How Is John Silver Presented In Treasure Island

In Robert Stevenson "Treasure Island” Long John Silver is the primary antagonist. He is portrayed very differently in the Disney movie in comparison to how he was in the novel. In the movie, Silver’s speech patterns have changed. Silver now uses a classic pirate talk, and with the help of background music and voices from the movie, the scenes are easier to understand.
In the movie version of Treasure Island by the Walt Disney Company, Long John Silver is shown as a spry man who has silvery grey hair. He demands respect from the beginning and it is evident because the producers put him at the top of the screen. He is depicted as an upstanding gentleman with good manners and a clean demeanor. Since this is a movie the way he talks is very

important. Once he starts talking he immediately has that pirate sounding vocabulary. Silver tells Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey, and Jim that he was a sea cook in the Royal Navy, and in the background you hear some men mocking him. This foreshadows the fact that he is lying. Since Silver's entrance Jim has been in a shocked daze (thinking of Billy Bones's warning), but now he asks Long John if he knows a pirate named Billy Bones. Silver is clearly shocked at the name but soon recovers and insists that no one in the king’s navy ever had any contact with pirates. When the gang tries to leave Silver requests Jim’s assistance so he can go fetch a crew. Jim is therefore left behind and Silver takes the opportunity to bond with the young boy. He gives Jim many compliments still using his classic pirate talk. Suddenly a known pirate comes to the bar and Jim breaks out after Black Dog, and Silver yells to men in the bar to catch the fleeing pirate. Although the men restrain Jim, allowing the fleeing pirate to escape from them. Long John pretends to be infuriated by the pirate’s intrusion on his establishment. Toward the end of the scene, Silver gives a small handgun to Jim saying only to use it to protect himself.
In the novel version of the story Long John Silver is described differently.

First off, he is shown to be "very tall and strong with a face as big as a ham..." Stevenson describes him as intelligent and cheerful, he was clean cut and very agile with his cane. Unlike in the movie, Jim was completely convinced that this man was nowhere near being buccaneer. This was because, Silver was clean and pleasant unlike Billy, Black Dog, Pew, and the blind man. Silver was very well mannered, and he had a sophisticated vocabulary not including any mainstream pirate talk. He had a good posture and was not as concerned with pirates as he was worried about money. In the novel when Black Dog begins to leave Jim yells he is a pirate but all Silver cares is that he hadn't paid his bill. It was not until the men were pursuing the pirate that Long John began to care that Black Dog was a pirate, and even began to threaten a friend of his for associating with a pirate. Silver appeals to the young boys curiosity by revealing to him that he had indeed seen the man before but not alone, infact it was with a blind beggar. Jim is now at this point completely enthralled with the one legged sea cook. Silver constantly compliments Jim in an attempt to gain his

trust.
Unlike in the movie, Silver never gave Jim a small flintlock pistol. In the movie he talks like one would expect a pirate to talk light without the cursing, but in the novel he is very proper, constantly complimenting people. He makes a story of sailing in the Royal Navy but there is no part in the novel that has indicated this to be true. His leg is the same in both the movie and the novel, but in the movie he has problems with his cane whereas in the novel he is very agile on it. Long John was also of average height, kind of with thin, with a regular shaped face. In the novel it goes out of its way to make the reader understand that he is rather tall and also strong for his body, it also tells how he has a large face compared to others. Silver also neglects to give the pistol to . Jim in the novel where in the movie he uses it to gain the boys trust and affection. Although, Silver constantly gives jim compliments and affection trying to earn his trust. Finally, Silver is talking to Dr. Livesey and Mr. Squire in the movie but they are no longer there in the novel version. In conclusion, there are plenty of variations in the movie and the novel between the Long John Silver characters.