Literary Analysis Essay Sample on Treasure Island: Jim Hawkins' Adventureful Journey

Introduction

Treasure Island is an adventure novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson, a former Scottish novelist and travel author in the early 1880s (Cremers 1). The book features Jim Hawkins, a young boy of approximately thirteen years old as its protagonist. Jim appears at the beginning of the novel as a quiet, calm, and obedient son of an owner of Admiral Benbow, an inn strategically located near Bristol in England (Stevenson and Nicholas 54). However, the character of the protagonist changed dramatically to depict signs of increasing cleverness, courage, and maturity as different events unfolded throughout the novel. Jim eventually evolved into an adventurous hero who successfully transforms from a person who exclusively relied on his parents and aged members of his community, such as Billy Bones, to a self-reliant and highly independent character at the end of the play. Jim's courage also helps him to join other pirates and sail through the sea to the Treasure Island, where he fulfills his dream of finding the treasure and narrowly escapes death before returning at his father's inn (Huang 3). This paper, therefore, provides a comprehensive analysis of how Jim Hawkins character changes and develops throughout the novel to become such an admirable adventurous hero.

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The novel begins when Billy Bones, an old and desperate-looking sailor, comes to lodge at the rural Admiral Benbow Inn owned by Jim's father (Frances 51). The protagonist narrates how he used to his parents to manage and ensure the effective operation of the inn. Jim appears to be a quiet and easily frightened boy who exclusively relies on his parents and family for protection. Bones informs the protagonist to remain vigilant and ensure that he signals him upon seeing Black Dog, a former shipmate who he describes as a one-legged seafaring man. Bones engages in a physical and violent fight with Black Dog upon his arrival (Huang 4). Dog runs away after the battle before the appearance of a beggar named Blind Pew, who delivers "the black spot" to Bones. This black spot aimed to serve as a sermon for Bones to share the map that would lead other pirates to the buried treasure. However, Bones decides to hand over the map to Jim while drinking rum at the inn and reveals to the protagonist that he is also a pirate (Frances 52). Bones lives in fear that another pirate could also come at the inn to issue another threat.

On the other hand, Jim experiences a predicament in his life after the death of his father despite receiving specialized treatment from Livesey, the doctor (Stevenson and Nicholas 55). Pew reappears at the inn and puts something in the hands of Bones, who experiences a fatal stroke after the departure of the blind man. Bones eventually dies. Jim's brilliance helps him to sense danger and, in turn, advises his mother to run away from the inn. The protagonist demonstrates his fear by running to his mother for protection when scared by Pew. The protagonist amasses courage and opens Billy's sea chest alongside his mother to take their money as well a packet before fleeing (Frances 54). Afterward, Pew leads a group of pirates to launch an attack on the inn. However, the retaliating horses scare the pirates and, in turn, trample Pew to death. Jim's character starts to change from a young, fearful boy to a courageous teenager who believes that the group of pirates attacked the inn intending to take the packet from Bones, who is already dead (Huang 10). As a result, the protagonist decides to seek help from his family friends, including Squire Trelawny and Dr. Livesey.

The three confidants, Jim, Trelawny, and Dr. Livesey, realize that the packet contains the treasure map before mounting an expedition to Skeleton Island to get the concealed wealth (Cremers 3). The character of the protagonist appears to have entirely changed and developed into a fearless and ruthless teenager. Jim is ready to cater to his needs following the death of his father and Bones, a man who was still evolving into his close confidant. Jim makes recurrent mistakes but eventually learns from them throughout his adventure, indicating that he is maturing. For example, Jim, Trelawny, and Dr. Livesey decided to hire some of Billy's former friends and shipmates, including Long John Silver, the leader of the pirates (Stevenson and Nicholas 55). The protagonist soon discovers Silver's plan to use his accomplices to steal the coveted treasure and, in turn, kill all the non-pirates. Silver's threat inspires Jim to amass courage and soon launches a fight with the pirates in the company of Dr. Livesey.

The fight was so dreadful that it culminated in multiple deaths of the pirates despite Jim's heroic ability to live by his wits alongside Dr. Livesey to survive against the ruthless enemies (Frances 55). The daring nature of the protagonist enables him to immediately grow into a new captain after reclaiming the ship from the embattled pirates despite starting as a cabin boy at the beginning of his adventure into the Treasure Island. Jim and Dr. Livesey received adequate help from Captain Smollet and Ben Gunn, a pirate stranded on the island during the attack. Jim managed to reach the Hispaniola, a ship that helped them to traverse through the sea to the island, after narrowly escaping death from stockade (Huang 14). The protagonist immediately cut the anchorage of the ship to allow it to drift along with the ebb tide before encountering Israel Hands after sustaining injuries from a dispute with his companions. Hands also attempt to kill Jim with a knife. However, the skillful Jim retaliates immediately by climbing into the shroud and, in turn, shooting Hands to death. The story ends as Jim and his accomplices eventually defeat all the pirates and return to their respective homes with treasure (Stevenson and Nicholas 56). However, the ill-motif Silver manages to escape with some money from the adventure.

Conclusion

In conclusion, "Treasure Island" provides the best example of a novel with characters inspired by their devotion to go on an adventure and, in turn, realize their desires. Jim and the pirates aimed to go to Treasure Island to pick its riches before returning to their places of residence. However, Jim's character development from a calm and timid boy to a daring and courageous teenager allowed him to defeat the pirates and claim a more significant part of the wealth. The novel points to the character transformation and maturity of Jim, a protagonist who grows from a timid boy into a courageous, self-determined, and independent hero.

Works Cited

Cremers, Jasmijn. "He's more a man than any pair of rats of you": Masculinity in Stevenson's Treasure Island and its adaptations. Radboud University Nijmegen. June 2015, https://theses.ubn.ru.nl/bitstream/handle/123456789/3629/Cremers%2C_J.E.L._1.pdf?sequence=1, Accessed December 13, 2019.

Frances, Christy, D. Motion and agency in Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Special Issue: Spinning Scotland: Exploring Literary and Cultural Perspectives, vol. 1, no. 2, 2009, pp. 51-66. https://docplayer.net/48217333-Motion-and-agency-in-robert-louis-stevenson-s-treasure-island.html.

Huang, Jianqiu. Jim Hawkins: A boy in two worlds: A discussion of character development in Treasure Island. Kristianstad University College. Autumn, 2009, http://hkr.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:302432/FULLTEXT01.pdf. Accessed December 13, 2019.

Stevenson, Robert, L. and Nicholas, MacGuinn. Treasure Island. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013. Print.