Primary theme: From the blind Pew’s attempt to steal the treasure map at the beginning, to the pirates’ willingness to kill in order to find the treasure, several characters’ sole motive seems to be a desire to find the treasure and become rich. All these people not only lose whatever semblance of a conscience they once had, but also cause their own downfalls. By depicting these characters’ ceaseless obsession with finding the treasure, Stevenson reveals Treasure Island’s primary theme: greed and hedonism lead to one’s own destruction. Though all the sailors wanted to find the treasure to become rich, only Long John Silver’s followers truly ultimately became greedy; only they were willing to go to any extent in order to achieve their goals. …show more content…
Characterization (Another Element): Long John Silver Long John Silver is one of the most contentious characters in the novels, since he changes the most as the novel progresses. Stevenson initially portrays Silver as a loyal and mild-mannered man, well-liked by everyone and given the nickname “Barbecue,” as he is the sea cook. Hawkins comments, “he was unweariedly kind” and that Silver told him, “Nobody more welcome than yourself, my son” (95). Silver initially is the most likeable character and is very personable, seemingly unaffected by the greed that soon plagues the other men. Soon, Stevenson reveals Silver to be underhanded and to be far more cunning than initially expected. When discussing with the other mutineers on how to deal with the honest men, Silver decidedly says, “I give my vote—death” (107). After arriving at the island and declaring himself as a complete rebel, Silver “spat into the spring. ‘There!’ he cried, ‘that’s what I think of ye. Before an hour’s out, I’ll stove in your old blockhouse like a rum puncheon’” (191). Stevenson explains the widespread impact of greed especially through Silver, as the reader at first believes that his newfound greed transforms him into a base criminal. Silver is the human embodiment of greed; in reality, he hides his true self and has always been a manipulative, evil pirate who is willing to sacrifice anything and anyone to find treasure and satisfy his overwhelming
Curse of Oak Island is a History channel series documenting the journey of Rick and Marty Lagina’s search for a supposed treasure tucked away on Oak Island in Nova Scotia. Many treasure seekers either died or had gone broke due to their attempts to crack the puzzle of the treasure. It is also rumored that Oak Island is cursed causing the failure of those who seek the treasure or “money pit.” This review shall summarize the efforts of Rick and Marty as well as offering a critique of the overall series concerning its reliability and accuracy.
In the book, Stevenson talks about the moment he realized that his life and the work he does, was full of brokenness. IT occurred after he talked with Jimmy Dill, right before Dill was to be executed. Despite the fact that he had intellectual disabilities, and could not afford a decent lawyer, Jimmy Dill was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to die. After fighting to get stay requests, the requests were ultimately denied and Dill was executed. After being denied and talking to Dill, it was then that Stevenson realized how broken the criminal justice system was. In the book he recognizes that “his clients were broken by mental illness, poverty, and racism.” (Stevenson 288) At that moment, he wanted to given up.
“The point is that you can’t be too greedy,” says Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States. Many people look up to him as he is apparently now president. The definition of greed is an intense and selfish desire for something especially wealth or power. Greed is a part of human nature. The main character, Tom Sawyer experiences it quite often in the book. Thomas Sawyer is an eleven-year-old boy who lives with his aunt in a small religious town. One of the themes that Mark Twain explores in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is that everyone has some amount of greed in them. Three examples that support this theme are when Tom risked his life in the search for gold, Tom tried to get Becky by making her jealous, and when Tom and his friends ran away because they didn’t feel appreciated.
Robert Louis Stevenson is one of the greatest authors to hail from Britain. His writings have been enjoyed by countless since he masterfully wrote them down. Stevenson uses characterization, imagery, and conflict to keep his readers captivated by his works in Treasure Island, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Kidnapped.
The forgotten people of Ocean Island, the Banabans, had their island mined away from under them and had their island taken from them during World War II. They have transformed their culture into a whole new way and continue to live in the hope that one day they can live the way that their ancestors once did. This is the case of many places around the world that have been colonized. Colonization is not beneficial to developing countries because it brings diseases, it overthrows traditions, it upsets resources, and it separates families.
Through the conflicts in this story, the author has a lesson for the reader. The lesson is if one wants something bad enough, he must be ready to suffer the consequences. To claim the treasure the group has to go through a lot. Some examples of this are being abducted by an army of goblins, being captured by giant spiders, and being captured by woodland elves. If a person has a goal for himself, he too will have to go through hard times. The only way the group succeeded is by having lust and pride drive them on. A person with a goal must also have something to drive him towards his goal.
In Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game”, he uses several literary devices to keep the reader interested. During Rainsfords journey to and through the island of General Zaroff he partakes in an adventurous journey filled with mystery, suspense, and dilemma. These devices are used to keep the reader interested throughout the story.
...im decides to tell Long John everything he did to try to ruin his plan to find the treasure he spares Jim’s life even though the other pirates want him dead. Long John also decides to stand by Jim even though he has a feeling his crew is going to take him out of his captain position. Jim shows a lot of courage and that he’s a man of his word when he is given the opportunity to run away but instead he decides to stay because he gave Long John his word that he will help him through his trial. Jim is taken to where the treasure is believed to be but when they dig up the area there was no treasure. The treasure is later discovered at site where Ben Gunn has hidden it. The reasons I mentioned earlier steers Jim in the right direction of the treasure because of him not trusting Long John but instead using his smarts and his very high maturity level to find the treasure.
One of the emotions Stevenson wants the reader to feel is sympathy towards the people about whom he wrote. Stevenson goes about doing this by telling stories of people who are like his readers but who have bad luck or fewer opportunities and more disadvantages. Stevenson writes about women who have been in jail for long prison terms. These women committed small crimes like using drugs and stealing, rather than major crimes like rape and murder.
The love of money is the root of all evil, a statement that has proved itself true through the centuries. Loving money traps us, as human beings. It is not a bad thing to enjoy what money can do; however, the love of money is a wasted effort that can put all in grave peril. It is at our advantage that we have the ability to choose whether we ‘want’ to fall into that trap. Unfortunately, that choice is difficult since society associates one’s character with wealth and financial management. The mishaps, deaths, and hardships that occur from the beginning of the tale are the result of deliberate deception for personal gain. In Treasure Island, greed sends the characters on a voyage. Robert Louis Stevenson makes a social commentary on the role that money has come to play in our society.
In Treasure Island the story is plagued by alcohol ruining plans or people’s lives because of extreme abuse of drugs and alcohol. The life of a pirate going on adventures is shown to be fun and exciting early on in the book, but soon after the the reader peruses about Billy Bones they discover that the life of a pirate is not what it is made out to be. The life of a pirate is full of sorrows and grief that most pirates drown in alcohol.
possession which was his boat. At the job one day he finds a giant pearl which to him is worth a
Stevenson, R. (2009) ‘My first Book: ‘Treasure Island’’, in Montgomery H and Watson N (eds), Children’s Literature Classic Text and Contemporary Trends, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan in association with Open University
When thinking of books that seem to be written specifically for young boys, Treasure Island is a book that comes to many minds. Treasure Island is the epic tale of thrill seeking and adventure. Stevenson’s main character is a small boy, Jim, who gets to go away from his mother and embark on a trip across the ocean. There are sea fearing pirates, sword fight, and bloody killings. These are typically things that interest boys. Stevenson also follows the literary pattern described by Perry Nodelman in his book, The Pleasures of Children’s Literature. He describes that many novels written by men follow a pattern when it comes to the plot of their stories. “There is an unified action that rises toward a climax and then quickly comes to an end” (Nodelman 124). Treasure Island follows this pattern. The novel moves towards the climax of finding the treasure and then ends quickly without too great of detail with how the treasure money is spent or what happens in the character’s lives. In many ways, Treasure Island exemplifies the narrative patterns of a “boy book.”
Greed can bring out the worst in people, making them do despicable things. The Pearl by John Steinbeck is a perfect example of this. This ‘calm before the storm‘ story portrays how greed drives people in a phenomenal way. It follows a small, poor family that consists of Kino and Juana, on a long rampageous path to heal their child, Coyotito, after he was tragically bitten by a scorpion. Kino and Juana try many things but nothing seems to work, when the doctor would not try to heal their child. Kino stops at nothing to try and save his son, which after finding the “Pearl of the World” (Steinbeck 35) soon transforms into greed. The message of greed is woven in the novella and is a reoccuring theme in The Pearl. From the priest