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.
