Treasure Island Robert Louis Stevenson “Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest— Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!”

Treasure Island: Introduction Jim and his mother do most of the work, because his father is deathly ill. Jim Hawkins’s family runs the Admiral Benbow, an inn on the English coast.

Treasure Island: Introduction That, and the long saber scar across the sailor’s cheek. The song is young Jim’s first clue that something isn’t quite right about the old sailor. One day, an old sailor who often sings, “Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest,” arrives at the inn.

Treasure Island: Introduction Every day, the mysterious guest spends hours on the beach with his telescope, looking out to sea. Every night, he asks if any other sailors have come by on the road—especially a man with one leg.

Treasure Island: Introduction Then, sinister characters— one named Black Dog and a vicious, old blind man called Pew—come looking for the guest. Frightened by the appearance of his former shipmates, the old sailor has a stroke and dies.

Treasure Island: Introduction While Jim and his mother are searching the dead man’s sea chest to get the money he owes them, they hear the men returning and have to run for their lives.

Treasure Island: Introduction At their friend Dr. Livesey’s house, Jim realizes that the packet he grabbed from the chest is what the men were really after— a map to the treasure buried by the pirate Captain Flint.

Treasure Island: Introduction Squire John Trelawney, a local gentleman, outfits a fine ship to sail in search of the treasure. Dr. Livesey and Jim, as the cabin boy, will sail with him. But a ship needs a crew.

Treasure Island: Introduction It’s good fortune, Squire Trelawney thinks, that an old sea cook in Bristol can help man the ship. The sea cook’s name is Long John Silver, and he has a parrot named Captain Flint and has one leg.

Treasure Island: Introduction As the ship, the Hispaniola, sets sail for Treasure Island, Silver starts singing, “Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest,” and the whole crew answers, “Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!”

Treasure Island: Background Piracy was once legal. During wartime, governments hired sea captains to attack enemy ships. These “privateers” got to keep the cargo of captured ships—a profitable business during war and a hard habit to break when war was over. Among the most well-known pirates were Thomas Tew Blackbeard Captain William Kidd Sir Henry Morgan

Treasure Island: Background In the late 1600s, the English hired Thomas Tew, a Rhode Island captain, to attack Spanish and French ships. After England and Spain made peace, Tew headed to India and captured one of the Great Mogul’s ships—along with lots of gold and silver coin. Word quickly spread among the other privateers, and the golden age of piracy began.

Treasure Island: Background Captain William Kidd hid his stolen treasure so well that some of it has never been found. Kidd, a New York merchant ship captain, was originally hired by the English to capture pirates. But he became a pirate which made him enormously rich. When he returned to New York in 1701, the English hanged him.

Treasure Island: Background Edward Teach was called Blackbeard because of his long, black, braided beard. During battle, Blackbeard stuck lighted matches under his hat to frame his face with fire. In 1717 and 1718, he raided the coasts of Carolina and Virginia. Late in 1718, he died in battle.

Treasure Island: Background Working as a privateer for the English governor of Jamaica, Sir Henry Morgan defended the English against Spain, at one time even leading thirty- eight ships in an attack on Panama. But a new governor of Jamaica arrested him for piracy and sent him to England for trial. Instead of punishing him, King Charles II knighted Morgan and sent him back to Jamaica— to be governor!

Billy Bones, the old sailor at the Admiral Benbow tells Jim “dreadful stories” about the Dry Tortugas and other places on the Spanish Main.Dry Tortugas Spanish Main Treasure Island: Background Stevenson does not provide the exact location of his Treasure Island, but it was probably in the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean Sea. After leaving Treasure Island, the Hispaniola heads for the “nearest port in Spanish America.”

the coastal areas of the Americas that were once controlled by Spain Treasure Island: Background The Spanish Main is a term that referred to the Caribbean Sea and nearby waters, especially during the time when Spanish merchant ships and pirates roamed the area.

Treasure Island: Background The Dry Tortugas are eight islands and reefs in the Gulf of Mexico, west of the Florida Keys. The shallow waters and pirates in this area meant disaster to ships that strayed off course. Since 1650, more than 250 ships have sunk in the waters around the Dry Tortugas.

Treasure Island: Background Treasure Island is told entirely in the first person, but the narrator is not always the same person. Jim Hawkins narrates the first fifteen chapters. Dr. Livesey takes over for three chapters: 16 through 18. Jim then returns as narrator from Chapter 19 until the end of the book.

Treasure Island: Background Treasure Island has been criticized for this inconsistent point of view. Possible explanations for the switch are: Giving the narrative to Dr. Livesey allows Stevenson to keep the first-person point of view when Jim is absent from the ship. The first chapters appeared in a magazine before the later chapters were written, and the author may not have realized that he would have problems telling the story through one narrator.

Discuss (1) Some early critics of Treasure Island disliked the violence and rough language in the book and considered it unwholesome reading for young readers. Treasure Island Are descriptions or depictions of violence ever necessary in a novel or film? Why or why not?

Discuss (2) Greed is a strong motivating factor for many of the characters in Treasure Island—and not just for the pirates. Treasure Island How might greed affect relationships? If you had a map to a secret treasure, would you tell your friends? Your family? Anybody?