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Home Middelbare School EN Uittreksels Uittreksel Robert Louis Stevenson – Treasure Island

Uittreksel Robert Louis Stevenson – Treasure Island

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Extracts English Literature
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Robert Louis Stevenson – Treasure Island

East West Publications, (1883)

 

Treasure Island is the name of the island where Captain Flint buried his treasure. Jim Hawkins and company go in search of it.

 

Robert Louis Stevenson was born in 1850 in Edinburgh. He first studied engineering, but abandoned these studies because of ill health. Instead he studied law, and was admitted as an advocate in 1875. He decided to be a writer although his parents were not happy with the idea. He suffered from tuberculosis and travelled a great deal. He used the inspiration of his journeys for his writing. His book Treasure island first made him famous, and the book The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde became even more popular. In 1894, Stevenson died from a brain haemorrhage in the South Seas.

 

The Victorian Age (1830 to 1918).

 

It is a novel which tells an adventure story. You don't really get to know the characters or how they think.

 

Jim Hawkin's parents own an inn called The Admiral Benbow. Jim spends most of his time there, helping them. One day a sailor arrives, who calls himself "Captain". His real name is Billy Bones. He moves into the inn for an unspecified time. His face is scarred and his clothes are in a poor state of repair. He drinks a lot of rum, sings sea shanties, and tells outrageous tales about his life as a pirate. Everyone is afraid of him. Every day he asks whether any other sailors have arrived. At first, they think he is just looking for company, but as it turns out, he is trying to avoid someone.

One day Bones meets the sailor known as Black Dog. They get into a fight which Bones wins, but shortly afterwards, he suffers a stroke, for which he is treated by Doctor Livesey.Then Jim's father dies. A couple of days later a blind sailor, Pew, arrives at the inn. He gives Bones the 'Black Spot', which is a kind of message, meaning that the pirates are looking for him and want to kill him. Later that evening, he dies from a second stroke. Jim and his mother search his chest for the money owing to them. They do find some money, but they have to run away when Pew and some other pirates arrive at the inn.

Jim and his mother go to see Dr. Livesey, who had also been treating Jim's father. Dr Livesey is at home and has a visitor called Squire Trelawney. They open the package which Jim took from Bones before they ran away. The package contains a map of an island where the famous Captain Flint buried his treasure. The Squire, who likes adventures,decides to sail to this Treasure Island, and Dr. Livesey and Jim want to join him.

They make preparations. In Bristol, The Squire buys the sailing ship 'the Hispaniola', whose captain is calledin Smollett. A one-legged innkeeper, Long John Silver, is hired to be the cook. Jim doesn't trust him, because Bones was always on the lookout for a one-legged man. Silver helps to gather the rest the crew. Smollett doesn't trust them because they all know that they will be sailing to Treasure Island.

The voyage to the island is very pleasant, but one night Jim overhears a conversation between Silver and some of the crew. He finds out that many of the crewmembers see Silver as their captain, and that they had also once sailed with Captain Flint. When The Squire has found the treasure and taken it on board ship, they plan to kill him. Jim tells his friends and Captain Smollett what he has overheard, just before they reach the island.

When they reach the port, the crew begins to rebel and demands permission to go ashore. Jim joins them although he didn't ask to do so. Two pirates kill two of the honest members of the crew. Jim runs away and meets a strange man called Ben Gunn. Ben lives alone on the island. He was sailing with Captain Flint when he buried his treasure. Ben returned to the island with some of the pirates, but was unable to find the treasure. The pirates him alone on the island in revenge. Ben and Jim made a deal to help each other.

The rest of Captain Smollett's crew also go ashore, where they are attacked by Silver's men. They lose one man and some food and ammunition which they had brought from the ship. They reach Captain Flint's stockade, where Jim joins them.. Silver starts another attack because he wants the map. Men from both groups are killed, and Captain Smollett is seriously wounded.

Jim sneaks out of the stockade. He takes a rowing boat and cuts the Hispaniola adrift. He tries to row back to the shore, but he cannot manage it. The next morning the Hispaniola collides with his rowing boat, which is wrecked. Jim manages to climb on board the Hispaniola. There is only one pirate on board, Israel Hands. He is one of Silver's men and has killed some of Jim's friends. Hands is wounded and drunk, so he needs Jim's help to sail the ship. They join forces, pretending to be allies. When they reach the shore, Hands attacks Jim with a knife, but Jim is faster and climbs up the mast. Hands wounds Jim in the arm with a knife, but Jim manages to kill Hands with a pistol.

At night, Jim returns to the stockade where he is discovered by Silver and his men, who have captured it. Silver tells Jim that The Squire and his group have handed over the map and their supplies. The pirates want to kill Jim, but Silver will not allow this because he wants to keep Jim as a hostage. Silver promises Jim his protection, if Jim will defend him later at his trial.

The next morning Dr. Livesey visits Silver and his group, and helps to care for the pirates who are sick or wounded. Jim is allowed to speak to Dr. Livesey for a moment, and tells him where the ship is hidden.

The next day Silver's pirates want to look for the treasure, so they go to the place marked on the map and take Jim as a hostage. When they arrive, they hear strange noises, and become afraid because they think that it must be Captain Flint. Later they realise it must have been Ben Gunn.

They start digging at the spot indicated on the map, but somebody else has taken the treasure. The pirates become very angry and want to kill both Silver and Jim. At that moment, Benn Gunn, Livesey and another sailor rescue them.

Ben Gunn had found the treasure long ago and kept it hidden from the pirates. That is why Dr. Livesey gave Silver the map. Captain Smollett's men take the treasure to the ship. They sail back to England and take Silver as hostage. The three pirates who were still alive are marooned on the island. When they go ashore in South America, Silver escapes with a sack of gold and they never hear from him again. They sail safely back to England, where the treasure is divided between Captain Smollett, The Squire, Dr Livesey, Ben Gunn and Jim. After this adventure Jim decides that he will never return to Treasure Island again.

 

The story is told in chronological order. It takes place over a period of six months to a year, in the first half of the nineteenth century.

 

The first part of the story takes places in the inn, the Admiral Benbow, on the West Coast of England. The rest of the story is set on board of The Hispaniola and on Treasure Island, which probably lies in the Atlantic Ocean.

Jim Hawkins:

 

Jim Hawkins is a fifteen-year-old boy, who helps his parents run their inn on the West Coast of England, and he sails with The Hispaniola to Treasure Island. He narrates the story.

 

He is a sailor marooned on Treasure Island, who once sailed with Captain Flint.

 

Captain Flint a famous pirate who buried his treasure on Treasure Island

Dr Livesey:

Dr Livesey is the doctor on the ship, and belongs to Captain Smollett's group

Squire Trelawney:

Squire Trelawney belongs to Captain Smollett's group. He organised the voyage to Treasure Island.

Captain Smollett:

Captain Smollett is the Captain of the sailing ship The Hispaniola.

Long John Silver:

He is the cook on board The Hispaniola. He plans to steal the treasure from Captain Smollett.

Ben Gunn:

He is a man who has been marooned alone on the island. He helps Jim and Captain Smollett.

Credibility:

….

Theme:

The story describes the hunt for pirates' treasure, and the struggle between good and evil people.

Motto:

None.

Linguistic usage:

The story is told in Jim's words, which contain many sailing terms.

Dedication:

Stevenson wrote the story to entertain his stepson.

Perspective:

Jim is the narrator in the first person. Dr. Livesey tells the part of the tale where Jim was not part of the action.

Construction:

The book consists of six parts, each of which have a title. Each part contains a number of chapters, which also have titles.

Own opinion on the book:

Your opinion!

 

Captain Flint:

Billy Bones:

Characters and relationships:

Setting:

Time:

Summary:

The genre:

The literary period:

Author:

Title:

 

Successful people tend to become more successful because they are always thinking about their successes.

Succesvolle mensen neigen om steeds succesvoller te worden omdat ze altijd aan hun succes denken.

Brian Tracy