Treasure Island

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I have brought you a new blog post today. Happy reading!

[WARNING: This contains MAJOR spoilers]

Treasure Island is a novel penned by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a beautifully woven tale of “buccaneers [a Spanish term for pirates] and buried gold.” It’s so incredibly well-written that it sends chills down your spine when you get to the really violent bits. The main antagonist, “Long” John Silver, is easily the most complex character of the book. He’s a one-legged former pirate who committed atrocious crimes and would’ve been hanged at least three years prior to the events of the story [but he escaped his sentence through bribery.] He may not be a pirate anymore when he’s introduced, but one doesn’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out that his violent, back-stabbing tendencies haven’t gone. I read Treasure Island when I was an impressionable kid of ten, and I absolutely loved it—it was more interesting than any other book I’d read. At the time, Silver’s great intellect, excellent survival and combat skills [ though he doesn’t have one leg and has to use a crutch, he moves like a monkey] and calm demeanour both terrified and impressed me [my sister totally understands how I feel.] The narrator is 12-year-old kid named Jim Hawkins. He’s a rather passive narrator, simply describing events without allowing the reader an insight into his own emotions or thoughts. His description of characters is also somewhat biased; Silver was friendly to him, so Jim gets all starry-eyed and begins hero-worshipping Silver. He is greatly troubled when he begins seeing Silver for what he truly is—a cunning, malicious man with savage instincts. Anyway, I’d better get on with the story!

The book is divided into six parts:

Part 1: “The Old Buccaneer”

An old, eccentric sailor, calling himself “Captain Billy Bones” [his real name is never revealed] arrives on the doorstep of the Admiral Benbow Inn on the west English Coast during the mid-18^th century, paying the innkeeper’s son, Jim Hawkins, a few pennies each day to keep a lookout for a “one-legged seafaring man.” Jim, who has a vivid imagination, is at once both fascinated and intimated by this strange lodger.  A few weeks later, a seaman with both legs intact [but missing two fingers] comes to the inn, intending to confront Bones about the treasure map he’s hiding from his comrades; Bones violently attacks him and chases him off. A while later, Bones, who is a die-hard drunkard, has a stroke. He reveals to Jim that his former shipmates are after his treasure chest, and his life is in grave danger. The next week sees another evil man arriving at the Admiral Benbow—a blind man called Pew, who slips a piece of paper into Bones’ shaking hand—the “black spot”, a mark of distrust among pirates and an indication that he will soon be assassinated. Bones’ horror and stress cause him to experience another debilitating stroke, and he passes away shortly after. Jim and his widowed mother [his father died just a few days back] open the sea chest, discovering the remnants of an old map along with money and a journal. When the inn is attacked by Pew and his cronies, Jim and his mother barely escape with their lives [and the chest]; leaving his mother at a nearby village for her safety, Jim seeks the assistance of the local physician, Dr Livesey, and the district squire, Trelawney; these two capable men deduce that the map is of the island where a deceased pirate, Captain Flint, buried his treasure. Trelawney, an extremely excitable man, proposes buying a magnificent ship and going after the treasure, taking Livesey as ship’s doctor and Jim as cabin’s boy.

Part 2: “The Sea Cook”

Some weeks later, the Squire introduces Jim to a “reputable, solid English gentleman” called “Long” John Silver [ha! If Silver is reputable, I bet it’s gonna rain spears tomorrow.] Jim is initially uneasy around Silver as he has only one leg, but Silver soon puts him at ease with his friendly demeanour. Silver is always accompanied by a parrot whom he has named “Captain Flint”; the darned bird keeps screeching “Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!” The ship’s captain, Smollett, is the only other “clean” person on the ship; he is well aware of the fact that the crew-members are all former pirates who are looking for treasure. He has his misgivings about them, but the ship, Hispaniola, sets sail anyway. During the voyage, the first mate of the ship disappears overboard. Just before the ship lands on Treasure Island, Jim accidentally-on-purpose overhears Silver discussing “the afore planned mutiny” with two sailors, one of whom is just sixteen. Thinking quickly [though his body is initially paralysed with terror; he’s a kid after all], Jim alerts Captain Smollett, Doctor Livesey, and Squire Trelawney. Most of the crewmen are aligned with “Long” John, so Livesey calculates that they will be seven to nineteen against the mutineers and must pretend to be ignorant of the mutiny until the treasure is found [in order to surprise their enemies.]

Part 3: “My Shore Adventure”

After the ship is anchored, Silver gathers a few of his underlings and goes ashore. Two men who vehemently refuse to join the mutiny are killed—one with such an ear-splitting screech that everyone realises that Silver has dropped all pretense and is going to go all out to seize the treasure. That impulsive brat Jim, determined to see Silver’s actions for himself [he feels betrayed, as Silver was exceptionally kind to him], joins the shore party and covertly witnesses Silver killing one of his comrades. Half-crazed with terror and rage, he flees and, in doing so, encounters a wild Englishman, Ben Gunn, who was marooned on this island three years before, and reveals that he knows Silver and the mutineers very well, offering to help in return for passage home and part of the treasure. Jim quickly agrees and leads Gunn back to the ship.

Part 4: “The Stockade”

Meanwhile, Smollett, Livesey, and Trelawney come ashore [with Trelawney’s servants] in an effort to openly confront the mutineers. They take refuge in an abandoned stockade. The mutineers still on the ship, led by an evil, diabolical [and frankly, not very smart] man called Israel Hands [the coxswain] run up the pirate flag, the Jolly Roger. The two sides openly begin their battle, and one of Trelawney’s servants and one pirate are killed on the first day. The ship’s gun steadily keeps firing upon the five people holed up in the stockade [to no effect]. Jim and Gunn find the stockade in the evening, and Jim is horrified upon realising that one of Trelawney’s servants has died. The next morning, Silver proposes a truce between the warring parties, offering terms that Smollett openly refuses. It is revealed that Gunn has killed a pirate in the night [Jim realises this, but Silver is unaware of the identity of the killer.] When Smollett refuses to hand over the map and insults Silver, Silver snaps and declares that he and his cronies will massacre anyone who dares to oppose them. An hour later, the attack on the stockade is launched.

Part 5: “My Sea Adventure”

After an extremely fierce battle, the surviving mutineers retreat, planning to regroup. They’ve lost five men, but two more of the captain’s group have been killed and Smollett himself is gravely injured. Livesey leaves the stockade to search for Gunn; Jim, wanting to escape from all the screams and blood and curses, goes exploring and finds Gunn’s coracle [a tiny boat. Suits someone as tiny as Jim.] After dark, he cuts the anchored Hispaniola adrift. The two foolishly incompetent pirates on the ship, Hands and O’Brien, interrupt their drunken quarrel to run on deck, but the Hispaniola—dragging Jim’s coracle with her-- is swept out to sea. Exhausted, Jim falls asleep on the boat [he really is a child; letting down his guard when he doesn’t even know whether he’ll be alive tomorrow or not!] He wakes up the next morning on the western coast of the island. When he encounters the ship, he suspects that the two pirates are dead, because the ship is eerily silent; however, upon climbing aboard, he finds O’Brien dead and Hands badly wounded. Hands attacks Jim, pinning him to the ship’s mast with a knife while stating that little brats should be killed slowly; however, Jim’s survival instincts take over [he frees himself through sheer willpower, then turns on Hands and throws the knife at him. Hands dies on the spot. See? Jim is quite brave and impressive at times, right? He’s a hot-headed, naïve kid, but sometimes demonstrates exceptional cunning and strength for a boy his age.]  Keeping his wits about him, he secures the ship to the best of his ability and goes ashore, heading back to the stockade as fast as he can. However, when he enters the stockade in utter darkness, he gets the shock of his life [uhhhh, that’s probably a major understatement] when he is greeted by Silver and the surviving five mutineers, who have taken over the stockade in his absence.  Poor kid!

Part 6: “Captain Silver”

A few pirates decide to kill Jim, but Silver talks them down, revealing that he still has a soft spot for Jim […well, sorta.] He tells Jim that the warring parties have called an uneasy truce, and the captain has surrendered the map. Silver and the others take Jim with them as a hostage when they go out to scout the island. They encounter a strangely angled skeleton [its arms are pointed toward the treasure. As expected, this seriously unnerves the party.] Eventually, after some more trial and error, they stumble upon the treasure cache—which is empty. [Heh! Poor pirates! …Serves ‘em right!] The pirates charge at Jim, intending to kill him, but Silver shields him. Shots are fired by Livesey, Trelawney, and Smollett [it was a very well-planned ambush, was it not?]. Silver and his men are nicely trapped. One of the pirates, George Merry, is killed, while the rest retreat. Retrieving Jim, who is badly shaken but physically unharmed, Livesey explains that Gunn had already found the treasure and taken it to his cave. They take Silver prisoner [he really needs to face judgement for his crimes]. Over the next few days, they load much of the treasure onto the Hispaniola, abandon the remaining mutineers [with plenty of food and other rations], and sail away. At their first stop in Spanish America, Silver, being the sly, untrustworthy man that he is, steals a bag of money and escapes. The rest sail back to Bristol and divide up the treasure, with Jim getting a lot because of his bravery and resourcefulness during the voyage. Concluding the novel, Jim states that there is plenty more to be found on the island, but he’s more than happy with his share. “Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!”

That’s all for now. See you next time!

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