Set in the eighteenth century, Treasure Island spins a
heady tale of piracy, a mysterious treasure map and a host of sinister
characters charged with diabolical intentions. Seen through the eyes of
Jim Hawkins, the cabin boy of the Hispaniola, the action-packed
adventure tells of a perilous sea journey across the Spanish Main, a
mutiny led by the infamous Long John Silver and a lethal scramble for
buried treasure on an exotic isle.
Jim
Hawkins lives and works with his mother in the Inn his family owns and
runs; the Admiral Benbow. Here 'a brown old seamen' comes to stay.
"...
a tall, strong, heavy, nut-brown man, his tarry pigtail falling over
the shoulders of his soiled blue coat, his hands ragged and scarred with
black, broken nails, and [a] sabre cut across one cheek, a dirty, livid
white."
This old sea dog asks Jim to, 'keep a weather-eye open for a seafaring man with one leg.'
No
one of that sort ever visited the Inn until one day a sailorly man
comes enquiring about his old friend; someone he calls Billy Bones, the
captain. Jim is wary of the stranger, but since he has two legs thinks
nothing of it.
The captain isn't pleased to see his old
shipmate, someone he calls 'Black Dog' but resigns to a private
conversation. It isn't long before the two men erupt in a fight, voices
raised, cutlass's drawn and the stranger flees for his life.
It
isn't long before the captain gets another visitor; an old, blind
pirate who threatens Jim until he allows the him to meet with the
captain. The old blind man gives Billy Bones a piece of paper,
blackened on one side.
The black spot.
The
black spot is Billy Bones' undoing. He drops dead right there.
Worried that the pirates will be back to ransack the Inn Jim warns his
mother. Together they search the dead man's chest, where he kept his
only possessions, for money to pay for his stay at the Inn. All they
find are old, foreign coins and a oil parchment. With no more time Jim
grabs the parchment and he and his mother flee.
Just
in time. Pirates, scoundrels, call for Billy Bones and ransack the
Inn. Jim and his mother hide in the yard and escape certain death by
the hands of those murderous, blood-thirsty pirates who cannot seem to
find what they're looking for.
Jim hears the old, blind man swears that, "it's the people of the Inn... that boy."
Jim knows he's in trouble and clutches the parchment even tighter. Jim prays that they remain hidden
It
seems his prayers are answered for just then some revenue officers come
charging on horses over the hill. There is a scuffle, the blind man is
dead and the rest of the pirates flee back to shadows of their ships.
After some investigation Jim discovers that in the parchment is a
clearly marked treasure map. Word gets out and the local Squire
convinces a group of men, including a doctor and Jim himself, to suit up
and ship out to find that treasure.
The Doctor warns the
Squire to keep the true nature of the mission a secret. "These fellows
who attacked the Inn - bold, desperate blades, for sure - and more, I
say, not far off, are one and all through thick and thin, bound that
they'll get that money."
They make a pact and the secret is safe.
It's
a few weeks until the Squire Trewlaney is able to finance the ship, but
eventually word comes that they've acquired a schooner.
"You never imagined a sweeter schooner... name, Hispaniola."
With
the help of a helpful old sailor, Long John Silver, they manage to put
together a mighty fine crew with Jim serving as cabin boy. Jim is
allowed one night to say goodbye to his mother at the Inn but the next
day finds himself in Bristol ready to sail off. There Jim meets the
charismatic and enigmatic cook, the man who helped hand pick the crew,
Long John Silver.
Jim is worried at first because it is
clear that the old sailor only has one leg, and the warning of Billy
Bones still haunted Jim's mind. But Silver turns out to be a charming
and delightful individual and Jim warms up to him right away.
In
spite of their pack the purpose of the trip, treasure, hasn't been kept
very well and an unmistakable rumour that there is a treasure map on
board make everyone anxious to leave. They sail as planned on a course
plotted with treasure in mind and it becomes clear that there is some
mistrust between the sailors. Though they find their destination as
planned and without incident.
Until Jim, in a
fortuitous blunder, overhears an incriminating conversation between
Silver and his men. They are planning a mutiny the likes that had never
been seen in the history of his predecessors, or as Silver calls them,
the 'Gentlemen of Fortune."
Jim alerts the Captain,
the Squire and the Doctor. They agree it's best to continue with the
expedition as if they know nothing, all the while preparing for attack.
They let some pirate men go ashore and Jim slips into their boat
unseen. As soon as he can, back on land, he dashes away from the
pirates only to double back later with the intent to spy. While
watching Jim witnesses the men murder one of their own and in his horror
and fear runs unseeing through the trees and marshes of the island.
He
runs wild until he comes across a man, or beast, or something else
entirely. It scares him to death and Jim actually contemplates
returning back to the evil pirates. But the creature is a man and it
approaches Jim with a story so terrible and tragic that Jim immediately
recognizes a friend. The man, Ben Gunn, had been left alone, marooned,
on the island for the past 3 years. He swears to help Jim as long as he
and his friends help him get off the island.
Meanwhile,
the Doctor, the Squire and the Captain and whatever good men were left
took a surveillance team to inspect the island themselves. They come
across a defence unit in which they know they can defend. They do their
best to load it with supplies, weapons, defences, and by the grace of
God Jim is able to find them there and joins them in defending against
the villainous pirates.
At first Long John approaches
and politely asks for the map. When he is refused he returns with his
army and attack the stockade with the good men inside. All seems lost
as the pirates take the stronghold, but once the smoke clears Jim
realizes that apart from one death and a few wounded, including the
captain, the side of good has won. Seemingly beat the pirates leave
them alone.
As Jim sits and waits and grows increasingly
restless, an idea grows. He escapes the stockade to find the homemade
boat Ben Gunn hid. It is no more than a crudely made coracle that has
no steering to speak of but that doesn't stop Jim from hatching another
idea; use the coracle to cut the Hispaniola from her anchor. Jim hopes
that will beach the ship leaving the pirates unable to maroon the men.
With great risk, and expectation of death, Jim succeeds in his plan.
The
next morning the Hispaniola pitches and yaws and sails erratically.
Jim suspects that there is no one on board. With a little luck and a
lot of effort Jim sacrifices the coracle and hangs onto the Hispaniola
for dear life. Once on board Jim finds one of the two men left to watch
the ship is dead and the other badly wounded. With no one to help
steer the ship to safe waters Jim has no choice but to strike a bargain;
save the man's wretched life in exchange for help with the ship. Jim
suspects that his life is at steak as soon as they are safe ashore. The
pirate will most certainly try to kill him once his use is gone. Jim
vows to be ready, but in the excitement of bringing in the ship he
forgets to be prepared for an attack. In one throw the pirate manages
to pin a knife in Jim's shoulder. Fearing death fortune intervenes.
The boat pitches and throws the unsteady and wounded pirate head first
into the water.
Wounded but safe, Jim is determined
to find his friends. By the light of the moon he is able to make his
way back to the stockade where he believes his friends are snoring
away. But to his chagrin the little dwelling is full of the villainous,
bloodthirsty pirates. They capture him and give him a chance to chose
sides; them or die.
It's then that he gets a bold stroke of courage and reveals himself to the Gentlemen of Fortune.
"...
here you are, in a bad way: ship lost, treasure lost, men lost; your
whole business gone to wreck; and if you want to know who did it - it
was I! ... As for the schooner, it was I who cut her cable, and it was I
that killed the men you had aboard of her, and it was I who brought her
where you'll never see her more, not one of you. The laugh's on my
side; I've had the top of this business from the first; I no more fear
you than I fear a fly. Kill me, if you please, or spare me."
After
a dazed moment from the terrible lot, impressed with his courage Silver
calls out, "I like that boy, now; I never seen a better boy than that.
He's more a man than any pair of you rats of you in this here house,
and what I say is this: let me see him that'll lay a hand on him -
that's what I say, and you may lay to it."
And so he
was spared, for the time being. This only adds to the crew's
restlessness and anger. They request a private meeting without their
appointed leader, Long John Silver. When they return they denounce him
as captain and hand him the black spot. Jim fears that he and Silver
are both dead, but somehow Silver manages to convince the crew that
everything he's done and everything he's planning has been and continues
to be in the best interest of them all.
This
mollifies the crew. Silver is reappointed as leader as he promises them
silver and a boat to sail it to safety. The men set out, determined to
find the treasure. Jim's hopes sink when he finds out they have the
map; all they have to do is find the treasure. How they got the map Jim
cannot know. He left it in the safe keeping of the doctor. Perhaps he
was dead? Why else would the doctor give it up so freely? Jim fears
the worst for his friends and himself as he is taken with the pirates to
pursue their lust of gold.
The story of Treasure
Island is one we are all familiar with. Full of exotic locations,
descriptions and narrative the reader is pulled into a story of daring
adventure on the high seas.
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