Treasure Island

Treasure Island is a novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, first published in one volume in 1883, though it had previously been serialized in a children's magazine; the original title was The Sea Cook or Treasure Island. It is an adventure tale intended for children but has been enjoyed by adults just as much. It is one of the most frequently dramatized of all novels, and its influence on popular lore about pirates can not be overestimated.

Summary of Treasure Island

Jim Hawkins is a young boy who lives at his parents? sleepy sea-side inn, the Admiral Benbow, near Bristol, England, in the eighteenth century. An old and menacing sea captain named Billy Bones appears one day, but dies of a stroke in the inn after being presented with a "black spot", or official pirate verdict of guilt or judgment. Hastily, Jim and his mother unlock Billy?s sea chest (under pretense of payment for his inn tab), finding a logbook and map inside. Hearing steps outside, they quickly leave with the documents before Billy?s pursuers ransack the inn looking for the same.

Related Topics:
Bristol, England - Eighteenth century - Stroke - Pirate

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Jim realizes that the contents he has snatched from the sea chest must be valuable, so he takes the documents he has found to some local aristocratic acquaintances, Dr. Livesey and Squire Trelawney. Excited, they recognize it as a map leading to the fabled treasure of the infamous pirate Captain Flint buried on Skeleton Island in the West Indies. Trelawney immediately starts planning an expedition. Naïve in his negotiations to outfit his ship, the Hispaniola, Trelawney is tricked into hiring one of Flint?s former mates, Long John Silver, and many of Flint?s old crew. Only the captain, Smollett, is trustworthy, but Trelawney has fallen under the charismatic spell of Silver and believes him to be the better man. The ship sets sail for Skeleton Island with nothing amiss, until Jim overhears Silver?s plans for mutiny. Jim tells the captain about Silver and the rest of the rebellious crew. Captain Smollett is vindicated in the eyes of the others and becomes the leader of the "faithful crew".

Related Topics:
Captain Flint - West Indies - Hispaniola - Long John Silver

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Landing at the island, Captain Smollett devises a plan to get most of the mutineers off the ship, allowing them leisure time on shore. Without telling his companions, Jim sneaks into the pirates? boat and goes ashore with them. Frightened of the pirates, Jim runs off alone into the forest. From a hiding place, he witnesses Silver?s murder of a sailor who refuses to join the mutiny. Jim flees deeper into the heart of the island, where he encounters a half-crazed man named Ben Gunn. Ben had once served in Flint?s crew but was marooned alone on the island three years earlier.

Related Topics:
Murder - Mutiny - Marooned

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Meanwhile, Smollett and his men have gone ashore and taken shelter in a stockade they found which Flint had built years earlier. Jim returns to the stockade and tells of his encounter with Ben. Silver visits under a white flag of truce and attempts a negotiation with the captain, but these lead to bruised egos on both sides. The pirates attack the stockade the next day, and the captain is wounded. Eager to take action, Jim follows another whim and deserts his mates, sneaking off to hunt for Ben?s handmade boat hidden in the woods.

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After finding Ben?s boat, Jim sails out to the anchored ship with the intention of cutting it adrift, thereby depriving the pirates of a means of escape. He cuts the rope, but he realizes his small boat has drifted near the pirates? camp and fears he will be discovered. By chance, the pirates do not spot Jim, and he floats around the island until he catches sight of the ship drifting wildly. Struggling aboard, he discovers that one of the two watchmen left aboard, Israel Hands, has killed the other watchman in a drunken fit and is seriously injured himself. Jim takes control of the ship, but Israel turns against him in a fight in the riggings. Jim is wounded but kills Israel.

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Jim returns to the stockade at night not realizing it has since been occupied by the pirates. Silver takes Jim hostage, telling the boy that the captain has given the pirates the treasure map, provisions, and the use of the stockade in exchange for their lives. Silver is having trouble managing his men, who accuse him of treachery. Silver proposes to Jim that they help each other survive by pretending Jim is a hostage. However, the men present Silver with a black spot and inform him that he has been deposed as their commander. In a desperate attempt to gain control of his crew, Silver shows them the treasure map to appease them, narrowly saving Jims life (and Silver's) from the mutineering pirates.

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The next day Silver leads Jim and the men to the treasure site, but they are shocked to find it already excavated and the treasure removed except for a few stray coins. The pirates are angered and ready to kill Silver and Jim once and for all. At that moment Dr. Livesey, Ben Gunn, and the others appear from the bushes and fire on the pirate band, killing some and scattering three others throughout the island. Silver at this point has switched sides, and because he saved Jim's life earlier, is forgiven by the others.

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After spending three days carrying the loot from Ben's cave to the ship, the men prepare to set sail for home. There is a debate about the fate of the remaining mutineers. Despite the three pirates? submissive pleas, they are left marooned on the island, perhaps a kinder fate then returing them home to the gallows, and much to the glee of Ben Gunn. Silver is allowed to join the voyage to a nearby Spanish American port, where he sneaks off the ship one night with a small portion of the treasure and is never heard from again. The voyage home comes to a close. Eventually, Captain Smollett retires from the sea, Ben becomes a beggar, Jim swears off treasure-hunting forever and suffers from nightmares about the sea and gold coins.

Related Topics:
Gallows - Spanish American - Port - Beggar

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