Parentless - Not the Life You Expected it to Be

Pippi is a very interesting character. She reminds me a lot of Peter Pan in regards to his desire to never grow up and also in his acceptance, as well as his appreciation for the fact that he does not have parents. While this is true for both of them, Peter and Pippi enjoy taking on responsibility at times. I find this desire very peculiar because neither of them is required to be responsible. Both characters never want to grow up, but both live on their own, without the guidance or protection from their parents. I feel that as much as they don’t want to grow up, they are forced to in some respects, because they have no one to do anything for them. This means they have to perform certain daily duties on their own. Peter takes on the responsibility of “father” and also teaches the Lost Boys how to treat women, while Pippi wakes up and attends to both Mr. Nilsson and her horse. Pippi also cooks, cleans, and attempts to keep track of her gold. I think both of these stories bring out the irony of the idea of not having parents. While it would be nice to do whatever you would like, you may be forced to do things you do not like, which are things that your parents might regularly do if they were around. Peter Pan an Pippi Longstocking force me to cherish the presence of my parents, because by having them around, I feel like I really don’t have to grow up as fast as Peter and Pippi do, who are parentless. In my opinion, it would be difficult to remain a child for very long when your parents are not around to “baby” you or when you are taking on daily tasks in which a child your age would not normally engage.