Victorians! discussion

In these chapters we meet Jim Hawkins and his parents, proprietors of the Admiral Benbow Inn. We also meet a number of pirates: Billy Bones (The Captain), Black Dog, Blind Pew, and others. Also, Dr. Livesey and Squire Trelawney. And the adventure begins...

-What does it tell us that Jim is writing this as a memoir of his adventure?
-How is the death of Jim’s father (and Jim being left fatherless) significant?
-How do the events of these chapters set the stage for the adventure which will take Jim away from almost everything he knows?
-Of what significance is Long John Silver in these chapters?

As always you may respond to the questions or comment on any aspect of these chapters which strikes you as interesting.

In answer to the first two, I’d say that it shows he had to grow up quickly. It also shows that he looks for father figures among different men he is thrown together with, or maybe the other way around, that they take it upon themselves to be a father figure to him.

This is definitely in my top ten favorite books of all time for pure entertainment. I wanted to like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (by the same author) more when I read it, because I loved some of the movies of the story so much, but I thought the movies improved on the book, whereas this was overall a great, entertaining page turner.

I agree. Treasure Island is a gem!

just started Treasure Island. It has been more than 30 years since I last read it. I was too young to understand much of the tale then, but the first six chapters provide an excellent opening for this adventure. Looking forward to a great read.

Bruce wrote: "In answer to the first two, I’d say that it shows he had to grow up quickly. It also shows that he looks for father figures among different men he is thrown together with, or maybe the other way ar..."
I agree about that Bruce!

We also get to know the different figures (whom I can´t always keep apart), some of them Jim learns to know by chance.

We learn in the beginning that Jim writes (in first person) the story down which the men asked him to do. At least we know he doesn´t die in the end! ;)

I´ve got an introduction to my edition by John Seelye, which I only took one look at, and I couldn´t agree about his first sentence that this adventure story is aimed to a young and male readership. It´s also interesting for women of a certain age! ;)

It’s interesting to think this was aimed at young male readers. I didn’t think they did that too much back then... seems like the beginnings of the YA trend. ;-)

I’ve thought that about Carroll too, much of what is labeled children’s literature is really early YA I think.

I find one of the things that makes it as much of an adult book as a children’s book, is that Jim is the only child/teen. Just about all the other characters are adults, and they get a lot of the dialogue.

That’s a very good point. And Stevenson spends adequate time on character development for his main characters, Jim, Silver, Livesey, Trelawney, and Smollett all get their share of dialogue and description.

Jim is the narrator for the novel, and we see the adventure through his eyes. It deals with Jim's feelings and thought processes making it more of a young adult book rather than an adult one.

I wonder how old Stevenson was when he wrote it. Did he deliberately make Jim the main character so that the target audience could relate to his adventures.

I think that’s a fair guess. It makes sense that he was trying to appeal to young men and boys, but the story is so well done that it has universal appeal.

Stevenson was 44 when he died. Treasure Island was published when he was 33.

It is. I agree. I planned to read it just the many chapters assigned for each week, but it was quite exciting that I finished it in the same week.

Lol! I expect that you will not be the only one!

I missed reading this as a child and later on thought of it as a children's classic, mostly because of the title. I'm really surprised to find this book is a YA classic. Had I known it, perhaps I would have read this sooner.

Bharathi wrote: "I planned to read it just the many chapters assigned for each week, but it was quite exciting that I finished it in the same week."

You are not the only one, Bharathi. I did the same.

Narrating the story through young Jim Hawkins was very attractive. To me it allows for a little more exaggeration and imagination. We all know how a young mind works. It sees more than there actually is.

Also, crucial turning points in the story happen when Jim has a hunch.