Antihero: Long John silver
Genre: Young Adult Fiction / Childrens classic / Adventure
Citation: Stevenson, Robert Louis. Treasure
island, New York : Penguin Books, 1999.
Annotation:
SPOILER ALERT: The following annotation contains some spoilers.
First published between in 1881
to 1882 as a series in the children’s magazine Young Folks Treasure Island was
so popular with readers that it was published as a book in 1883. Written by
Scottish author Roberts Louise Stevenson this an adventure story was originally
published under the pseudonym of Captain George North. The story is a coming of
age story about the adventures on the high seas of a young boy named James “Jim”
Hawkins.
At the beginning of the novel Jim
lives and works with his mother in a seaside inn. An old mysterious named
Captain Billy Bones arrives to seek loggings at the inn with a sea chest in tow.
Soon it becomes clear to Jim that Captain Bones is in hiding from many but is
particularly fearful of a man with one leg.
Captain Bones becomes a long time
logger at the inn and many months later is visited by a sailor named Black Dog.
The two fight bitterly but Black Dog flees and Captain Bones suffers a stroke.
As young Jim cares for the ailing Captain, Bones confesses that he was once the
mate of the late notorious pirate Captain Flynn and is the only man with the
knowledge to where the late Captain had hidden his treasure. Due to this all
his old crew are searching for him.
As time passes and Jim continues
to care for the Captain. Other members of his old crew appear at the inn in
search of Bones. Eventually the strain is too much for Bones and he drops dead.
Jim and his mother search his belongings in order to find money owed to this by
the sailor. Jim finds a package just as a band of pirates arrive causing Jim
and his mother to flee otherwise empty handed.
The package turns out to be a map
and other details of how to locate Flint’s tressure. This leads to an epic
adventure on the high seas. With a cast of colourful characters the storyline
follows Jim as he becomes a cabin boy on a ship off to claim the tressure.
One of the crew of this ship is
Long John Silver who runs the ships galley and helped recruit the majority of
the crew. Jim is at first hesitant to trust Long John. Long John is missing a
leg and Jim he remembers Captain Bone’s fear. But Long John wins over young Jim
and the two become close with John eventually becoming a father-like figure to
Jim.
However it is revealed that Long
John Silver is a cut throat pirate once also member of the Captain Flint’s crew
he will stop at nothing to gain the Flint’s treasure. He intends to mutiny and
gain the tressure for himself.
Long John is a cruel and devious
man. He is the primary antagonist in the novel. This leads to questions as to
how he can be seen as an Anti-hero. Basically the answer lives in his dealings
with the young Jim Hawkins. Despite Long John’s lust for the tressure and
inspite of the fact he has shown himself to be willing to commit murder to
achieve this. Long John is unable to killing Jim and continues to help him
throughout the novel. He develops an attachment to Jim and often saves the boy
for certain death.
He is also has some other
redeeming qualities. He is a man of outstanding courage despite of his
disability. At one point in the novel he stands his ground against five men and
protects Jim. He has intelligence and cunning. Throughout the novel Long John
willingly changes sides in the interests of his own survival.
Treasure Island is a classic of
children’s literature and should be on any prolific readers “must reads”. Not
just for children this beautifully written plot is an exciting read.
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