1. Using Treasure Island’s descriptions of Flint’s map and of the island itself as your guide, draw the map in as much detail as you can, including the islet (“Skeleton Island”), the southern anchorage, North Inlet, the three mountains on the main island, and the treasure site. 2. As a […]
Read more Study Help Practice ProjectsStudy Help Essay Questions
1. Write a “Chapter 35” that explains what Jim did or plans to do with his share of the treasure. Try to remain faithful to Jim’s character and to his time and place; assume that his division is 20,000 pounds, and remember that this is at least forty times what […]
Read more Study Help Essay QuestionsStudy Help Full Glossary for Treasure Island
a-blowing like a garding blooming like a garden. aboveboard in nautical terms, above deck; here used figuratively to mean still alive. ague shakes trembling from a fever. alow and aloft nautical terms for “below and above” meaning thoroughly, in every possible place. already ambushed already waiting in ambush. ankecher handkerchief. […]
Read more Study Help Full Glossary for Treasure IslandCritical Essays Three Mariners: Crusoe, Gulliver, and Gunn
It is nearly always useful and rewarding to consider a work of fiction in its own historical and social setting, and one may compare and contrast the characters of Robinson Crusoe (1719), Lemuel Gulliver (1726), and Ben Gunn (1883) from that perspective, inasmuch as each character is reflective of his […]
Read more Critical Essays Three Mariners: Crusoe, Gulliver, and GunnCritical Essays Themes in Treasure Island
Treasure Island is not a book with a message; instead, it is an adventure tale, pure and (except for the character of its great antagonist, John Silver) simple. Yet like some other adventure tales, Stevenson’s classic novel has as its central theme one of the oldest and most universal stories. […]
Read more Critical Essays Themes in Treasure IslandRobert Louis Stevenson Biography
Personal Background Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in November 1850, the only child of a prosperous middle-class family. His father, Thomas, was a civil engineer who specialized in the design and construction of lighthouses, and his mother, Margaret, was the daughter of a well-known clergyman. Probably […]
Read more Robert Louis Stevenson BiographyCharacter Analysis Long John Silver
Long John Silver is the book’s most powerful and developed character, one whose motivation is believable but not unambiguous and whose complexity makes Treasure Island a true work of genius. Silver is much more than a type; he is a genuine individual, attractive and repellent by turns, frightening at times […]
Read more Character Analysis Long John SilverCharacter Analysis Jim Hawkins
Jim Hawkins, the young narrator, is neither a stock character nor a personality type. His actions throughout the book tell readers a few things about him: He tries to warn Billy Bones of Black Dog’s arrival; he fears Pew but goes back to the inn with his mother; he fantasizes […]
Read more Character Analysis Jim HawkinsCharacter Analysis John Trelawney
John Trelawney is a typical example of the cheerful country squire. His name is an old one in parts of England, yet common enough apparently that Stevenson felt able to use it without seeming to refer to anyone in particular. He belongs to the landed gentry, is lower in social […]
Read more Character Analysis John TrelawneySummary and Analysis Part VI – Captain Silver (Chapters 28–34)
Summary When a torch is brought for light (Chapter 28, “In the Enemy’s Camp”), Jim finds himself standing among the six remaining pirates, Silver and five others, one of whom was wounded in the attack. Jim fears that his friends are dead, and is reassured when Silver says they are […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part VI – Captain Silver (Chapters 28–34)