Song

I ain't sayin' you ain't pretty
The belle of the Ball
But my love ain't for pity
I won't grovel, I won't beg
Don't make me crawl.(back to you)

I ain't sayin I don't love you
You're buried deep in my heart
Never thought since the day I met you
The day would come that we'd part (no,no,no)

I ain't saying I won't miss ya
I guess I'll see you around.
But if you ever come a lookin'
You're sure to find me
In the Lost and Found.

Repeat verse 1 or 2.

I ain't sayin' you ain't pretty
Finest gal I ever knowed
But my love ain't for gambling
Sometimes, a winning hand...
Has to fold. (no no no)

November 29, 2010/2019 C.

Lovers Say. Words and music by Doug Clarkson & Lars Hansen

Quotes

Competition searches for a weakness and never forgives the weak.. May 16, 2022

In this age of Coming out, I'd like to say that I am finally willing to admit that I identify as a giant. In keeping with this very select polygender sensitive group, I see it only fitting and considerate to address me and speak of me as, Hail Collosus!

A response to immaterial pronouns. October 2021

Let us never surpass the kindling temperature of Democracy. The charred remains of our agonizing civility - like the forest floor after a wild fire. Seeded with despair.
Carbonature - 2018

The wishes we hold dearest give us the many hopes...
The dreams we hold nearest help us climb the greatest slopes...
November 9, 2015-2017.

Make it happen, then let it happen. In other words, work hard in practice to improve. Then, have the courage to deliver on all your hard work. In basketball like in life, if you let it happen to you, be prepared to accept the outcome. Hence, prepare to be a WINNER!

December 7, 2015-2017.

I've never made a greater fool of myself than when I was trying to do something extraordinary. Sometimes, humility is a brutal benchmark on the path to a successful life.

November 27, 2017.

Time only gets in the way of things that aren't timeless...

Keep your feet out of the wet cement, or you might get walked on.

March 10, 2018.

I am not just 'not a pretty face...'

September 14, 2018.

"Is it true what they says about big feet?" She asked looking down at my size 18 sneakers. "Why yes in deed it is!" I said with much pride. "Big feet mean big shoes."

April 28, 2021.

Life is for the fuller expression of one's personal and social truths.

August 8, 2021"

Tears of a gold mine are tears make of gold. 'Make the bitch weep!" cried the greedy. "Let the maid sleep", begged the needy. For alas mine is a heart of gold.

October 22, 2021

I am detoxing my masculinity...

I have come to realize that I identify as a 'Transport.' Due to the fact that I am full of ship

December 12, 2023

Children's Classics.

Little Women                                                                                     December 15, 2013

            LITTLE WOMEN written by Louisa May Alcott is a simple, realistic story of the four March girls' journey from adolescence to adulthood. It is a conventional Victorian era "coming of age" story, set in New England. Alcott weaves a lively, domestic tale of American youth in the nineteenth century. Through their experiences, the young girls learn to appreciate the importance of family, the happiness derived from being unselfish and resourceful, the disconnection between wealth and happiness, and the benefits of working hard to improve themselves and their community. It is a charming episodic tale of proper female etiquette. A glimpse of Civil War America, and what it was like growing to up poor in an upper-class, wealthy, and frivolous social setting.

            The dominant theme of LITTLE WOMEN is family values. All the main characters in the novel are defined by their familial relations and behavior towards each other, and all are deeply invested in cultivating and supporting one another. In particular, Josephine March, the novel's protagonist is devoted to her Concord, Massachusetts family.  She is an outspoken tomboy with a passion for everything to do with literature. She "devoured poetry, romance, history, travel, and pictures, like a regular book worm."(205)  Jo's character is a semi-autobiographical sketch of Alcott herself.  Influenced by the transcendental philosophy of the New England Renaissance period, Alcott's LITTLE WOMEN introduces realism and entertainment to the female readership of early American children's literature.

            LITTLE WOMEN is a family romance. It emphasizes the importance of loving relationships within the family dynamic. Jo's relationship with Laurie might seem to point towards a future adult romance. However, a closer examination of their maturing friendship contradicts this assumption. In chapter 3, Jo meets the "Laurence boy" at a New Year's party in the home of Meg's wealthy friend, Sally Gardiner.  Jo "slipped behind a curtained recess. Unfortunately, another bashful person had chosen the same refuge."(198) Laurie hides out of shyness, while Jo slips out of sight to avoid social embarrassment due to a burn mark on her dress.  The two make friends easily and find out early in their relationship that they have many things in common. "They got to talking about books; and to Jo's delight she found that Laurie loved them as well as she did."(212) Neither are above doing something spontaneous and silly. "The hall was empty, and they had a grand polka"(200) Throughout the novel their evolving relationship exemplifies the attitudes of a proper Victorian society. Teddy is the typical "boy next door" type of male companion for the March girl. Jo is an adventurous, rebellious, and spirited girl. Together they establish a platonic relationship.

            Chapter 5 sets the stage for the March and Laurence families to fill the gap in each other’s lives. The differences in their wealth is initially a barrier to friendship but as both parties are noble, they overcome that divide. Before the appearance of the curmudgeonly old neighbor, Mr. Laurence, and his grandson, Laurie; Josephine tries to compensate for the absence of a male role model in the March household. "I'm the man of the family now papa is away." (186) It doesn't take long, however, for the playful Jo March to break the ice with her shy neighbor by throwing a snowball at his window. "...the head turned at once, showing a face which lost its listless look in a minute, as the big eyes brightened and the mouth began to smile," because "That boy is suffering for society and fun."(210)  Theodore Laurence benefits greatly from the March family's influence, "Never having known mother or sister, he was quick to feel the influences they brought about him."(216)  Laurie's main function in the novel, apart from providing some semblance of a big brother character in the plot, is to show the redeeming influence of the March girls. "The solitary hungry look in his eyes went straight to Jo's warm heart.”(212) Laurie's character growth is essential to Alcott's novel. The March girls, including Marmee, provide a sense of belonging to the lonely, orphaned teenager.  Laurie becomes particularly close to Jo because they are the same age. However, their enthusiastic friendship may have been considered something of an oddity during the Victorian era. "In the nineteenth century, intense and florid female friendships were all the rage. It is significant that in LITTLE WOMEN, the ultimate 'girl's book' of the day, the heroine's BFF (best friend forever) is not a female but a male."* Still, Laurie and Jo become fast and devoted friends. "He liked Jo, for her odd, blunt ways suited him; and she seemed to understand the boy as well as if she had been one herself"(215)

            Jo and Laurie have a brief experience with romance when she embraces him after he sends for her mother.  Jo "flew out of her chair, and the moment he stopped speaking she electrified him by throwing her arms around his neck,..., and, finding that she was recovering, followed it up by a bashful kiss or two."(292) However, this brief moment passes quickly and Jo recovers her stoic posture towards the affectionate boy.

            All the March woman have a genuine interest in a wholesome, loving relationship with Teddy. Marmee values him as an adopted son. He serves as chaperone to her daughters and providing transportation services. Meg and Laurie have a brother-sister relationship. He watches over her protectively when they are at parties. He is instrumental in bringing John Brookes and Meg together. With Beth he is particularly gentle, and they share a love of music. Amy is saved from drowning after falling into a frozen pond. Laurie is the hero of the day when he finds the means to pull her clear of the "rotten ice." The only March woman Laurie doesn't affect is the cranky old Aunt March. Still, he impacts the lives of all the little "Pilgrims.". He is more than a wealthy next door neighbor. His friendship with the March girls, his desire to keep their good opinion, and his tendency to absorb the girls moral principles reinforces a strong sense of Christian pathos in the maturing March girls.

            In the final analysis, romantic love does not sit well with the novel's heroine. "Jo lounged in her favorite low seat with the grave, quiet look which best became her." Throughout the novel, Jo continually avoids Laurie's boyish, unsophisticated advances. "…and Laurie, leaning on the back of her chair, his chin on a level with her curly head."  He is the loyal friend to an ambitious, impetuous young Josephine. A girl that loves literature, both reading and writing, more than the prospect of establishing a stable romantic relationship. Apart from her love of family, she finds employment more rewarding than the secure fineries of high society.  She is the liberated woman challenging social conventions. Jo's pro feminist persona distorts the social norms of her Victorian age; and with her loyal friend Laurie by her side as a devoted witness, "...smiled with his friendliest aspect, and nodded at her in the long glass which reflected them both." (321)

* www.humanities.com  Laurie Laurence in LITTLE WOMEN by Joann Spears.

Children's Classics

The Little Mermaid                                                                                               November 17, 2013

                "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen is a much loved fairy tale in which the heroine of the story, "a sea-princess," makes a choice to grow up quickly and pays the ultimate price for her actions. The little mermaid is an impetuous and strong willed individual with a humanist's heart. The sixth daughter of royal "sea-folk." She possesses all the same charm, beauty, and grace of the most popular classic fairytale heroines. Hers is a sad story of unrequited love, and a heroic tale of overcoming seemingly impossible obstacles to achieve her lofty spiritual goal of immortality.

                Critics have long disagreed on whether or not Andersen wrote this fairy tale as a tragic love story or a more sympathetic story of Christian redemption and forgiveness. A close examination of the final fourteen paragraphs as they relate to the rest of the story must surely reveal the author's true intentions. In Andersen's original version, the story was written for a ballet production (Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, 1837). The story's intended theatrical audience is obvious when the little mermaid is depicted as a ballerina.  "... The little mermaid lifted her little white arms, raised herself on the tips of her toes, and floated lightly across the floor." This romantic portrayal of the daughter of a sea king is rooted in Greek Mythology. A tragic character of adult theatre unable to achieve the goal of becoming truly human. The marble white statue of a young boy is another classical prop that hearkens back to ancient times. A pre-Christian era in which a sea deity’s desire to be human eventually leads to a violent struggles, painful self-sacrifice, and the inevitable evaporation into "sea foam." Andersen's original story satisfies the assumption that her inhuman origins can only lead to a violent end. Yet, so much of the story's most crucial imagery and action reinforces the little mermaid's triumph over death. Andersen edited his timeless classic tale for a paying theater audience, but published the story with his deeply Christian beliefs well entrenched.

                Early in the story, Andersen's "sea-princess" plants a suggestive metaphor in the shape of a "rosy-red weeping willow tree" A precursor to the heroine's inevitable transformation.  Among the Chinese, " the willow is an herb of immortality.  For safe passage into another life, one must plant a willow during their life so it will still be alive at their death. Bear a sprig of this plant and you will be free from the fear of death." * The life affirming sun, the pure white statue of a boy, and the willow of immortality (draped over the son of God) suggests that Andersen is devoted to a Christian story where the heroine overcomes her earthly torments and is afforded the opportunity to earn her immortality. Indeed, the sun does rise on our heroine in the end.

                The prince is a fundamental element in the little mermaid's salvation.  The little mermaid rescues the young noble and delivers him to "a holy temple." The nuptial undertones are obvious. If the little mermaid is no more than a sea serpent, as is suggested without the final fourteen paragraphs; her failure to become human is indeed only infatuation and not a deep enduring love of mankind. The prince's deliverance from drowning is a symbolic baptism. The holy place "where many young girls were worshiping" is the earthly equivalent of the "ethereal daughters domain."  The prince has a golden tongue that charms the little mermaid with words like, "...my good fortune has sent you to me instead, and we will never part."  His eloquence is the antithesis of the mute mermaid. Unfortunately, he is blind to the truth. As if some worldly witch (the sister of the sea witch) has tricked him into trading his spiritual insight for the hierarchy of class and status. Thus, he disregards the little mermaids as a mere "foundling" when, in her expressive eyes, he should be able to see his own soul.

                The prince dresses her in a male costume so "that she might ride out with him... and followed him till they saw the clouds sailing below them like flocks of birds departing to a foreign land." A sermon of sorts by Andersen. Preaching to his devoted congregation about the coming of the "daughters of the air". The angels that fly to "the hot countries, where the sultry, pestilential air destroys the children of men."

                Ending the story with the mermaid's suicide might seem more poetic, more dramatic, and a fitting end to her suffering. However, when we consider Bruno Bettelheim's view:" A fairytale is a narrative form which represents a society's collective concerns with some aspect of growing up, and it explores these concerns at the level of magical thought." we must conclude that Andersen's intent was to tell a story of Christian self-sacrifice, as well as, provide the reader the satisfaction of witnessing a magical assent into immortality. If Andersen's intention was to tell a sad love story, the heartbroken mermaid would have met her end with the jump from the prince's ship. Instead, the magical moment of salvation occurred, not when she plunged from the ship, but when our heroine refuses to murder the prince. At that moment she becomes a worthy recruit as an angel in training.  She is no longer the daughter of a pagan Poseidon but a worthy Christian icon.

                In the final fourteen paragraphs, the little mermaid regresses back to a fantasy world where she becomes one with the "daughters of the air." An allusion to the adolescent world she shared with her sisters of the sea. Her childhood world pierced by the quivering knife forged in that same magical undersea kingdom. "They shone red where it fell, as if drops of blood gurgled up from the water." The bitter bargain her salty sister's negotiated with the sea witch comes back to severe the heroine's connection with her past life. She is transported into a deeply Christian universe. Her rewards are many and her faith is born.  She receives a new body, "and it rose higher and higher out of the foam."  Her longevity is rejuvenated (300 years). Her beautiful voice echoes the strength of her character "was all melody...so ethereal that no earthly music could possible equal it."  Her evolution includes the reward of mature human emotions. "For the first time, she felt tears in her eyes."

                If there is a departure from the original storyline it occurs in the final two paragraphs. Here, the narrative seems more like a revision and doesn't necessarily satisfy the ending to Andersen's fairytale. Apart from revealing the heroine's arrival into adulthood and the inherent maternal duties: the economics of both redemption and punishment create a discounted and budget minded allegory. These checks and balances in an accountant-like spread sheet of salvation serves no particular purpose other than to invoke a less than meaningful moral to the story.  In other words, "when it's windy (daughters of the air are present) and when it's raining (tears from heaven) someone's child must be misbehaving."

                Since the time of early mythology fantastical creatures of the sea have had a place in the oral traditions of folklore. In this grand tradition, Andersen's "Little Mermaid" is a fairy tale that has endured. Inviting young mariners to set sail into a dream world of enchanting "water as blue as the loveliest cornflower and as clear as the purest crystal." Be it, ballet performances for the King of Denmark (in 18th century Europe) or the more recent Disney adaptation, the classic tale of the "Little Mermaid" will find a way to be reinvented to suit an ever changing audience. "For three hundred years we shall float and float and float till we glide right into God's kingdom." A magical journey of biblical proportions.

* www.spiritlodge.yuku.com Spirit lodge Symbolism Library Willow Tree

Children's Classics.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND                                                                                December 21, 2013.

 A young child -- a playful Elf

Chases a rabbit to catch herself.

A fairy maiden with rosy red cheeks

She talks politely before she speaks. **

               ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND written by Lewis Carroll is a Victorian children's tale. It is the comical story of a girl that disappears down a rabbit hole to a fantastic place full of adventures. A surreal story of ever shifting ground rules where nothing is what it seems.  From the very beginning of the heroine's journey into Wonderland, Alice is confronted with a series of unplanned challenges and illogical events. Her dream world of distorted realities, and comical companions is a glimpse into a young girl's journey through adolescence. In a recent issue of Prospect magazine, Richard Jenkyns, professor of the classic tradition at Oxford University, called ALICE IN WONDERLAND, probably the most purely child-centered book ever written."*   The timeless story of ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND has proven relevant to audiences of all ages. The book is a constant source of academic debate over meanings and the context of its creation. It is a literary masterpiece that defies its own scope, and is pervasive because it pushes the boundaries of space, time, and logic in a paradigm shifting manner.      

               Lewis Carroll's fairytale universe is a "land of wonder." Things change from one form to another.  The physical transformations Alice experiences throughout her journey are a magical retreat from the boring world of everyday life. "Alice was beginning to get tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do."(325)  She falls asleep and escapes into the magic kingdom of Lewis Carroll's abstract, existential creation. Alice's experiences in Wonderland are free from most of the norms and expectations that exist in real life, and for that reason is both marvelous and enchanting. Magic is not conjured up with a "Fairy Godmother's" magic wand. Instead, Wonderland is magic encapsulated. A universe of body altering beverages, cakes, and other edible delights. The temporary physical changes Alice experiences throughout the novel seem to insist on, or point towards some sort of scholarly metaphor. Here in lies Lewis Carroll's true genius. The reader is kept guessing, and searching for the true meaning in the author's use of magical transformations. Wonderland is a theatre of ever changing landscapes and powerful props. For example, the magic keys that open passageways into enchanted gardens mysteriously appear and disappear at will. Magic works in Carroll's Wonderland by exerting its influence over Alice. Its purpose is to entertain a young girl's imagination as much as confound the sophisticated intellect of a rational adult.

               Magic can be seen in the language and dialogue employed in the novel.  Conversations in Wonderland are conducted in a language that sounds like English, yet is controlled by a very different logic. Common sense conversations are transformed. Words magically escape their dictionary-defined boundaries, and patterns of accepted speech and communication are manipulated and inverted. The Mad Hatter speaks of time as if "Time" were someone to be known. "If you knew Time as well as I do, you wouldn't talk about wasting it..., I dare say you never even spoke to Time."(350) The soaking wet Mouse reasons that the story of William the Conqueror would be best since this story is the driest thing it knows. "I'll soon make you dry enough," said the mouse. (332)These are a few examples of "Cross-Talk Comedy," Lewis Carroll skillfully employs to create a fantastical inversion of logic. The comical conversations unlock words from their context and give them an identity of their own. In Wonderland, a word is as much a condition as a thing, no matter what other words form a sentence around it. The significance of the magical transformation of words in Wonderland's society stress the unique social skills Alice must develop. The ever shifting playground rules allow Alice to demonstrate her growing power as an individual, and her adaptability to new forms of communication. In essence, "learning the game means more than learning the rules."

               Alice's good sense and the brilliant nonsense of the animals in Wonderland create a unique fairytale world. The animals she encounters are of the typical domestic pet variety. They are not unlike the cartoon characters of modern children's cinema. Other than the Gryphon that might seem foreign, and visually frightening to Alice, the host of characters are non-threatening and entertaining in their own unique ways. They are magically endowed with consciousness equal to that of humans. The nervous white rabbit wears a waste-coat and carries a pocket watch.  The sluggish Caterpillar smokes a hookah. The Cheshire Cat flashing it's sharp teeth, claws, and enormous grin. The Mad Hatter, March Hare, and the Dormouse having a perpetual tea party. The Duchess has a sneezing baby that turns into a pig. The Dodo, Duck, and Lory are three of the many birds that gather on the bank with Alice after falling into a pool of her tears. These animals and many more establish Wonderland as a mystical community.  They are the collective consciousness assisting young Alice in her personal growth, and development of social skills.

               The Cheshire Cat is the most magical character in Wonderland's community. The cat has the ability to appear and disappear at will.  The perpetually grinning feline displays a detached, clearheaded logic and explains Wonderland's madness to Alice. The Cheshire Cat is not the only cat mentioned in the story. Alice's cat, Dinah, is never present in Wonderland but becomes part of the story when Alice explains her pet's many talents to an audience of horrified birds, and on another occasion, the Mouse. The Cheshire Cat is unique because it has insight into the workings of Wonderland as a whole. The sagacious cat is able to explain to Alice that Wonderland is ruled by nonsense. Thus, Alice's normal behavior is inconsistent with its operating principles. The significance of the Cheshire Cat's role in Alice's adventures is important. It is a counterbalance to all the unsocial, bad-mannered eccentrics Alice meets in Wonderland. The cat shares Alice's common sense in contrast to the other quarrelsome creatures. In general, the basic condition common to all the creatures is ignorance --- for which there seems to be no remedy. It is the duty of the bodiless cat to remind the executioner and the King that it is mathematically impossible to behead a detached head. With a smile on his face, the Cheshire Cat reminds the authorities governing Wonderland, "they are not playing with a full deck of cards."

               In conclusion, wonderland's magical influence on Alice breaks down her beliefs about her identity and replaces those beliefs and understandings of the world with a new set of nonsensical rules. Alice understands this crisis of identity in terms of a fairytale.  "When I used to read fairytales, I fancied that kind of thing never happened, and now here I am in the middle of it."(326)The world that she thinks she knows, which she defines logically through cause and effect and that she seeks to tame through definition is subverted and replaced by a mad rush of haphazard and inexplicable events. ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND parodies these human efforts to create an organized universe in which our experience can be rendered rational. In chapter 11, Alice begins to magically grow again. She barely notices it. Her growth is a metaphor for gradual growth into an adult. She enters wonderland as a tiny version of herself able to race down a rabbit hole, but she emerges wiser, more grown up, and with a more integrated personality than before. Her magical Wonderland adventure slowly dissolves back into everyday experience, as seen through the eyes of her older sister."...all would change to dull reality---the grass would be only rustling in the wind, and the pool ripple to the waving of the reeds---the rattling tea-cups would change to tinkling sheep-bells, and the Queen's shrill cries to the voice of the shepherd boy---and the sneeze of the baby, the shriek of the Gryphon, and all the other queer noises, would change to the confusing clamour of the busy farm yard---while the lowing of the cattle in the distance would take the place of the Mock Turtle's heavy sobs."(374)

The end has come to greet the beginning.

Reward the losers for they are winning.

Ask young Alice what she thinks of this...

As Lewis Carroll leans in to steal a kiss. **

* www.prospectmagazine.co.uk ALICE IN WONDERLAND, September 21, 2012.

** Lars Hansen (12/21/2013)

Children's Classics

The Silver Lining in Treasure Island                                                                                      November 30, 2013.

               "Treasure Island" written by Robert Louis Stevenson is one of the great adventure tales of all times. It is a suspenseful story of tropical destinations, pesky pirates, and buried gold. It is a story of greed and treasure maps complete with the pirate's signature trademark "skull and crossbones."  Stevenson's novel is a romance, written specifically for a young audience. It is the story of one boy's coming of age. Jim Hawkins, the story's main protagonist and narrator is a timid boy at the beginning of the novel but as the tale unfolds he develops some of the essential characteristics of a swashbuckling sailor. "My curiosity, in a sense was stronger than my fear."(509)  By the end of the journey he has outwitted pirates, taken over a schooner, and saved many of his loyal shipmates from certain death. It might be an oversimplification to describe Jim as the hero in this novel, when in fact, "Treasure Island” is the story of Long John Silver.

               The one-legged marauding mariner is the indisputable villain of "Treasure Island." The quintessential fortune hunting pirate. Long John proves to be the most interesting of the book's main characters. Stevenson's well developed pirate persona is a true work of genius, not because he exemplifies everything that is exciting about boyhood adventure. Instead, it is Cap'n Silver the romantic character worthy of cult hero status that steals the show. He's not just a pirate, but he is everyone's favorite "Gentleman of Fortune." While other characters in the novel are presented in the simplest of description, Long John Silver is presented in precise detail. We know his age, his marital status, and his history. The shrewd Silver is a man of many ( ham sized) faces.

               Long before the personable John Silver is introduced in Chapter 7,  Captain Billy Bones pays Jim Hawkins a silver fourpenny to keep a " weather-eye open for the seafaring man with one leg."(498) The mere thought of Long John Silver being in close proximity sends Billy into bone rattling panic attacks.  Even Jim Hawkins has nightmares about the hideous one-legged monster. "How the personage haunted my dreams, I need scarcely tell you. On stormy nights, when the wind shock the four corners of the house and the surf roared along the cove and up the cliffs, I would see him in a thousand forms, and with a thousand diabolical expressions." (498) Stevenson's lead-in during the Part One of the novel is a brilliant portrayal of the novel's main antagonist. Without a definite identity but with a reputation for cruelty, John Silver becomes larger than life. Even though he still wants behind the curtain for his grand entrance, the tension created by this foreshadowing serves to heighten the readers curiosity about Stevenson's pirate.

               We first meet the enterprising Silver in Part Two of the Novel. He is a tavern owner that keeps a clear head at all times. He isn't given to drink and debauchery like the other pirates. He is the sober strategist staying alert, while his tavern's patrons drink to excess. Rum appears throughout the novel as a powerful symbol of the pirate's violence, recklessness, and uncontrolled behavior. In fact, the devil's grog is the pirates undoing.  Just as the pirate's shanty explains," ...dead men's chest, ho ho ho and a bottle of rum." Sailors drink themselves to death. Captain Billy is the first, followed by Mr. Arrow the first mate on the Hispaniola.  He is constantly tipsy until he falls overboard. Only Silver can keep his composure and stays the course. (The abstinence shown by the quartermaster was appealing to readers in the Victorian age. An era of acutely conservative morals.) It is not until near the end of the novel, when John Silver recognizes his imminent and inevitable defeat that he drinks cognac. "Well, I'll take a drain myself, Jim" said he. "I need a caulker, for there's trouble on hand."(586)

               Early in the novel, Robert Louis Stevenson represents John Silver with enough pleasing character traits to make the Bristol, tavern owner seem convincing enough to fool the suspicious, yet naive, Jim Hawkins, " he was too deep, and too ready, and too clever for me,..., I would have gone bail for the innocence of Long John Silver."(521) Stevenson has created a charmingly complex yet morally flawed character. On one hand, he is a cold hearted killer and devious manipulator with no real sense of loyalty to anything but "that blunt" money. On the other hand, he displays admirable qualities that inspire the gentry to trust his good sensibilities. The success of Stevenson's novel is due, in part, to Jim's heroic actions that are inspired by the crafty John Silver.  His positive character traits don't save him from being a tragic character. Instead, Stevenson novel is an exploration of what it means to be human.  Even in the end, when all seems lost for the crooked cook, Silver still has the cunning, cleverness, and foresight to plan his next move, and escape the hangman's noose. "Jim, " he whispered, "take that , and stand by for trouble. ' And he passed me a double-barreled pistol." (600) Long John is the opportunist at every turn. By giving Jim a pistol he is, in fact, trading his freedom for a chance to rejoin the gentry and escape the other pirates deadly fate.  " I am on your side now, hand and glove; and I shouldn't wish for to see the party weakened, let alone yourself, seeing as I know what I owes you." (605)  The convincing conman is always scheming and plotting for a way to gain an advantage, and live to fight another day.

               The pirates die out rapidly over the course of the novel and are continually associated with defeat and deformity. The pirate's skeleton found near the treasure symbolizes the superstitious pirates impending doom.  Long John Silver hasn't avoided the pirates curse but he has defied the dire consequences of his buccaneering. He is deformed yet "agile as a monkey even without leg or crutch." (540)  his brutality is swift when he kills Tom.  His physical defects showcase his strength of character. Although he is rough and rugged, he is also well spoken and gentlemanly. As the name Silver suggests, there is something valuable in the tarnished sailor. His silver tongue "he can speak like a book when so minded," and powers of persuasion contrast the crew of misfits that follow his leadership. One by one they walk their own plank. Only the charismatic long shot Silver has the skills to survive with "three or four hundred Guinness, to help him on his further wanderings." (606)  The ability of slippery John Silver to avoid prison or worse is what makes Stevenson's novel so attractive. Be his name Sparrow or Silver, the immortal character lives on today in modern films like, "Pirates of the Caribbean."

               Silver is much more than just the villain in a children's novel. The ever decisive, impressively astute, and uncommonly hell singed "barbeque" leaves a lasting impression. One minute he is heartlessly cruel and treacherous. The next, he is the consummate politician ready to win a pirate's election (chapter 29), and in doing so, wins favor with adventure tale afficionados of all ages. Be it when he negotiates his way out of potential disaster by patronizing young Jim Hawkins.  " I know when a game is up, I do; and I know a lad that is staunch. Ah, you that's young - you and me might have done a power of good together. "(583)  Or when, despite his formidable and frightening appearance, he is quick to inspire trust in the gentry. Captain Smollett and Dr. Livesey have great confidence in the princely pirate's character at the outset of the voyage. "Well, squire, "said Dr, Livesey," I don't put much faith in your discoveries, as a general thing; but I will say this, John Silver suits me." (523)  At every turn, Silver has outsmarted his rivals, anticipated every changing tide of the story's choppy plot, and planned for every conceivable outcome. He might not be a hero, but Silver's survival skills make him a favorite among readers of adventure tales.

               To enjoy "Treasure Island" one must suspend any notion of morality in favor of the broader ideals of romantic individualism. Right and wrong don't serve Stevenson's humanist motives. Instead, the novelist's true intention was to create a seascape of excitement and fantasy. "What might be taken as a moral confusion in the story is better viewed as a clue to the essential nature of the adventure tale." * In the end, Long John Silver, with the help of Ben Gunn, is allowed to escape. He jumps ship in a Spanish American port with a bag of gold and his faithful travelling companion; the (200 year old) parrot, Cap'n Flint. Maybe, "we were all pleased to be quit of him." However, "the bar silver and the arms still lie, where Flint buried them...,"(606) and every young pirate with dreams of sailing the seven seas has only to reach for a copy of "Treasure Island," to enlist with "The Sea Cook" on his next mutinous adventure.

* Lesson Three: Treasure Island. Learning Objectives. John W. Griffith.