Essay About Long John Silver And Treasure Island

Treasure Island: Who Is Long John Silver?
Treasure Island: Who Is Long John Silver?
Treasure Island: Who is Long John Silver?
Treasure Island us a classic adventure story, featuring an ordinary boy, Jim
Hawkins, who is transported to a treacherous world of pirates and buried treasure. Jim’s
adventures begin when he and his mother discover a pirate map in the chest of Billy
Bones, a guest at their lodging-house. Jim’s experiences on the ship Hispaniola and on
Treasure Island test his resourcefulness and teach him important lessons about loyalty and
physical courage. Long John Silver is the book’s most powerful and developed character,
one whose motivation is believable but not ambiguous and whose complexity makes
Treasure Island a true work of genius. Silver is much more than a character type; he is a
genuine individual who is attractive and repellent, frightening, sympathetic, and always
compelling.
Robert Louis Stevenson is the author of Treasure Island along with many other
books such as Kidnapped, Dr. Jeykll and Mr. Hyde, and many more. He is known for
many of central themes and significance/symbols of main characters. In this case Long
John Silver is the main character, most likely the antagonist of the book. Long John Silver
is the cook on the voyage to Treasure Island. Silver is the secret ringleader of the pirate
band. His physical and emotional strength is impressive. Silver is deceitful and disloyal,
greedy and visceral, and does not care about human relations. Yet he is always kind
toward Jim and genuinely fond of the boy. Silver is a powerful mixture of charisma and
self-destructiveness, individualism and recklessness. Through out the book, Long John
Silver meets and establish a somewhat relationship with Jim Hawkins. Jim Hawkins is the
first-person narrator of almost the entire novel. Jim is the son of an innkeeper near Bristol,
England, and is probably in his early teens. He is eager and enthusiastic to go to sea and
hunt for treasure. He is a modest narrator, never boasting of the remarkable courage and
heroism he consistently displays. Jim is often impulsive and impetuous, but he exhibits
increasing sensitivity and wisdom.
Despite Silver’s formidable and frightening appearance, he is quick to inspire trust
in those who meet him. Captain Smollet and Dr. Livesey both have great confidence in
Silver’s character at the outset of the voyage. His friendliness and politeness never seem
fake, deceitful, or manipulative. Silver describes himself as a “gentleman of fortune,” a
term that, while clearly a euphemism for “pirate,” does emphasize something genuinely
gentlemanly about Silver. When Livesey requests a private chat with the hostage Jim, the
other pirates protest loudly, but Silver allows it because he trusts a gentleman like Livesey.
This trust on Silver’s part seems noble and real. Additionally, the affection between Silver
and Jim seems sincere from the very beginning. Though Jim is a mere cabin boy, Silver
speaks to him fondly; toward the end of the trip, he remarks that Jim reminds him of
himself when he was young and handsome. Likewise, Jim publicly calls Silver “the best
man here,” and his wish for Silver’s happiness in the last paragraphs of the novel is
sincere.