Long John Silver's Treasure Island

Character Analysis The most interesting and complex out of the characters in “Treasure Island” is Long John Silver. Silver could play the role of the humble sea cook or the fearless rebel captain of the Hispaniola. Although Silver switched from the good side to the bad side throughout the plot, his personality never changed permanently. Even as the leader of the pirate rebels, Silver could still be reasoned with. He peacefully came to Captain Smollett’s dwelling bearing the white flag of truce and even “saluted him in the handsomest style” (Stevenson, 134). After reasoning with Smollett and not getting his way, Silver still did not attack on the scene, but instead reasonably gave Smollett and his men an hour to prepare for battle. Moreover, in Long John’s most cruel moments, he still favored Jim. Even when Jim revealed that he was the reason that there was a “ship lost, treasure lost, men lost, [and Silver’s] whole business gone to wreck,” he was not angry with him (Stevenson, 192). In fact, this was my favorite part of the novel because I thought that Silver would be

Anyone reading the book can easily jump from reality into Stevenson’s fantastical world of pirate adventure set in Old Age England and an unknown tropical island. The book is constantly eventful with new twists being added at every turn. The story was most likely inspired by the things Stevenson saw during his travels and other things that happened throughout eventful life. “Treasure Island” was written while Stevenson was traveling throughout Europe. This could have contributed to “Treasure Island” being set in England, rather than in America where Stevenson had been living prior to writing the novel. “Treasure Island” was published in Young Folks Magazine, so perhaps Stevenson was aiming to have his work published in that magazine, and so he wrote an adventure story because he knew it would appeal to a younger