Pirates, mutiny, and treasure -- Oh, my! Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson is a book filled with greed, deception, and duty. In Treasure Island, young Jim Hawkins goes on the adventure of his lifetime; he gets to travel and live with pirates. He learns who is loyal, who is not, and what happens when they get on Long John Silver’s nerves. Throughout Treasure Island, Stevenson explores the moral themes of greed, deception, and duty in different ways, throughout lives of various characters. Greed is one of the most common themes in Treasure Island. Mrs. Hawkins, who is Jim’s mother, shows that not everyone is wild and reckless, when Jim said “but my mother, frightened as she was, would not consent to take a fraction more than was due to her” (Stevenson 25). Mrs. Hawkins shows that it is not self-indulgence or greed to take what is owed to her, whereas the pirates show no self-control around money. The closer the pirates are to the treasure, the more greedy and hungry they are for it; the pirates only care about what will benefit them, and not about the greater good and what they could do to help others. “The case had been found and rifled; the seven hundred thousand …show more content…
“A very different creature, according to me, from this clean and pleasant-tempered landlord” (Stevenson 45). Appearances aren’t everything, and Long John Silver is a master of illusions and disguise. Little did Jim know, but Long John Silver will turn into a greedy, egotistical, and plundering pirate; Israel Hands and Dick are also deceptive. “If you [please] to be an honest man, you might [be] been sitting in your galley” (Stevenson 113). In this quote, Captain Smollett is bashing Long John Silver for his lack of loyalty and his deception. Silver, the innocent-seeming cook, mutinies against Captain Smollett and raises the pirates against him. Deceptive people are hard to see-through because they are all masters of
In the story The Odyssey, Odysseus showed many traits. I believe the most important trait he showed was loyalty. He showed it in multiple situations. Odysseus showed loyalty when dealing with the sirens, the louts eaters, and the cyclops.
This novel depicts greed on several occasions through out the novel. One example of this is when Gatsby is left twenty five thousand dollars by Dan Cody as a legacy, but from what one is led to believe Ella Kaye refused to let
A silversmith that Johnny is apprenticing. He is a good silversmith but he cannot remember his orders very well.
A very obvious example of loyalty is, Penelope. She is faithful to Odysseus for over 20 years and does not give up for long time. Even when the suitors came to her house and ate her food and overstayed their welcome she did not budge and still stayed faithful to Odysseus for the whole time he was gone. She told the suitors that when she finished her tapestry she would choose who she wants to marry, but every night she would undo a piece of the tapestry just so it would take longer and it would give Odysseus more time to come back just so she would not have to choose one of the suitors.
Loyalty, as defined in the Odyssey seems to be the constant devotion to someone, the hopefully longing of their return and victory. Homer seems to value loyalty over many of the other human traits, as Eumaeus gets not only Homer’s famous “you” but his own book as well. The swineherd is not the only character that Homer uses to show loyalty, Penelope and Telemachus show unyielding faithfulness to Odysseus throughout the epic poem; as do many other characters even gods. Homer demonstrates the value he places on loyalty through the use of these characters with their devotion to Odysseus. Through the use of these characters Homer shows the value of loyalty by their loyalty to Odysseus.
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson is not a book with a particular message, rather a simple and pure adventurous tale of a young man seeking treasure and himself. In Themes in Treasure Island by Gary Carey, he explains that folktales are of young men or women who leave their lives behind to seek fortune, such as “the myth of Jason embarking to bring home the dragon-guarded Golden Fleece, Odysseus on his hazardous journey back to Ithaca from Troy, and the medieval romance of Perceval seeking the Grail.” Carey believes all these stories, myths, and tales have one central theme -- it is an adventurous quest. Within this quest comes the rituals, the guardians, and the struggles that test even the bravest in the search of himself. There are many tests that the protagonist must face to succeed in his goal to obtain the lost treasure. The final tests and guardians that Jim Hawkins, the protagonist, encounters determines his true goal of the quest he accepted. I agree that within each quest tale there is a portrayal of an adventure and inner soul-searching of some sort, yet what Carey fails to mention is that the quest serves as a plot symbol. Behind each quest is a story of the protagonist's struggle to find himself, but the symbol represents the human struggle as well. A person may struggle trying find himself in the world today, not knowing who is he or what his life’s purpose is yet. Many readers are able to relate to Treasure Island because not only is the protagonist trying to find himself, but some readers also long for the quest of their life (Cliff Notes).
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is the story of a young southern boy and his voyage down the Mississippi River accompanied by a runaway slave named Jim. Throughout the journey Huck and Jim face numerous obstacles and encounter a variety of interesting characters. These experiences help Huck to develop physically, intellectually, and most importantly, morally. Throughout the long expedition, readers can observe Huck’s transformation from an immature boy with poor values and ethics, to a matured young man with a moral conscience and a heightened sense of what is right and what is wrong despite what society says.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is a classic novel about a young boy who struggles to save and free himself from captivity, responsibility, and social injustice. Along his river to freedom, he aids and befriends a runaway slave named Jim. The two travel down the Mississippi, hoping to reach Cairo successfully. However, along the way they run into many obstacles that interrupt their journey. By solving these difficult tasks, they learn life lessons important to survival.
All children and teenagers will discover character traits and qualities that they want to possess from the adults they come into contact with. Jim Hawkins is no different. He uses the attributes he learns from Ben Gunn, Dr. Livesey, and John Silver to help mold him into the man he is becoming. Works Cited Stevenson, Robert. A. A. Treasure Island. City: Publisher, Year of Pub.
...im decides to tell Long John everything he did to try to ruin his plan to find the treasure he spares Jim’s life even though the other pirates want him dead. Long John also decides to stand by Jim even though he has a feeling his crew is going to take him out of his captain position. Jim shows a lot of courage and that he’s a man of his word when he is given the opportunity to run away but instead he decides to stay because he gave Long John his word that he will help him through his trial. Jim is taken to where the treasure is believed to be but when they dig up the area there was no treasure. The treasure is later discovered at site where Ben Gunn has hidden it. The reasons I mentioned earlier steers Jim in the right direction of the treasure because of him not trusting Long John but instead using his smarts and his very high maturity level to find the treasure.
...ust be in place: honesty, loyalty, kindness, patience, and the other extolled biblical qualities. One must assume that one’s neighbor is, to a degree trustworthy. To know that one can turn and walk away without getting a knife in their back. That is not the case with Silver and yet he is the embodiment of success. This is an irony lies within the tale of Treasure Island.
Stevenson, R. (2009) ‘My first Book: ‘Treasure Island’’, in Montgomery H and Watson N (eds), Children’s Literature Classic Text and Contemporary Trends, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan in association with Open University
When thinking of books that seem to be written specifically for young boys, Treasure Island is a book that comes to many minds. Treasure Island is the epic tale of thrill seeking and adventure. Stevenson’s main character is a small boy, Jim, who gets to go away from his mother and embark on a trip across the ocean. There are sea fearing pirates, sword fight, and bloody killings. These are typically things that interest boys. Stevenson also follows the literary pattern described by Perry Nodelman in his book, The Pleasures of Children’s Literature. He describes that many novels written by men follow a pattern when it comes to the plot of their stories. “There is an unified action that rises toward a climax and then quickly comes to an end” (Nodelman 124). Treasure Island follows this pattern. The novel moves towards the climax of finding the treasure and then ends quickly without too great of detail with how the treasure money is spent or what happens in the character’s lives. In many ways, Treasure Island exemplifies the narrative patterns of a “boy book.”
Long John Silver is one of the best characters in Treasure Island. He is everything anyone would imagine a pirate would be; he is sly, cunning, and peg-legged with a parot on his shoulder. Long John Silver sets the trademark cliche of the classic pirateband tuat is why a lot of other popular pirates are based on his characteristics. Long John Silver is a lot like an older and wiser version of Jim Hawkins, they share a lot of the same qualities. They are both brave, well-spoken, very practical and both are quick to change sides if need be. The only difference is that Long John Silver is a pirate, or "gentleman of fortune" as he likes to be called. Also, there are many examples of Long John Silver's very persuasive manner. He tricks Squire Trelawny into believing him over th captain. The fact that Squire Trelawny believes in duty and class shows how persuasive Long John Silver is. It is also very interesting to see him convince young Dick Johnson to join the pirates while they were on the Hispaniola.. So, one thing that...
Sit you down and hear the news.” (p.97) We see here how Long John Silver takes the time to have Jim sit down so he can tell him news and what is happening. In the same way, a parent would inform their children on what is their current situation. In the same way that Jim plays it safe and is on good terms with most of the ships mates Long John Silver forms alliances with everyone on the ship to keep himself safe. He does this so easily because he acts and changes the way he acts to certain people so he can get what he wants in the