Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson is not a book with a particular message, rather a simple and pure adventurous tale of a young man seeking treasure and himself. In Themes in Treasure Island by Gary Carey, he explains that folktales are of young men or women who leave their lives behind to seek fortune, such as “the myth of Jason embarking to bring home the dragon-guarded Golden Fleece, Odysseus on his hazardous journey back to Ithaca from Troy, and the medieval romance of Perceval seeking the Grail.” Carey believes all these stories, myths, and tales have one central theme -- it is an adventurous quest. Within this quest comes the rituals, the guardians, and the struggles that test even the bravest in the search of himself. There are many tests that the protagonist must face to succeed in his goal to obtain the lost treasure. The final tests and guardians that Jim Hawkins, the protagonist, encounters determines his true goal of the quest he accepted. I agree that within each quest tale there is a portrayal of an adventure and inner soul-searching of some sort, yet what Carey fails to mention is that the quest serves as a plot symbol. Behind each quest is a story of the protagonist's struggle to find himself, but the symbol represents the human struggle as well. A person may struggle trying find himself in the world today, not knowing who is he or what his life’s purpose is yet. Many readers are able to relate to Treasure Island because not only is the protagonist trying to find himself, but some readers also long for the quest of their life (Cliff Notes).
Carey explains that Treasure Island has a variety of common elements to other quest tales: the rituals, the guardians, and the struggles. The typical ritual of a quest ...
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...t wealth, valuables, and his own ethical adulthood, which is a treasure in itself. Treasure Island is a tale that indulges readers at an unconscious level because the readers can relate to Jim’s quest to find himself. (Cliff Notes)
From this critical analysis, I have experienced a new insight on Treasure Island. My idea of a quest before reading Gary Carey’s analysis was a rough adventure the protagonist forgoes only to obtain a treasure. Now, Carey has provided a further definition to the term quest. It is a tale of hardship, courage, and one’s place in the world. The quest story is often an analogy of the protagonist’s salvation and life’s purpose. I agree that Jim finds himself through the other characters as well as through perilous adventures.
Works Cited
Carey, Gary. CliffsNotes on Treasure Island. 20 Dec 2013
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These feelings drive O’Brien to seek out a journey in order to find out what is truly valuable to his self being. His adventure of self-knowledge mirrors the narrative archetype of the Hero’s Quest. One might argue that as a result of O’Brien’s uncooperative nature towards his circumstances, he is able to pursue the main motive of the Hero’s Journey, in which he departs from his ordinary world and is able to obtain the life treasure of self-acknowledgement.
When someone hears the word quest, their mind automatically goes to a mythical land of dragons and knights in shining armor. However, Thomas Foster’s book How to Read Literature Like a Professor states that this shouldn’t always be the case. In Chapter One: Every Trip Is a Quest, Foster claims that a quest in literature can take place in any time period and can be as mundane as grocery shopping. In order to classify an event as quest, it needs to follow certain criteria. There needs to be “a quester, a place to go, a stated reason to go there, challenges and trials en route, and a real reason to go there” (Foster, 3). Furthermore, considering the definition of a quest by Thomas Foster, it is clear that the novel, The Secret Life of Bees, fits
The case study of “What should we do with Jim?” has been read and a set amount of questions has been asked about the reading, which will be answered by the following:
While the journey’s main aim is quiet obvious, it is possible to argue that there are implicit and explicit goals behind this journey. Explicitly, the idea of pursuing a journey to an exotic island to find a pirate’s treasure is undoubtedly appealing. Indeed, as a child, it offered Jim a chance to escape the inn’s confinements and his mother’s authority. Nevertheless, there are many implicit goals behind this journey. Firstly, it was intended to help him acquire knowledge and experience through nature. Secondly, it aimed to make him realize his own capacities and capabilities. Thirdly, Christopher Parks (2009) argues that the journey’s fundamental aim was to make Hawkins’ fit for his future role in the service of the Empire. Fourthly, it provided him a chance to aid his mother’s as well as his own financial condition. And finally, according to Diana Loxley (2009), imperialism and colonial exploration are what lurks behind the quest for the treasure. Certainly, the characters in the novel are all engaged in an intoxicated pursuit after the treasure in order to transfer it to the Empire, gain their own share, improve their lives and rise up in ranks. Furthermore, Treasure Island has also been regarded as a psychological journey from childhood to adulthood, motivated by the search for a father (Maybin, Haslam & Watson, 2009). However, Hawkins’ voyage concluded with a number of outcomes that changed his life
In the short story A&P written by John Updike the main character Sammy goes through a series of events. The events in this short story much relate to chapter one in Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature like a Professor. Chapter one in Foster’s book is all about quest motif. Sammy is someone you can call a quester because he faces a quest motif. A quest motif is a journey that has a specific theme. Sammy’s journey or ‘quest’ throughout the story has the theme of irony.
All children and teenagers will discover character traits and qualities that they want to possess from the adults they come into contact with. Jim Hawkins is no different. He uses the attributes he learns from Ben Gunn, Dr. Livesey, and John Silver to help mold him into the man he is becoming. Works Cited Stevenson, Robert. A. A. Treasure Island. City: Publisher, Year of Pub.
The Hero’s Journey is a pattern of narrative that appears in novels, storytelling, myth, and religious ritual. It was first identified by the American scholar Joseph Campbell in his book A Hero with Thousand Faces. Campbell also discussed this pattern in his interview to Bill Moyers which was later published as a book The Power of Myths. This pattern describes the typical adventure of the archetype known as The Hero, the person who goes out and achieves great deeds. Campbell detailed many stages in the Hero’s Journey, but he also summarized the pattern in three fundamental phases: Separation, Ordeal, and Return that all heroes, in spite of their sex, age, culture, or religion, have to overcome in order to reach the goal. Alice in Wonderland, written by Lewis Carroll, provides a good example of the Hero's Journey. This story describes the adventures of Alice, a young English girl, in Wonderland. Although she lacks some of the stages identified by Campbell, she still possesses many of them that are necessary for a Hero to be considered a Hero.
The constant struggle between good and evil is a story that is as old as time. Several authors have produced popular works that address this conflict in different ways. Some authors discuss this topic through ideas of greatly fought battles while others use fairy tale witches and princesses. None the less, this idea is perpetually repeated throughout literature. Robert Louis Stevenson’s adventure novel Treasure Island exemplifies the religious ideals of the good and evil struggle that plagued Stevenson’s childhood, portrayed by the various pirate characters found within the novel.
...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.
Money, money, money, and the love of money is the root of all evil. Money, has led the characters of Treasure Island to kill, lie, cheat, and put themselves in great peril to acquire it. The Squire Trelawney, the good Doctor, and Jim really have no cause to go in the search of the fortune that they did not earn or place where it rest. Wealth, whether found, earned, or inherited does not automatically speak well of the owner. The test of one’s character should be more than economical success.
8. Ordeal, Death & Rebirth - Jim now knows that Long John Silver was a traitor and captain of the pirates who stole the ship, and are greedily searching for treasure. He arises from the confusion, and starts his own journey to find the
Often there can be seen many parallels between a writer’s life and experiences and his or her works. A biographical approach to Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island is not easy, as at first sight the characters don’t have much in common with the author and up to the time the story was written, Stevenson hadn’t visited the West Indies or other exotic places. But there still are possibilities to link Stevenson’s biography with his work.
These timeless tales relate a message that readers throughout the ages can understand and relate to. While each of these tales is not exactly alike, they do share a common core of events. Some event and or character flaw necessitates a journey of some kind, whether it is an actual physical journey or a metaphorical one. The hardships and obstacles encountered on said journey lead to spiritual growth and build character. Rarely does a person find himself unchanged once the journey is over.
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2003. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
Mark Twain, the author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, tells a compelling story of the mischievous and imaginative child called Tom Sawyer. The protagonist leads his friends through these creative journeys. Because of Tom’s sly personality, he ends up in trouble quite often. However, the clever young boy is able to use his charm and shrewd tricks to avoid his problems. This book displays real life struggles a boy can face during his adolescent age. The author captures the audience with a perspective on the realizations children are able to face within a community. As the story progresses, Tom grows into a mature young man while making mature choices. His childish pranks and games start to diminish throughout the book. Tom starts to learn