Ordinary World Analysis

1. Ordinary World - This story takes place in the mid 1700s along the west English coast. Jim Hawkins is an innkeeper’s son, who is pay a monthly allowance of a few pennies to keep a lookout for one-legged. His client is known as “the captain” or Billy Bones, an old man who was a former captain of a pirate ship. Billy Bones was a former pirate, who is described as “tall, strong, heavy, nut-brown man; his tarry pigtail falling over the shoulders of his soiled blue coat; his hands ragged and scarred, with black, broken nail; a sabre cut on one cheek, a dirty, livid white.”(3) His activities in the inn consisted mostly of singing “Yo-ho-ho a bottle of rum”, all the neighbors joining in for dear life, with the fear of death upon them, each singing

2. Call to adventure - A few days after his father’s funeral, Jim agrees to keep a lookout for an old, blind man in exchange for a few pennies a month. Jim’s mother ran an inn, in which money was depleting. Soon after, a man who appears to have intact legs comes looking for the old Billy Bones.This man is later referred to as “Black Dog.” Jim is frightened and informs him about the captain’s whereabouts. When the captain returns from his walk outside the inn, the Black Dog comes out of the shadows and frightens (not surprising the captain) him into a stroke. Black Dog, “in spite of his wound, showed a wonderful pair of heels, and disappeared over the edge of the hill in half a minute.”(17) As he lay on the floor, the Black dogs escapes, and Jim comes to his side. The captain tells him that other pirates covet his sea chest, which happens to be on the second

Crossing the Threshold - After Jim leaves home, he boards a ship. He has agreed to work as a cabin boy with Long John Silver who also disguises himself as a cook, but was actually a pirate captain. When he first meets Mr. Silver, he “plucked up courage at once, crossed the threshold, and walked right up to where the man stood, propped on his crutch, talking to a customer.”(68) He crosses the threshold when he decided to leave home, and embark on his own journey to treasure island. He promises to himself that he would go “to sea myself; to sea in a schooner, with a piping boat swain, and pigtailed singing seamen; to sea, bound for an unknown island, and to seek for buried treasures!”(66) This was a promise/proposal Jim had made to himself, that he would become more accustomed to the sea, and to find the buried treasures hidden of treasure island.

6. Tests, Allies, Enemies - Jim settles that all the other members who are aboard the ship were untrustworthy, but he trusted to cook/Long John Silver, who turned out to be their (pirates/other members aboard on ship) captain. He did not trust Black Dog.

7. Approach - Jim’s approach is when he and his crewmates spots the island and lands on Treasure Island.

8. Ordeal, Death & Rebirth - Jim now knows that Long John Silver was a traitor and captain of the pirates who stole the ship, and are greedily searching for treasure. He arises from the confusion, and starts his own journey to find the