Imperialism In Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island

The passage is from Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island (1883) and follows Jim Hawkins’ encounter with a wild-looking man named Ben Gunn. This passage is detrimental to Jim’s development on becoming a “man,” as here he conquers danger, defends himself, and abides by a moral code; all of which are characteristics of a good colonialist. Early nineteenth-century classic adventure stories encouraged boys to support, administer, or fight for the Empire (M.O. Grenby, 192), which Jim’s growth in this passage would have had some influence on Steven’s boy readers at the time. Although, we must understand the importance of Britain’s declining empire towards the twentieth century; which can relate to how writers like Stevenson criticises imperialism

The verb (revives) gives strength to Jim’s primal fear of Silver represents the conflict between the British government and pirates during the “Golden Age of Piracy” (circa 1560 to 1776) a period where piracy was a threat throughout many seas and oceans. According to Bradley Deane, it was assumed "boys or boyish men were equipped naturally for struggle on the frontier” (693) which reinforces a game played for the empire. This relates to Jim’s calculated movements through transitive verbs (“set/walked”) showing Jim’s determination on his mission to track down Ben Gunn. Also, the pistol has “courage glow… in [his] hear” (probably from adrenaline) to which Jim asserts his masculinity. Jim does not use the pistol after Ben Gunn’s “supplication,” and instead offers him a deal (“Cheese by the stone”) like a colonialist would, establishing his abide towards his Victorian moral code (sense of duty to less well off). Therefore, Jim had to experience danger and defend himself to learn perseverance, pluck, and resourcefulness which he puts into practice later on in the