Treasure Island

“They say cowardice is infectious, but then argument is, on the other hand, a great emboldener; and so when each had said his say, my mother made them a speech.” 

Jim’s mother demonstrates moral integrity when she takes only what she is owed from the captain’s sea chest, but she is not merely quiet or passive. She speaks her mind to the villagers in the hamlet when they refuse to help protect her and Jim from Pew’s attacks, and this shows that she is outspoken as well.

“‘I’ll take what I have,’ she said, jumping to her feet.” 

As Pew and his men approach the inn searching for the old sea captain’s chest, Jim and his mother are forced to flee. In the heat of the moment, Jim’s mother chooses to take less than what she is owed, revealing that she is an honest person to her core.

“Money! […] Have you heard the story? What were these villains after but money? What do they care for but money? For what would they risk their rascally carcasses but money?” 

The squire asserts that money is the motivation for all pirates’ crimes. Since he himself becomes excited by the prospect of riches, it is insinuated that money might be the root of evil in all people, not just pirates.

“‘Livesey,’ returned the squire, ‘you are always in the right of it. I’ll be as silent as the grave.’” 

The doctor says that he is skeptical that the squire can keep the treasure a secret. The squire’s response, that he promises not to tell anyone, later becomes a point of contention when it turns out that the entire crew knows about the treasure. In fact, this is one reason why the captain and the squire dislike one another.

“It was longer than the squire imagined ere we were ready for the sea, and none of our first plans—not even Dr. Livesey’s of keeping me beside him—could be carried out as we intended.” 

The squire harbored elaborate fantasies about the journey to Treasure Island, imagining that it would be quick and easy. Reality soon sets in, however. The preparations take longer than expected, and in his haste the squire makes the mistake of hiring John Silver and the pirates as the ship’s crew.

“I said good-by to mother and the cove where I had lived since I was born, and the dear old ‘Admiral Benbow’—since he was repainted, no longer quite so dear.” 

The inn’s repainted sign signifies that Jim’s home has changed and that he is fully ready to leave it. Treasure Island is a coming-of-age story, and this is the moment when Jim finally leaves home.

“He should run him down, hand over hand, by the powers! He talked o’keelhauling, did he? I’ll keelhaul him!” 

When Jim first meets John Silver, he finds him jovial, friendly, and quick to laugh. This passage represents both the exuberance with which Silver talks as well as the style of slang used by many pirates and seamen throughout the novel.

“‘Well, sir,’ said the captain, ‘better speak plain, I believe, even at the risk of offense. I don’t like this cruise; I don’t like the men; and I don’t like my officer. That’s short and sweet.’” 

The captain quickly reveals his personality after being introduced. Here he shows that he is honest and direct, and uses as few words and mannerisms as possible.

“All the crew respected and even obeyed him. He had a way of talking to each, and doing everybody some particular service.” 

John Silver initially seems like an immensely respectable seaman because he commands the respect of all the crew. Later on, however, it is made clear that Silver commands their attention through violence and deception, not just friendliness.

“‘Gentlemen of fortune,’ returned the cook, ‘usually trusts little among themselves, and right they are, you may lay to it.’” 

“Gentleman of fortune” is slang for “pirate.” Silver is saying is that there is no trust between pirates, and that pirates are smart not to trust each other. The subtext is that Silver, like many pirates, looks out only for his own interests and not the interests of others.

“There was not a breath of air moving, nor a sound but that of the surf booming half a mile away along the beaches and against the rocks outside. A peculiar stagnant smell hung over the anchorage—a smell of sodden leaves and rotting tree trunks.” 

Treasure Island symbolizes a person’s mind when it is clouded with greed. The fact that there is little air moving there, and that the island smells stagnant and rotting, suggests the poor health of a mind thinking only of riches.

“But, mate, my heart is sore for Christian diet. You mightn’t happen to have a piece of cheese about you now?” 

When Jim first enters the woods after witnessing Silver murder someone, he is frightened and thinks that Ben Gunn represents another threat. When he interacts with Ben Gunn, however, he finds that he is not only harmless but possibly insane and slightly silly, as demonstrated by this passage.

“‘Gray,’ resumed Mr. Smollett, a little louder, ‘I am leaving this ship, and I order you to follow your captain.’” 

Before abandoning the Hispaniola, Captain Smollett speaks to Gray, a pirate who he believes is deep down an honest man. He is right, and Gray escapes the pirates’ clutches and converts back to the honest crew. There is a religious overtone to this moment in the sense that Captain Smollett is offering salvation to Gray, who has joined the ranks of mutiny or evil.

“‘Ready!’ cried the squire. ‘Hold!’ cried the captain, quick as an echo.”

When they first meet, the squire and the captain remain distant from one another. Unlike the pirates, however, they put aside their differences and work closely together toward a common goal. Here they successfully avoid enemy gunfire, suggesting their ability to work together is saving their lives.

“All’s well with him; no fear for a hand that’s been shot down in his duty to captain and owner. It mayn’t be good divinity, but it’s a fact.” 

Redruth is shot by the pirates and passes away in the stockade. As the squire mourns, the captain suggests that Redruth served his duties well and therefore his passing should not be considered too great a loss. Such words might not be fit for a priest to say, but to the captain’s practical mind, they are the truth.

“‘Strike my colors!’ cried the captain. “‘No, sir, not I.’” 

By refusing to take down the English flag from the stockade, the captain demonstrates the importance of symbolically declaring one’s loyalties. Although the squire suggests it would make more practical sense to take the flag down, the captain insists, and the men shortly thereafter agree with him.

“Tired though we all were, two were sent for firewood; two more were set to dig a grave for Redruth; the doctor was named cook; I was put sentry at the door; and the captain himself went from one to another, keeping up our spirits and lending a hand wherever it was wanted.” 

Work is shown to be a virtue. While the pirates fall into drink and laziness whenever they want to, the crew continues to work in an orderly fashion even while extremely exhausted.

“But where Silver stood with his lieutenant all was still in shadow, and they waded knee-deep in a low white vapor, that had crawled during the night out of the morass.” 

Throughout the novel there is great attention to the landscape. Usually such description serves as a metaphor for a character’s state of mind or for the quality of a certain situation. The fact the Silver stands in a white vapor here means that his intentions are partially unclear. He comes to the stockade to bargain, but the men can’t determine what he wants, and this uncertainty is represented by the fog partially covering his body.

“At the same moment another pirate grasped Hunter’s musket by the muzzle, wrenched it from his hands, plucked it through the loophole, and, with one stunning blow, laid the poor fellow senseless on the floor.” 

The pirates are not merely deceptive, drunk, or lazy. They are physically violent and dangerous, as illustrated by the image of one striking a servant with a gun.

“Certainly I did not know her way. She turned in every direction but the one I was bound to go; the most part of the time we were broadside on, and I am very sure I never should have made the ship at all but for the tide.” 

Luck frequently contributes to Jim’s successes. He admits that without the tide, he would never have conquered the Hispaniola. The tide here serves as an image or metaphor for the currents of luck and fortune.

“I’ve come aboard to take possession of this ship, Mr. Hands; and you’ll please regard me as your captain until further notice.” 

Jim displays some arrogance in his treatment of a very dangerous pirate. Such arrogance proves that he has matured from the boy he was at the beginning of the novel.

“Silver was roundly accused of playing double—of trying to make a separate peace for himself—of sacrificing the interests of his accomplices and victims; and, in one word, of the identical, exact thing that he was doing.” 

Silver’s tricks become obvious by the end of the novel, such that no one remains fooled by them. Jim lays out Silver’s deceptions in plain terms, making it clear that he cannot be trusted by anyone.

“‘No,’ I replied, ‘you know right well you wouldn’t do the thing yourself—neither you, nor squire, nor captain—and no more will I. Silver trusted me; I passed my word, and back I go.’” 

The doctor suggests that Jim hop the stockade fence, but Jim refuses, even after it is made clear that Silver is deceptive. This shows that Jim is a better man than Silver. Jim is unwilling to go back on his word, even with a man who almost never keeps his own.