Content Warning: This section discusses graphic violence and abusive relationships.

“Sometimes I thought that Peter couldn’t be hurt, and that was why he didn’t bother so much when others were, for he couldn’t understand their pain. And Peter was bound to the island in some way that the others weren’t. He understood the land, and it understood him. That was why I had grown a bit and Peter hadn’t.”

In this passage, Jamie clearly realizes that Peter is different from the other boys even though he does not yet understand the true nature of Peter’s perpetual youth, and the terrible price that must be paid to maintain it. In this early stage of the novel, his musings merely serve as foreshadowing, raising narrative questions as he speculates about Peter’s unexplained oddities. This quote foreshadows the revelation at the end of the book that Peter was made by the island and is kept alive by its magic.

“Sometimes at night, when the nightmare clung to me, I wondered if Peter’s assurances that I would never grow up were only assurances that I would die before such a thing happened. I wondered if that were better, to die before I became something withered and grey and not wanted.”

The violence and danger that the boys face on the island outweighs their protection against the aging process. Jamie reflects that dying young must be better than growing old, and this moment of contemplation therefore highlights The Tension Between Childhood and Adulthood that remains a central theme throughout the novel.

“But I was the only one who was special, truly special, for I was the first, and would be the last if it came to that. It would always be Peter and me, like we were in the beginning.”

This passage demonstrates the nature of Peter’s psychological manipulation, for by convincing Jamie that he holds a superior status to that of the other boys, Peter ensures Jamie’s loyalty over the centuries. Jamie frequently points out that he is special to Peter, and even when he starts to doubt Peter, this assurance of his specialness remains a powerful aspect of his identity; it is so important to him that it often helps him to rationalize Peter’s violent and callous actions.