# Smee — Peter and Wendy character guide

> Smee in Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** pathetic Smee, the ignorant Smee, poor Smee

**First appearance:** 0004-v-the-island-come-true

## Snapshot

Hook's kind-hearted, bumbling boatswain, the pirate who sharpens his cutlass on his own arm and frets about the captain's temper.

## Who they are

Smee serves as Hook's boatswain aboard the Jolly Roger, a soft-spoken pirate whose chief qualification is being the only man on the crew Hook can tolerate. His tension is that he is genuinely gentle, fussing over the captain's moods and the crew's morale, in a profession that rewards neither. He matters because his ordinariness and quiet decency throw Hook's theatrical menace into relief, giving the pirate ship a human, almost domestic texture in the story's middle stretch.

## Relationships

### [Captain Hook](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/peter_and_wendy_se/characters/captain_hook)

_professional_

Hook's loyal but bumbling boatswain, who serves as his confidant and comic relief aboard the Jolly Roger.

### [Captain Hook](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/peter_and_wendy_se/characters/captain_hook)

_professional_

Hook's loyal but bumbling boatswain, who serves as his confidant and comic relief aboard the Jolly Roger.

### [Captain Hook](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/peter_and_wendy_se/characters/captain_hook)

_professional_

Hook's loyal but bumbling boatswain, who serves as his confidant and comic relief aboard the Jolly Roger.

## In the story

### [The Island Come True](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/peter_and_wendy_se/chapters/v-the-island-come-true)

Hook's loyal bo'sun; admires Hook's wicked plan; has a habit of wiping his spectacles after killing.

### [The Mermaids' Lagoon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/peter_and_wendy_se/chapters/viii-the-mermaids-lagoon)

Smee is one of the pirates in the dinghy, easily fooled by Peter's imitation of Hook, and later suggests making Wendy their mother.

### [The Children Are Carried Off](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/peter_and_wendy_se/chapters/xii-the-children-are-carried-off)

Beats the tom-tom under Hook's orders, understanding the wickedness of the deception.

### [The Pirate Ship](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/peter_and_wendy_se/chapters/xiv-the-pirate-ship)

Ever industrious and obliging, Smee sits at the sewing machine, hemming placidly. He is pathetically unaware of his own pathos and offers to save Wendy if she will be his mother.

### [Hook or Me This Time](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/peter_and_wendy_se/chapters/xv-hook-or-me-this-time)

Wipes his spectacles and comments on the silence after the ticking stops.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/peter_and_wendy_se/characters/smee
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/peter_and_wendy_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/peter_and_wendy_se/characters