Summary:
Treasure Island is an adventure novel, written by Robert Lewis Stevenson. Jim Hawkins is a young boy, living with his mother in the Inn they run, called the Admiral Benbow. A frightening and mysterious old sea captain, rumored to be a famous pirate, who is living at the Inn, dies. Jim discovers a map in the captain's sea chest leading to "Treasure Island."
Treasure Island is an adventure novel, written by Robert Lewis Stevenson. Jim Hawkins is a young boy, living with his mother in the Inn they run, called the Admiral Benbow. A frightening and mysterious old sea captain, rumored to be a famous pirate, who is living at the Inn, dies. Jim discovers a map in the captain's sea chest leading to "Treasure Island." Jim shows this map to his friend Dr. Livesey and Squire Trelawney. A voyage is planned to search for the treasure, and Jim is signed on as a cabin boy by the Squire. The Squire also enlists a one legged veteran sailor, who now runs an Inn in Bristol. This man is Long John Silver, and he is to be the ship's cook. Silver also helps the Squire to find the remaining crew, and appears to be highly experienced, capable, likeable, and just about everything the Squire could ask for. Long John Silver later shows himself to have a dark side as well. Although in the beginning, he commands respect and is even likeable, he is revealed to have much evil in him as the story progresses. John Silver is an excellent example of a round character.
Long John is nice to Jim from the moment they meet. Before the voyage he explains to Jim what is happening on the docks, and when they put to sea he tells Jim stories, and is a model of discipline and willingness to work. The kitchen is exceptionally clean, and no order even seems to be too much trouble. Jim grows to like Long John a lot, until while hidden in an apple barrel, he overhears Long John's conversation with Israel Hands, and a young sailor, who he has persuaded to follow him.
From this point forward Jim is terrified of Long John, because he now knows that Silver plans to take over the ship, steal the treasure, and kill anyone who stands in his way. Jim's eavesdropping not only reveals the evil side of Long John, but his cleverness at manipulating other people, and his ability to plan well. Not only has he saved his money carefully for years, while most of his shipmates have spent everything, but he has also worked out a careful plan for getting the treasure and shows that he is thinking of every detail. He wants to delay the mutiny as long as possible so that Captain Smollet, who is the only one who can navigate, will get them part way back to England first. Silver shows himself to be very patient in order to achieve his goal, while he also understands that he will have difficulty controlling the other mutineers' impatience to take over the ship. Jim sees first hand how ruthless Silver is when in cold blood he murders without hesitation the good sailor, who refuses to join the pirates.
While Long John Silver shows himself to be genuinely evil, he still has some likeable qualities, including his ability to be good natured and entertaining, as well as his intelligence and natural charisma. This mixture of good and evil in the same man leaves the reader liking him sometimes and being disgusted at others, much the way you might feel about a real person. This mixture of opposites is what makes Long John so believable as a character, and adds interest to the story because of his conflicting personality. Long John is not the stereotype of a pirate, who might be thought of as and evil outcast. In fact he plans to go back to England to live comfortably in society with his wife once he has the treasure. He is never a character you can completely hate, and that is probably why he is such a famous villain.
This is the complete article, containing 627 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page).
