“Stars are beautiful, but they may not take an active part in anything, they must just look on for ever. It is a punishment put on them for something they did so long ago that no star now knows what it was. So the older ones have become glassy-eyed and seldom speak (winking is the star language), but the little ones still wonder" - Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie.
Between the departure of Mr and Mrs Darling and the active introduction of Peter and his invite to adventure, we briefly visit the stars, where the pervasive theme of the divide between adulthood and childhood is perpetuated, even into space!
The personification of the stars in this way, even going so far as to give them an original sin and a language, sets the tone of magic, belief, imagination and fantasy for the rest of the novel. The widening of the physical span of Peter's world into space also helps to prepare the reader for the impossible and wonderful adventure to ensue.
These stars, however, undercut the legend of Peter Pan. They are from his world, they interact with him, yet, as is clearly stated, they do grow up. Barrie already subtly hints at the unattainability of the Peter Pan fantasy - "all children, except one, grow up".
However, we are in the stage of the novel where eternal youth is to be celebrated, and so growing up is painted in a negative light. The grown up stars presumably lose their "wonder" and fall silent with "glassy-eyed" stares, and the younger ones are suggested to have the same fate in store, as all the stars are being punished for their "ancestor's" actions. But this is not just a loss of childlike innocence - these stars were never granted innocence to begin with. This idea of the plight of innocence and the dread of growing up and losing one's "wonder" prepares us to buy into Peter's fantasy, and also appeals to the childhood sense of justice with the triumph of the innocent and good over evil.
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