow trees and had
to be pulled out like corks.

 Personification is to make the things or non-human

to be a live as human’s characters. For example, eat
until happiness hit your dust.
- “This is a difficult question, because it is quite
impossible to say how time does wear on in the
Neverland, where it is calculated by moons and suns
and there are ever so many more of them that on the
mainland”
 CHAPTER 8: THE MERMAIDS' LAGOON
 Simile is the comparing between the two dissimilar
things by using the word “like as or as if”.
- There was a gleam of legs, and instantly the lagoon
seemed deserted. Marooners' Rock stood alone in the
forbidding waters as if it were itself marooned.
- There was a break in his voice, as if for a moment he
recalled innocent days when—but he brushed away
this weakness with his hook.
- As they sat thus something brushed against Peter as
light as a kiss, and stayed there, as if saying timidly,
"Can I be of any use?"

 Metaphor is implicit comparison about two unlike

things without using the word “like or as”. For
example, one hundred is nothing.
- "Ay, ay." Smee said, and he cut Tiger Lily's cords. At
once like an eel she slid between Starkey's legs
into the water.
- The others were all brave boys, and they must not be
blamed for backing from the pirate captain. His iron
 claw made a circle of dead water round him, from
which they fled like affrighted fishes.
- A tremour ran through him, like a shudder passing
over the sea; but on the sea one shudder follows
another till there are hundreds of them, and Peter
felt just the one.

 Personification is to make the things or non-human

to be a live as human’s characters. For example, eat
until happiness hit your dust.
- “There was a gleam of legs, and instantly the lagoon
seemed deserted. Marooners' Rock stood alone in the
forbidding waters as if it were itself marooned”.
- “They had caught her boarding the pirate ship with a
knife in her mouth. No watch was kept on the ship, it
being Hook's boast that the wind of his name guarded
the ship for a mile around. Now her fate would help
to guard it also.”
- “They were his dogs snapping at him, but, tragic figure
though he had become, he scarcely heeded them.
Against such fearful evidence it was not their belief in
him that he needed, it was his own. He felt his ego
 slipping from him. "Don't desert me, bully," he
whispered hoarsely to it”.

CHAPTER 9: THE NEVER BIRD

 Simile is the comparing between the two dissimilar
things by using the word “like as or as if”.
 Metaphor is implicit comparison about two unlike
things without using the word “like or as”. For
example, one hundred is nothing.
 Personification is to make the things or non-human
to be a live as human’s characters. For example, eat
until happiness hit your dust.

CHAPTER 10: THE HAPPY HOME

 Simile is the comparing between the two dissimilar
things by using the word “like as or as if”.
 - Even by day they hung about, smoking the pipe of
peace, and looking almost as if they wanted tit-bits to
eat.
- The day, as if quietly gathering its forces, had been
almost uneventful, and now the redskins in their
blankets were at their posts above, while, below, the
children were having their evening meal; all except
Peter, who had gone out to get the time.

 Metaphor is implicit comparison about two unlike

things without using the word “like or as”. For
example, one hundred is nothing.

 Personification is to make the things or non-human

to be a live as human’s characters. For example, eat
until happiness hit your dust.
- “He heard the water gurgle greedily as it rose to
nibble on the rock.”

CHAPTER 11: WENDY'S STORY

 Simile is the comparing between the two dissimilar
things by using the word “like as or as if”.
- "O Wendy, who is she?" cried Nibs, every bit as excited
as if he didn't know.
- "If you wish it," he replied, as coolly as if she had
asked him to pass the nuts.
- "Now then," cried Peter, "no fuss, no blubbering; good-
bye, Wendy;" and he held out his hand cheerily, quite
as if they must really go now, for he had something
important to do.
- All arms were extended to him, as if suddenly blown
in his direction; they were beseeching him mutely not
to desert them.

 Metaphor is implicit comparison about two unlike

things without using the word “like or as”. For
example, one hundred is nothing.
- Everything just as it should be, you see. Off we skip
like the most heartless things in the world, which is
what children are, but so attractive; and we have an
entirely selfish time, and then when we have need of
special attention we nobly return for it, confident that
we shall be rewarded instead of smacked.
 - "I am just Tootles," he said, "and nobody minds me.
But the first who does not behave to Wendy like
an English gentleman I will blood him severely."

 Personification is to make the things or non-human

to be a live as human’s characters. For example, eat
until happiness hit your dust.

CHAPTER 12: THE CHILDREN ARE CARRIED OFF

 Simile is the comparing between the two dissimilar
things by using the word “like as or as if”.
- Thus, terrible as the sudden appearance of the pirates
must have been to them, they remained stationary
for a moment, not a muscle moving; as if the foe had
come by invitation.
- The pandemonium above has ceased almost as
suddenly as it arose, passed like a fierce gust of wind;
 but they know that in the passing it has determined
their fate.
- Thus, terrible as the sudden appearance of the pirates
must have been to them, they remained stationary
for a moment, not a muscle moving; as if the foe had
come by invitation.
- This had got on Hook's nerves; it made his iron claw
twitch, and at night it disturbed him like an insect.

 Metaphor is implicit comparison about two unlike

things without using the word “like or as”. For
example, one hundred is nothing.
- The pandemonium above has ceased almost as
suddenly as it arose, passed like a fierce gust of
wind; but they know that in the passing it has
determined their fate.
 Personification is to make the things or non-human
to be a live as human’s characters. For example, eat
until happiness hit your dust.
 CHAPTER 13: DO YOU BELIEVE IN FAIRIES?
 Simile is the comparing between the two dissimilar
things by using the word “like as or as if”.
- I don't know whether any of the children were crying;
if so, the singing drowned the sound; but as the little
house disappeared in the forest, a brave though tiny
jet of smoke issued from its chimney as if defying
Hook.
- Donning his hat at its most rakish angle, he wound his
cloak around him, holding one end in front as if to
conceal his person from the night, of which it was the
blackest part, and muttering strangely to himself,
stole away through the trees.
- The clapping stopped suddenly; as if countless
mothers had rushed to their nurseries to see what on
earth was happening; but already Tink was saved.
- A light fall of snow had obliterated all footmarks; and
a deathly silence pervaded the island, as if for a
 space Nature stood still in horror of the recent
carnage.
- All the boys were plucked from their trees in this
ruthless manner; and several of them were in the air
at a time, like bales of goods flung from hand to
hand.
- How to convey them? Hunched up in their ropes they
might indeed be rolled down hill like barrels, but
most of the way lay through a morass.
- All the boys were plucked from their trees in this
ruthless manner; and several of them were in the air
at a time, like bales of goods flung from hand to
hand.
- Hook let his cloak slip softly to the ground, and then
biting his lips till a lewd blood stood on them, he
stepped into the tree. He was a brave man, but for a
moment he had to stop there and wipe his brow,
which was dripping like a candle. Then, silently, he
let himself go into the unknown.
 Metaphor is implicit comparison about two unlike
things without using the word “like or as”. For
example, one hundred is nothing.
- The crocodile passed him, but not another living
thing, not a sound, not a movement; and yet he
knew well that sudden death might be at the next
tree, or stalking him from behind.
- How to convey them? Hunched up in their ropes
they might indeed be rolled down hill like barrels,
but most of the way lay through a morass.
- Now he crawled forward like a snake, and again
erect, he darted across a space on which the
moonlight played, one finger on his lip and his dagger
at the ready.

 Personification is to make the things or non-human

to be a live as human’s characters. For example, eat
until happiness hit your dust.

CHAPTER 14: THE PIRATE SHIP

 Simile is the comparing between the two dissimilar
things by using the word “like as or as if”.
 - It was as if Peter's terrible oath had boarded the ship.
- His dogs thinking him out of the way for a time,
discipline instantly relaxed; and they broke into a
bacchanalian [drunken] dance, which brought him to
his feet at once, all traces of human weakness gone,
as if a bucket of water had passed over him.
- He winked at Slightly, who said mournfully, "I don't
think so," as if he wished things had been otherwise.
- "You, boy," he said, addressing John, "you look as if
you had a little pluck in you.
- "So, my beauty," said Hook, as if he spoke in syrup,
"you are to see your children walk the plank."
- It was as if he had been clipped at every joint. He fell
in a little heap.
- Even the iron claw hung inactive; as if knowing that it
was no intrinsic part of what the attacking force
wanted.
 Metaphor is implicit comparison about two unlike
things without using the word “like or as”. For
example, one hundred is nothing.
- It was his grimmest deed since the days when he had
brought Barbecue to heel; and knowing as we do how
vain a tabernacle is man, could we be surprised had
 he now paced the deck unsteadily, bellied out by the
winds of his success?
- One green light squinting over Kidd's Creek, which is
near the mouth of the pirate river, marked where the
brig, the JOLLY ROGER, lay, low in the water; a rakish-
looking [speedy-looking] craft foul to the hull, every
beam in her detestable, like ground strewn with
mangled feathers.
- To reveal who he really was would even at this date
set the country in a blaze; but as those who read
between the lines must already have guessed, he had
been at a famous public school; and its traditions
still clung to him like garments, with which indeed
they are largely concerned.
- From far within him he heard a creaking as of rusty
portals, and through them came a stern tap-tap-tap,
like hammering in the night when one cannot
sleep.
- To tell poor Smee that they thought him lovable!
Hook itched to do it, but it seemed too brutal.
Instead, he revolved this mystery in his mind: why do
they find Smee lovable? He pursued the problem
like the sleuth-hound that he was.
 - The unhappy Hook was as impotent [powerless] as he
was damp, and he fell forward like a cut flower.
- . "I feel that I have a message to you from your real
mothers, and it is this: 'We hope our sons will die
like English gentlemen.'"
- "Quiet, you scugs," he cried, "or I'll cast anchor in you;"
and at once the din was hushed. "Are all the
children chained, so that they cannot fly away?"

 Personification is to make the things or non-human

to be a live as human’s characters. For example, eat
until happiness hit your dust.

CHAPTER 15: "HOOK OR ME THIS TIME"

 Simile is the comparing between the two dissimilar
things by using the word “like as or as if”.
 - Peter reached the shore without mishap, and went
straight on, his legs encountering the water as if quite
unaware that they had entered a new element.
- On the contrary, he thought he had scaled her side as
noiseless as a mouse; and he was amazed to see the
pirates cowering from him, with Hook in their midst as
abject as if he had heard the crocodile.
- He fought now like a human flail, and every sweep of
that terrible sword would have severed in twain any
man or boy who obstructed it; but Peter fluttered
round him as if the very wind it made blew him out
of the danger zone. And again and again he darted in
and pricked.

 Metaphor is implicit comparison about two unlike

things without using the word “like or as”. For
example, one hundred is nothing.
- "I'm youth, I'm joy," Peter answered at a venture,
"I'm a little bird that has broken out of the egg."
- The crocodile was among those who heard the
sound, and it followed him, though whether with the
purpose of regaining what it had lost, or merely as a
friend under the belief that it was again ticking itself,
 will never be certainly known, for, like slaves to a
fixed idea, it was a stupid beast.

- To the pirates it was a voice crying that all the boys

lay slain in the cabin; and they were panic-stricken.
Hook tried to hearten them; but like the dogs he
had made them they showed him their fangs, and
he knew that if he took his eyes off them now they
would leap at him.

- He fought now like a human flail, and every sweep

of that terrible sword would have severed in twain
any man or boy who obstructed it; but Peter fluttered
round him as if the very wind it made blew him out
of the danger zone.

 Personification is to make the things or non-human

to be a live as human’s characters. For example, eat
until happiness hit your dust.

CHAPTER 16: THE RETURN HOME

 Simile is the comparing between the two dissimilar
things by using the word “like as or as if”.
 - Her hand moves restlessly on her breast as if she had
a pain there.
- He skipped about and made funny faces, but when
he stopped it was just as if she were inside him,
knocking.
- "Let us all slip into our beds, and be there when she
comes in, just as if we had never been away."

 Metaphor is implicit comparison about two unlike

things without using the word “like or as”. For
example, one hundred is nothing.
- The rest were tars [sailors] before the mast, and lived
in the fo'c'sle. Peter had already lashed himself to the
wheel; but he piped all hands and delivered a short
address to them; said he hoped they would do
their duty like gallant hearties, but that he knew
they were the scum of Rio and the Gold Coast, and if
they snapped at him he would tear them.
- It was afterwards whispered among them that on the
first night he wore this suit he sat long in the cabin
with Hook's cigar-holder in his mouth and one hand
clenched, all but for the forefinger, which he bent
and held threateningly aloft like a hook.
 Personification is to make the things or non-human
to be a live as human’s characters. For example, eat
until happiness hit your dust.

CHAPTER 17: WHEN WENDY GREW UP

 Simile is the comparing between the two dissimilar
things by using the word “like as or as if”.
- "Oh, all right," Peter said, as if he had asked her from
politeness merely; but Mrs. Darling saw his mouth
twitch, and she made this handsome offer: to let
Wendy go to him for a week every year to do his
spring cleaning.
- She was called Jane, and always had an odd inquiring
look, as if from the moment she arrived on the
mainland she wanted to ask questions.

 Personification is to make the things or non-human

to be a live as human’s characters. For example, eat
until happiness hit your dust.
 Symbolism is a literary device that uses symbols, be
they words, people, marks, locations, or abstract
ideas to represent something beyond the literal
meaning.
- Want of practice, they called it; but what it really
meant was that they no longer believed.
- "But, alas, he forgot all about me," Wendy said it
with a smile. She was as grown up as that.

Chapter 5
Conclusion and suggestion
 This chapter discussed about the conclusion and
suggestion of presupposition Figurative Language in Peter Pan:
A. Conclusion

The research used the theory of figurative language

used in Peter pan by using the theoretical framework
of figurative language that employed from the book
of Knickerbocker & Reninger (1963) and Keskomon &
Tipayasuparat (2015) which consists of Simile,
Metaphor, Symbolism, Personification, and
Onomatopoeia.

Simile is the comparing between the two dissimilar

things by using the word “like as or as if”.
Metaphor is implicit comparison about two unlike
things without using the word “like or as”.
Personification is to make the things or non-human
to be a live as human’s characters.
Symbolism is a literary device that uses symbols, be
they words, people, marks, locations, or abstract ideas
to represent something beyond the literal meaning.

This can conclude that the highest number of

figurative language used in Peter pan are simile and
symbolism. There are six data which found in the
dialogue. The lowest number of figurative language
used in Peter pan are metaphor and symbolism.
There are seven data which found in the dialogue.

B. Suggestion
The suggestion of the researcher at the end of the
research had given below:
1. The reader should learn more about figurative
language in novel for next research.
2. The reader should study more about the type
and theory of figurative language in research
paper.