The Key to Understanding Stevenson's Treasure Island. "The Adventures of a Young Romantic (based on the novel "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson) Narrative feature in the novel "Treasure Island"
Looking for treasure
"Treasure Island" is an interesting and exciting book, imbued with the spirit of adventure and pirate romance. The protagonist of the book is the boy JIM, the son of a simple innkeeper. But it is thanks to him, his fearless and sometimes reckless actions, that the main characters get to the treasure island. DR. LIVESEY is a true gentleman. SQUIRE JOHN TRELAUNY is a rich, kind and trusting chatterer. CAPTAIN SMOLETT is a real Captain with a capital letter. PIRATES are narrow-minded and greedy people who crave easy money.
But JOHN SILVER with his parrot FLINT is a real gentleman of luck. Despite all his insidious plans and deeds, for some reason, all readers of the novel really like him. He is smart, cunning, always trying to turn the situation in his favor. No wonder that not only BILLY BONES was afraid of him, but Captain Flint himself. At the same time, out of the whole team of pirates, it is he who manages to sail away from the treasure island in the company of his yesterday's enemies, and then also escape with money, lulling the vigilance of the guards. He is not characterized by excessive cruelty, rather, he simply acts according to circumstances. He knows how to calculate the situation and always remains on the side of the winner. He knows how not only to get money, but also to dispose of them wisely. All associates of captain FLINT drank and squandered all the money obtained by piracy. BLIND PUE begged and begged. BILLY BONES lived on loan from an innkeeper. And only one pirate had his own inn "Spyglass" and money in the banks, which brought a steady income.
Vovk Andrey, 7 "B" class
R.L. Stevenson "Treasure Island" »
Treasure Island is an incredibly addictive book that can be read without interruption. The intrigue remains until the very end, and you are in constant tension and, it seems, you find yourself in the center of events along with the main characters. The novel "Treasure Island" is a wonderful book, a real classic of the adventure genre, which will certainly interest anyone who is not indifferent to adventure. This work, which has long become a classic, never ceases to amaze and attract new readers to the exciting world of adventure. The book can be read over and over again without getting bored. It will be interesting to the reader of any age. "Treasure Island" to this day gives us a sea of adventurism and satisfies the thirst for adventure, which we so lack in the modern world.
All those who love adventure, of course, have read Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. From beginning to end, all the events of the novel keep the reader in suspense. Sincerely worrying about the beloved characters, sometimes a frost ran down my back.
Lukmanova Vika, 7 "B" class
Book Review: Treasure Island
Treasure Island made a deep impression on me. I met this author when I first read this work, but now I can say with confidence that I will continue to read books by this author. I read this book, as they say: "in one sitting", this adventure is so exciting that it is impossible to stop for a minute. In school, I love geography, and for me personally, this story was the epitome of all the unimaginable that can happen in such a daring adventure.
This story tells us about the adventures of brave heroes who had to face a gang of pirates in pursuit of treasures hidden on a desert island by Captain Flint. The story is told from the perspective of Jim, a daring boy in the past, who tells us about his difficult journey. How aboutonce an unusual guest moved into the tavern owned by the boy’s father, how he and his mother saved the documents of this person that were completely incomprehensible to them, how this boy and Dr. Livesey ventured to search for treasures. Suspecting nothing dangerous, the admiral hires a gang of pirates on the ship. Upon arrival on the island, everything clears up, and the goodies learn a terrible secret, thanks to the same boy Jim. Then both of them understand that without each other they cannot get out of the island. Many incredible things happen on the island: a person who has been living on the island for a long time meets, several people die, and in the end everything falls into place. Good conquers evil.
The outstanding hero for me in this work was a young cabin boy. So young, but already seen the light. He could fight back any pirate, and he could not oppose anything. Not knowing the outcome of this or that situation, he always emerged victorious. This boy was a real hero for all sailors.
Ustinov Egor, 8 "A" class
Robert Louis Stevenson "Treasure Island"
book review
Roman R.L. Stevenson's "Treasure Island" is one of the best works in the adventure genre. But in addition to travel and exciting adventures, the book also reveals moral problems - decency and meanness, loyalty and betrayal, nobility and meanness.
I think this high rating of the book is fair, because:
Teenagers at all times are concerned about the topic of long-distance travel and risky adventures. Pirates have always been an equally exciting topic for boys and girls. "Treasure Island" combines a long sea voyage, and new mysterious lands, and the secrets of pirate treasures.
The characters in the book are characters of various personalities. Jim Hawkins is an inquisitive, brave and honest boy, sometimes acts recklessly, and will never agree to a mean or low act. Dr. Livesey is a noble, cold-blooded and reasonable gentleman. Squire Trelawney is a foolish but kind and honest man. Captain Smollett is a straight, honest and brave sailor. John Silver, despite the fact that he is a pirate hunting for treasure, is still not bloodthirsty, and at the very end of the novel he repented of his crimes. Ben Gunn is a former pirate who embarked on the path of correction and deserved forgiveness.
One of the main ideas of the novel "Be brave and honest in any conditions." Only courage and courage save Jim from the most hopeless situations. Any deception will sooner or later be revealed and will not bring any benefit, only honest deeds can lead a person to achieve his goal.
The novel is written in the first person, on behalf of the boy - the protagonist of the adventure. This style of presentation immerses the reader in the described world. Every teenager reading this novel easily imagines himself in the place of Jim Hawkins.
"Treasure Island" not only quenches the thirst for adventure, but also teaches to maintain nobility in any situation, not to lose a "human face" even in "inhuman" conditions.
IV. I can recommend reading this book to my peers who do not want to sit at the computer, but want to see the world.
Kiryanova Daria, 7th grade
Book Review: Treasure IslandI read the wonderful book Treasure Island by Robert Stevenson. This is the first book by this author that I have read. After reading this work, I became interested in the biography of this writer. From the literature I learned that he was born on November 13, 1850 in Edinburgh,
in the family of a hereditary engineer, a specialist in lighthouses. At baptism he received the name Robert Lewis Balfour. He studied first at the Edinburgh Academy, then at the Faculty of Law of the University of Edinburgh, from which he graduated in 1875. He traveled a lot, although from childhood he suffered from a severe form of tuberculosis. The novel “Treasure Island” brought world fame to the writer.
This work is a classic example of adventure literature.The book, at first glance, is simple and easy, upon careful reading it becomes multifaceted and ambiguous.
Stevenson sings of the romantic inspiration of the senses. He is attracted by complex characters, spiritual disagreements and contrasts. One of the most striking characters is the one-legged ship's cook John Silver. He is insidious, cruel, but at the same time smart, cunning, energetic and dexterous. His psychological portrait is complex and contradictory, however, convincing. With great power of artistic expressionWriter shows the moral essence of man. Stevenson sought through his works to "teach people joy", arguing that such "lessons should sound cheerful and inspirational, should strengthen people's courage."
In my opinion, this work should be read by every student, maybe even in earlier grades than we study, because it excites the imagination about the mysterious island, pirates, treasures and at the same time makes you choose between good and bad, teaches you to understand actions and attitudes of people.
Prokhorova Nastya, 7 "B" class
Review of the book "Treasure Island" by R.L. Stevenson
I read a book in which the main character was a teenager who was embroiled in a dangerous treasure-hunting adventure. I liked this character because during the whole trip he showed ingenuity, courage, loyalty to his friends and faith in them. I would like to have such a friend in our time.
Reading the book, I drew attention to the life and life of different classes of those times, united in this work. How different that life was from today. It was possible to embark on a journey across the boundless seas without having the opportunities that we have now. I am amazed at the courage of the people of that time. You involuntarily realize the importance of the knowledge and skills of each person on the ship - from the captain to the cabin boy. And let the team mainly consisted of pirates - illiterate people, greedy for profit, killers, but still, they knew their main business of life - the sea.
Despite the fact that the book was written so long ago, I enjoyed reading it. The storytelling style itself was difficult for me, as nowadays we are used to more precise and faster action through films and computer games. This work is very different from the pirate films we are used to. But for those who love history and adventure, I think they will enjoy it.
Shcherbakova Daria, 8 "b" class
The history of the creation of the novel "Treasure Island"
A special place in Stevenson's work is occupied by the work that glorified the writer throughout the world - "Treasure Island" (1883).
The history of the creation of the novel is quite curious: one rainy day - and it rains quite often in Pitlochry - Robert entered the living room and saw: the boy, the writer's stepson, was playing, bending over a large sheet of paper lying on the table, on which the contours of some island were depicted , the boy drew a map, and his stepfather noticed the game and continued ... Taking a pencil, Stevenson began to draw the map. He marked the mountains, the stream, the forest… He made an inscription under three red crosses: “Treasures are hidden here”. With its contour, the map resembled a “raised fat dragon” and was full of unusual names: Spyglass Hill, Skeleton Island, etc.
After that, putting the sheet in his pocket, he silently left ... Lloyd was very offended by such a strange behavior of his stepfather, who was always attentive to him. More than many books, Stevenson valued maps: "for their richness and for the fact that they are not boring to read." “I dropped a thoughtful glance at the map of the island,” says Stevenson, “and the heroes of my future book stirred among the fictional forests ... I didn’t have time to come to my senses when I found myself in front of a blank sheet of paper, and I was already compiling a list of chapters.” And the next day, Robert called the boy into his office and read to him the first chapter of the novel "The Ship's Cook", which today is known to the whole world as "Treasure Island".
Stevenson continued to write the novel at an astonishing rate of one chapter a day. He wrote in a way that, perhaps, he never had a chance to write again. And in the evenings he read it to all his family.
It looks like hitting the target. Previously, Stevenson more than once sketched out the plan of the novel and even began to write, but, according to him, it all ended there. And then everything suddenly came to life and moved, each character, as soon as he appeared from under the pen of Stevenson, stepped under the shadow of an imaginary forest or on an imaginary deck, already knew exactly what he should do, as if the book had long been finished in the author's head.
“Sooner or later, I was destined to write a novel. Why? An idle question,” Stevenson recalled at the end of his life in the article “My first book is Treasure Island,” as if answering a question from an inquisitive reader. The article was written in 1894 at the request of Jerome K. Jerome for the magazine "Idler" ("The Idler"), which then started a series of publications by already famous contemporary writers on the topic "My First Book". Treasure Island, in fact, did not correspond to the topic, since this first novel of the writer was far from his first book. Stevenson had in mind not one chronological order of the appearance of his books, but above all their significance. Treasure Island is Stevenson's first book to be widely acclaimed and make him world famous. Among the most significant of his works, this book is indeed the first in a row and at the same time the most popular. How many times, starting from his early youth, did Stevenson take on a novel, changing the ideas and methods of narration, again and again testing himself and trying his hand, prompted not only by considerations of calculation and ambition, but above all by an inner need and creative task to overcome a large genre. For a long time, as mentioned above, attempts were unsuccessful. “A story—I mean, a bad story—can be written by anyone who has diligence, paper, and leisure, but not everyone can write a novel, even a bad one. Size is what kills. The volume was frightening, exhausting and killing the creative impulse when Stevenson took on a big thing. With his health and feverish creative efforts, it was generally difficult for him to overcome the barriers of a large genre. It is no coincidence that he does not have "long" novels. But not only these obstacles stood in his way when he had to give up big ideas. For the first novel, a certain degree of maturity, a developed style and confident craftsmanship were needed. And it is necessary that the beginning be successful, that it opens up the prospect of a natural continuation of what has been started. This time everything turned out for the best, and that ease of inner state was created, which Stevenson especially needed, when the imagination, full of strength, is spiritualized, and creative thought, as it were, unfolds by itself, without requiring either spurs or prodding.
This time, the map of the fictional "Treasure Island" gave impetus to the creative idea. "On a dank September morning - a merry light was burning in the fireplace, the rain was drumming on the window glass - I started The Ship's Cook - that was the name of the novel at first." Subsequently, this name was given to one of the parts of the novel, namely the second. For a long time, with short breaks, in a narrow circle of family and friends, Stevenson read what was written in a day - usually the daily "portion" was the next chapter. According to the general testimony of eyewitnesses, Stevenson read well. The listeners showed the liveliest participation in his work on the novel. Some of the details they suggested ended up in the book. Robert's father also came to listen. Sometimes he even added small details to the text. Thanks to Thomas Stevenson, a chest of Billy Bones and the items that were in it, and a barrel of apples appeared, the same one, climbing into which the hero revealed the insidious plan of the pirates. “My father, a grown child and a romantic at heart, was immediately fired up with the idea of this book,” Stevenson recalled.
The novel was still far from finished when the owner of the respectable children's magazine Young Folks, having familiarized himself with the first chapters and the general idea of the work, began to print it. Not on the front pages, but after other works, the success of which he did not doubt - trifling works, designed for a banal taste, long and forever forgotten. Treasure Island was published by Young Folks from October 1881 to January 1882 under the pseudonym "Captain George North". The success of the novel was negligible, if not doubtful: the editors of the magazine received dissatisfied and indignant responses, and such responses were not isolated. A separate edition of "Treasure Island" - already under the real name of the author - was released only at the end of November 1883. This time his success was solid and undeniable. True, the first edition did not sell out immediately, but the second edition appeared next year, in 1885 the third, illustrated, and the novel and its author became widely known. The magazine reviews ranged from condescending to overly enthusiastic, but the tone of approval prevailed.
The novel was read by people of various circles and ages. Stevenson learned that the English Prime Minister Gladstone was reading the novel long after midnight with extraordinary pleasure. Stevenson, who did not like Gladstone (he saw in him the embodiment of the bourgeois respectability he hated), said to this: "It would be better if this high-ranking old man was engaged in state affairs in England." An adventure novel is impossible without a tense and fascinating plot, it is required by the nature of the genre itself. Stevenson substantiates this idea in many ways, relying on the psychology of perception and the classical tradition, which in English literature originates from Robinson Crusoe. Events, "incidents", their relevance, their connection and development should, in his opinion, be the primary concern of the author of an adventure work. The psychological development of characters in the adventure genre becomes dependent on the tension of the action, caused by the rapid succession of unexpected "incidents" and unusual situations, turns out to be involuntarily limited by a tangible limit, as can be seen from the novels of Dumas or Marryat.
Although Stevenson did not become a builder of lighthouses, he writes about storms and reefs with the pen of a hereditary marine man. What about borrowing? Why is it easier to convict him of literary theft. Well, of course, the parrot was taken from Defoe, and the island as a setting was inhabited by Robinson Crusoe. However, it never occurred to anyone to reproach Stevenson, neither to critics during his lifetime, nor to literary historians in the future. It didn’t hurt Stevenson at all that he himself admitted: the boy gave the idea, his father compiled an inventory of Billy Bones’s chest, and when the skeleton was needed, he was found by Edgar Allan Poe, and the parrot was ready, alive, it only remained to teach him instead of “Poor Robinson Crusoe !" repeat: “Piastres! Piasters! Even the map, which for Stevenson was a special subject of authorial pride, if anything, was used more than once, and above all by Gulliver. But the fact of the matter is that Stevenson did not suddenly pick up all this, but knew it deeply, his district, the literary-fictional world with which he had grown accustomed since childhood.
The boy, who played with his father in invented little men, became big and wrote "Treasure Island".
Feature of the narrative in the novel "Treasure Island"
"Treasure Island" - the first novel by Robert Lewis Stevenson, was created by an experienced writer, the author of many short stories and literary essays. As we can see from the above, Stevenson had been preparing for a long time to write this particular novel, in which he could express his view of the world and modern man, which does not interfere with the fact that the events of the novel are dated to the 18th century. The novel is also surprising in that the story is told from the perspective of the boy Jim, a participant in the search for a treasure located on a distant island. Quick-witted and courageous Jim manages to uncover a plot of pirates who were going to take away the treasures from the organizers of this romantic voyage. After going through many adventures, brave travelers reach the island, find a man there who was once a pirate, and with his help take possession of the treasure. Sympathy for Jim and his friends does not prevent the reader from singling out John Silver among all the characters. The one-legged ship's cook, an associate of the pirate Flint, is one of the most remarkable images created by Stevenson.
"Treasure Island" begins with a mean description of the boring life of a small village where the hero lives - Jim Hawkins. His everyday life is devoid of joy: the boy serves visitors to the tavern, which contains his father, and calculates the proceeds. This monotony is broken by the arrival of a strange sailor, who turned the measured life of the townsfolk upside down and abruptly changed the fate of Jim: “I remember as if it were yesterday, how, stepping heavily, he dragged himself to our doors, and his sea chest was carried behind him in a wheelbarrow.” From that moment on, extraordinary events begin: the death of a sailor - a former pirate, the hunt of his accomplices for Captain Flint's map stored in the sailor's chest, and, finally, an accident that allowed Jim to become the owner of a treasure island map: “... - And I'll take this for good measure - I said, taking a pack of papers wrapped in oilcloth.
So, Jim, Dr. Livesey and Squire Trelawney - quite respectable people - turn out to be the owners of the map and decide to go in search of treasure. It is noteworthy that with all the contempt for the pirates that the squire expresses (“What do they need besides money? For the sake of what, besides money, they would risk their own skin!”), He immediately buys a schooner and equips an expedition for other people's riches.
“The spirit of our century, its swiftness, the mixing of all tribes and classes in pursuit of money, a fierce, in its own way romantic struggle for existence, with an eternal change of professions and countries ...” - this is how Stevenson characterizes the time in which he lives. And indeed, half the world rushes to Africa, America, Australia in search of gold, diamonds, ivory. These searches attract not only adventurers, but also "respectable" bourgeois, merchants, who, in turn, become participants in "romantic" adventures in unknown countries. So Stevenson puts almost an equal sign between pirates and "respectable" bourgeois. After all, they have one goal - money, which gives the right not only to a “fun life”, but also to a position in society.
Silver, who believes that after the treasure is found, the captain, the doctor, the squire, and Jim should be killed, says: “I don’t want at all that when I become a member of Parliament and I drive around in a gilded carriage, he stumbled, damn to the monk, one of the thin-legged strekulists.
Silver's desire to become a member of parliament is not so utopian at all. Who cares how the money is obtained - it is important that they have it. And this opens up inexhaustible opportunities in bourgeois society to become a revered person. They don't talk about the past. Money can also buy a title of nobility. But in this remark of Silver there is also a hidden irony, expressing Stevenson's attitude towards those who govern the country.
The romantic adventures of the heroes begin from the first minutes of their journey. Jim accidentally overhears Silver's conversation with the sailors: “... I witnessed the last chapter in the story of how an honest sailor was tempted to join this band of robbers, perhaps the last honest sailor on the whole ship. However, I was immediately convinced that this sailor was not the only one. Silver whistled softly, and someone else sat down by the barrel. And he learns about the danger that is growing every minute. Events on the island, the struggle of pirates with a handful of loyal people, the disappearance of treasures - all this creates a special plot tension. And it is in this situation, taken to the limit, that the characters of the heroes emerge: the narrow-minded, quick-tempered and self-confident squire, the sensible Dr. Livesey, the reasonable and decisive captain, the boyishly impulsive Jim and the smart, treacherous, born diplomat Silver. Their every act, every word express the inner essence of character, due to natural data, upbringing, position in society, from which they are now cut off.
I don't know, is it fake? Never heard of the unreleased "last chapter" before...The original version of Treasure Island was one chapter longer. Moreover, this was a key chapter, without which the whole novel remains a heap of incomprehensible coincidences, ridiculous accidents, and simply incredible events that would be more appropriate in the stories of Baron Munchausen. It was this chapter that Stevenson demanded to be removed by his first publisher, Andrew Lang, a quick-witted businessman from literature. Without it, the most complex psychological thriller turned into just a good pop. And, of course, he insisted on changing the name. The original - "The Strange Case of James Hawkins and Benjamin Gunn", seemed to him too complicated for a dime novel, on which he expected to cash in well.
Then, being an unknown novice author, under the pressure of circumstances, Stevenson followed his lead, but regretted it for the rest of his 11 years of life. Moreover, he later tried more than once to persuade Lang to finally publish the full version of the book. Here, in one of the last letters, already written in Samoa, he writes to him “Dear Andrew, the only thing I pray for is that you still agree to return the “Island” to its true appearance ...”. But the publisher, who understood that a one-time surge of interest would not compensate for the losses from the fact that the book would no longer be perceived as mass reading matter after that, was adamant.
So, the last chapter, which for that time was simply a revolutionary literary move, because not only psychedelic, but also ordinary detective works then practically did not exist, was finally called upon to explain all the oddities of history, put everything upside down and lay down puzzle pieces into a whole picture. In it, finally, it turned out that the whole history of Flint's treasure and his searches was told by a patient in a psychiatric hospital, suffering from a split personality. One of these personalities imagines himself a fabulous rich man who has found countless treasures, the other remembers that no one found Flint's gold (and where did he come from, tea, the times of the conquistadors are long gone, and the main booty of pirates is goods that have to be sold dealers for pennies), and he, for having deceived his comrades with stories about gold, was left alone on a desert island, from where he was eventually rescued by English sailors - they saved the body, but not the mind.
And the fabulous story of incredible adventures becomes what it was originally - the fantasy of a little boy who was left without a father early. A boy who builds a fictional world and gradually not only begins to believe in it himself, but also convinces those around him of its reality. He sought to assert himself among his peers and help his mother with money by playing toss. But instead he got into debt and was forced to steal the payment that the only guest, an old sailor, paid for staying at the hotel. In order to prevent the deception from being revealed, he soldered the old man, and scared everyone else that he was a terrible pirate who would slaughter tobacco for a snuff ... But Billy Bones drank himself and died, the lack of money had to be somehow explained, and here the people who turned up came in handy arm smugglers and a story about pirates. Intimidate the mother, stage a robbery, so there is no money. But Dr. Livesey also had to explain the story about pirates somehow. A map drawn from an old pilot's manual by Jim himself came to the place.
Well, then the loop of lies only tightened. The wealthy slacker Trelawny seizes on the idea, equips the ship, and the boy is taken to the other side of the world. Something must be done, because soon the ship will arrive on the island, where there is no gold. And Jim follows the beaten track - the salvation from shame and fear again becomes a lie. First, he lies to the team about the treasure, trying to earn her authority, and then invents a conspiracy and provokes a conflict. When blood has been shed and both sides have nowhere to retreat, they can not calmly discuss the situation and understand that they were all deceived by a little liar. However, Silver is trying to find out the reasons for the sudden flight from the ship of all the chiefs, talking with Captain Smollett at the fort's fence, but class arrogance and professional narrow-mindedness do not allow him to understand that the cook is not cunning, but sincerely perplexed.
After the first battle and losses, when the ardor of both sides cools down somewhat, it would be time to try to figure it out, and someone to surrender to the mercy of the winner. But Jim makes a new unexpected move - he escapes from the fort (why?!?). In search of a way out, he roams the island and, as a result, enters a new level of madness. He meets his alter ego, Ben Gunn. At first, this is just the fictional friend syndrome common to children and adolescents, beautifully described by Astrid Lindgren in Carlson (by the way, Stevenson will also have to be given priority here). But over time, he becomes a full-fledged inhabitant of Hawkins' body, a kind of Mr. Hyde, who periodically takes power into his own hands. It is the flaring madness, which, as you know, sometimes allows the sick to do incredible things, showing fantastic ingenuity, inhuman dexterity and strength, allows Jim to quarrel the old man Hands and his comrade, seize the ship, and then kill Israel itself. The hijacking of the ship allows you to embitter the team, preventing the parties from reconciling, and the story about Ben Gunn - to explain to Livesey and the others why the treasure is not where it is marked on the map. And so that Silver does not give up, and to provoke a new fight, Jim, as if by chance, falls into the hands of one-legged John. He knows that he is just a peaceful cook, and that nothing serious threatens him.
But now, the last fight took place, the remnants of the "pirates" were defeated. And then, finally, it turns out that there was no gold at all, and the angry adults do not find any other solution (not to hang the sick child), except to leave Hawkins alone on the island as punishment, alone with his fantasies. And loneliness and deprivation complete the process of destruction of his personality.
This is such a sad story. I retold it in my own words and it turned out quite long. Stevenson, of course, wrote it much more interestingly, almost like a cinematic one - in short, capacious phrases, after each of which a click seemed to occur in the reader's brain, putting everything in its place. It is a pity that the last chapter of this "Strange story ..." has come down to us only in a faded retelling.
Composition
and easy, with careful reading it becomes multifaceted and meaningful. Its adventurous plot, despite the traditional nature of the theme - this is a tale of pirates, adventures at sea - is original.
The young hero of Treasure Island, Jim Gokins, has to navigate independently in difficult circumstances under adverse conditions, take risks, strain his brain and muscles. We have to make a moral choice, to defend our position in life. Jim and his friends meet pirates. These are real marauders, the embodiment of predatory cunning. Jim in their midst is a "treasure island". And the deep meaning of his adventures is to reveal real treasures in himself,
Stevenson sings of the romantic inspiration of feelings, but does not isolate these high feelings from the real ground. He is attracted by complex characters, spiritual disagreements and contrasts. One of the brightest characters is the one-legged ship's chef John Silver. He is insidious, evil, cruel, but at the same time smart, cunning, energetic and dexterous. His psychological portrait is complex and contradictory, but convincing. With great power of artistic expressiveness, the writer shows the moral essence of man. Stevenson sought through his works to "teach people joy", arguing that such "lessons should sound cheerful and inspirational, should strengthen people's courage." After all, many young romantics dream of finding their treasure island ...
Other writings on this work
My reflections on the character and actions of Jim Hawkins (based on the novel Treasure Island by R. Stevenson) Explanations for R. L. Stevenson's Treasure IslandL.Yu. Fuchson
READING THE NOVEL R.L. Stevenson "TREASURE ISLAND"
The proposed article is an attempt to interpret the novel by R. L. Stevenson "Treasure Island". This interpretation, firstly, is based on the identification of internal value and symbolic connections of the work. Secondly, the description of the figurative logic of Stevenson's novel leads to the clarification of his adventurous artistic mechanism, which provokes the corresponding reader's behavior.
Keywords: R.L. Stevenson; adventure novel; event delay; instability of life; way; human concealment.
The title of the book “Treasure Island” (“Treasure Island”) immediately promises a very specific plot: you need to somehow get to the island, and treasures cry out for search, extraction, revelation (which is evident in the Russian translation word). Therefore, the reader is tuned, firstly, to the journey, and secondly, to unraveling the mystery (discovering the hidden). But along with such a plot, the title also reveals a completely specific genre encoding of an adventure novel. So already by the title you can sometimes recognize the artistic language of the work that you start to read. However, the decoding of a language, although a necessary condition for understanding, is, of course, completely insufficient, since we are trying to understand mainly the message itself in this language. In addition, a literary text is not so much a message as an appeal that puts the reader in the position of not just an addressee, but an answer. Therefore, the very step from the sphere of ready-made (code) meanings into the sphere of occasional, specifically situational meaning requires special efforts to correlate the details of the text that appear on the reader's horizon and predetermine a completely unique experience that is relevant only for the novel being read.
Starting from the title itself, the work draws the boundary between natural and artificial planes of existence. Treasure Island is not only a geographical point in natural space, but also a place of hidden treasure, because of which unnatural atrocities have been and continue to be committed. The following detail is characteristic in this regard: the body of the murdered pirate Allardyce is not interred, but is blasphemously used as an indication of what the murder was for (as John Silver says, this is one of Flint's "jokes").
A number of unnatural (violent) deaths in the novel are joined by images of physical deformity: blind Pew, fingerless Black Dog, Billy Bones with a saber scar on his cheek, one-legged Silver. All these are traces of a dashing robber life, that is, an anti-natural craft of wealth. Therefore, physical ugliness in Stevenson's work has a symbolic meaning of the marks of the ugliness of the soul.
If you look at the novel from this point of view, then the meaning of some seemingly insignificant details will become clearer. For example, the moment when the Hispaniola sails up to the island (Chapter XIII), the narrator describes as follows: “Our anchor rumbled, falling, and whole clouds of birds, circling and screaming, rose from the forest ...” (translated by N.K. Chukovsky). This detail indicates the aforementioned boundary between nature and man, the live cries of birds and the metallic sounds of civilization that have not been heard here for a long time. And treasures, money - also metal, because of which blood is shed and because of which the whole voyage is made.
It is no coincidence that the novel ends with the cry of Captain Flint's parrot, “Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!" (N.K. Chukovsky in his translation does not follow the path of literal correspondence, but poetically accurately conveys this expression: “Piastres! Piasters!”). We hear the same cry in Chapter X, when John Silver speaks of the parrot's prediction of a successful voyage. It's "Piastres! Piasters! immediately gives the meaning of the journey. The unnatural background of the adventures of the heroes is felt most acutely by the young narrator, who admits that “at first sight he hated Treasure Island” (Chapter XIII, translated by N.K. Chukovsky). In chapter XXXIV, describing in particular the arrival on the coast of Latin America, Jim Hawkins speaks of the contrast of this charming (charm) place and "dark, bloody stay on the island." And at the very end of Stevenson's novel, the narrator calls Treasure Island accursed.
The aversion of the Hawkins boy to Treasure Island reveals the value border of natural naturalness and ugliness, the romance of travel and its selfish motive, the bold enterprise of a person and the horror of villainy.
Throughout the work, the song of the pirates is heard several times:
Fifteen men on the dead man's chest -Yo - ho - ho, and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest -Yo - ho - ho, and a bottle of rum!
Let us make a reservation right away that in this case we are not interested in folklore or literary sources, on which the author relied, but exclusively in the internal figurative connections of the novel, its value-symbolic logic. This song, which is already sung by Billy Bones at the beginning of the novel, is essentially about himself: after all, it is his chest that is mentioned here. Later, the reader learns about his death and that a whole gang (“15 people”) is hunting for the chest. But at the same time, the "dead man's chest" is Flint's treasure. The image of the chest represents the image of treasures (hidden valuables) that we found in the title of the novel. “Dead” is both Billy Bones and Flint (who also died from rum: the devil “calmed” him, as the song says. “Rest” here, of course, is a metaphor for death. N.K. Chukovsky translated it like this: “ Drink and the devil will bring you to the end.
"Dead man's chest" connects valuables with the danger of obtaining them. The chest seems to continue to belong to the dead man and death itself. This also includes the already mentioned skeleton of a sailor killed by Flint, which is used as an indicator of the location of hidden treasures, a symbol of the entire journey. Skeleton Island is not just a topographical name; it means the true essence of the treasure island. Such duality as the proximity of valuable and terrible, attractive and disgusting is the most important feature of an adventurous work.
With Billy Bones, the theme of the sea comes into the novel, slightly opened by the title. Already the description of his appearance is saturated with marine details. This image and the sea theme itself are ambivalent: they connect the opposite experiences of all the characters (and the reader). "Captain" brought excitement (excitement) to a quiet village existence. And this excitement is twofold. For a homebody accustomed to a steady, quiet life, this excitement tends to fear, and visitors to the Admiral Ben-bow are frightened (were frightened) by his stories. But the same excitement in each of them awakens the traveler and points to the attractiveness of another - open - world, the boundlessness of the unsteady (wavering) sea, filled with the adventures of life.
Jim Hawkins, who is paid by the "captain" to look out for a one-legged sailor and who is tormented by nightmares, admits: "My fourpence was not cheap." This situation is constantly repeated: the price of money is a danger, a risk. Four pence is a compensation for Hawkins' terrible dreams, similar to the fact that in the "dead man's chest" from the song, which hides the entire plot of the novel, treasure (map) and fear (death) are combined. The same ambivalent neighborhood is observed in the episode where Jim's mother, next to the corpse of Billy Bones, counts money towards his debt. Fear and curiosity are combined in the description of the feelings of different characters, but most often - Jim Hawkins, which is explained by his central position in the plot and the role of the narrator (this also includes his young age - both adventurism and fear). Moreover, the curiosity associated with danger sometimes turns out to be saving, which is shown, for example, by the episode with the barrel (XI chapter), where it is not by chance that a single apple lies at the bottom (a terrible truth overheard by Jim). Or the capture of the ship by the hero after the escape at the end of the fifth part.
The moment of recognition, exposure of the pirates in the episode at the barrel coincides with the cry "Earth!", And also with the fact that a ray of moonlight hit the barrel where Hawkins was hiding. This chronological intersection is significant: gaining firmness of the soil, replacing darkness with light, and ignorance with knowledge - all this is a single, symbolically multidimensional event. Here, as always, the symbolic, and at the same time, the value nature of the elements of the artistic world, in fact, forces (and also directs) the efforts of interpretation. Water and earth mean in Stevenson's work (like all adventure literature in general) various life attitudes and states of a person, and not just purely topological characteristics. For example, the title of Chapter XXIII (“The Ebb-tide Runs”) was read by the translator (N.K. Chukovsky) as “In the power of the ebb”. Literal accuracy is not observed here, but the translation is quite consistent with the spirit of the chapter and the entire book, as it echoes those numerous situations where recklessness, the spiritual analogue of the physical substance of water, wins. The low tide carries the hero, surrendered to the power of circumstances, in an uncontrolled shuttle directly to the Hispaniola (XXIII). This and the following chapters of Jim Hawkins' adventures at sea ("My Sea Adventure") are a concentration of images of instability, uncontrollability of the situation. The element of water in the world of the work is undeniably dominant, so much so that even the earth in an adventure novel loses its usual characteristics of sustainable reliability. Therefore, the adventures of Jim Hawkins on the shore (“My Shore Adventure”) demonstrate the same, as on the sea, the unsteady, desperate situation and loss of the hero (entirely lost), when, for example, he mentally says goodbye to his friends (the end of the XIV chapter).
The theme of water as a substance of insecurity and recklessness includes images of Roma. Rum is symbolically equated with the sea, like a person with a ship, for example, in Billy Bones' plea in Chapter III: "... if I "m not to have my rum now I" ma poor old hulk on a lee Shore "(" if I won’t drink rum now, I’ll be like a poor old vessel thrown ashore by the wind”). Rum - crazy, devilish water ("Drink and the devil had done for the rest") - is an analogue of the recklessness and riskiness of a sea voyage. Rum destroys heroes just like the sea. Moreover, madness merges here with insensitivity: ".buccaneers were as callous as the sea they sailed on" - the pirates are insensitive, "like the sea on which they swim" (XXIII).
Water (sea) is equated with death in another pirate song:
But one man of her crew alive, What put to sea with seventy-five.
The foreground in the novel of the substance of water, and with it the instability, uncertainty of a person’s position in the world, gives rise not only to images of death, fear, loneliness, etc., but, on the other hand, the experience of unlimited personal freedom initiative, search for luck.
The expression "gentlemen of fortune" (gentlemen of fortune), referring to pirates, against the background of the gentlemen themselves (Dr. Livesey, Squire Trelawney, Captain Smollett) is important in the novel. Already the clash between Billy Bones and Dr. Livesey in the first chapter of the novel represents not just the opposite of a gentleman and a gentleman of fortune, but also a whole series of opposites associated with this: law and robbery; reason and recklessness; calculation and betting on chance, luck; order and chaos; the stability of the coast and the waving elements of the sea; home and path. However, between gentlemen and gentlemen of fortune in an adventure novel there is a significant closeness, a connection (despite the difference in the motives of their actions) - an element of adventurism. In the admiration of the young visitors of the Admiral Benbow by Billy Bones (“true sea-dog”, “real old salt” - I), in the delight of Squire Trelawney from the team recruited by Silver (“toughest old salts” - VII); in Hawkins's sympathy for Silver, who turned out to be "the most interesting companion" (VIII), - in all this there is an archetype of destructive temptation. It is clear that different things seduce adventurer heroes. But in this way the concept of treasure acquires a complex, symbolic meaning. "Treasure" in the novel means not only money, but also those personal qualities of a person that are usually hidden in the stability of existence and open only in the face of danger, when a person can rely only on himself.
An adventurous mood captures even such a “sensible” hero of the novel as Dr. Livesey. But especially - Squire Trelawny, the biggest adventurer. Trelawny becomes more like a child than even the boy Jim Hawkins, who remarks, reading the squire's letter, that the doctor will not like his talkativeness. For example, in a hired boatswain, the squire is primarily attracted by the fact that he "knows how to whistle signals on the boatswain's pipe." Jim also likes it (end of chapter VII). But where even young Hawkins doubts, there Squire Trelawny reveals perfect innocence and naivety. His letter ends with an expression of impatience to get on the road quickly: “Seaward, ho! Hang the treasure! It "s the glory of the sea that has turned my head" (VII) ["In the sea! Spit on treasures! The splendor of the sea - that's why my head is spinning"]. Only his antipode - Captain Smollett - is absolutely immune to the poetry of travel. Therefore, at first he does not have a relationship with either the squire or Hawkins. He is a man of duty, so "favorite" (favorite) for him is a swear word. The captain does not play a sailor, but is a sailor, and the sea itself is a space of hard work for him not games. His very adult and thus completely prosaic mood recalls the danger of the enterprise for which he takes responsibility. We see that the image of Captain Smollett is built as a contrast to the romance of adventure. In general, it is not difficult to notice in the work the opposition of concern adult characters and childish carelessness.The latter is very important for an adventure novel.Georg Simmel also brought together the phenomenon of adventure with the game (search for luck), as well as with youth1 . The reader of "Treasure Island" is carried away by the narration on the border of children's and adult settings and, in fact, is forced to pay tribute to both sides of the dual situation of the novel. Stevenson's work is sometimes referred to as children's literature. Not without reason, before the release of a separate book, it was published in parts in the children's magazine "Young Folks", and also translated in the USSR by the publishing house "Children's Literature". This is partly justified by the novel's very appeal to that childhood experience of opening up the horizon of possibilities not yet realized, in which the adult reader must also become involved, returning to the dizzying sense of freedom inherent in the dawn of life.
For the plot of the journey, the collision of the house and the path is important, which in the novel Treasure Island, as we have already noted, is connected with the opposite of earth and water. The Admiral Benbow inn, with which the story begins, is related to both of these substances. The tavern is a place for a passer-by, a casual visitor, but at the same time one can settle here. In other words, this is the border of the house of Jim Hawkins and the path along which the old sailor comes here, and with him - the mystery itself. For Hawkins, his father's inn is his home. Billy Bones, who stopped at the Admiral Benbow, applies purely maritime definitions to it: berth (anchorage, berth). Or: "Silence, there, between decks!" (translated by N.K. Chukovsky: “Hey, there, on the deck, be silent!”). In Chapter III, Billy Bones says: "...aboard at the Admiral Benbow" (on board the Admiral Benbow). The opposite of topological definitions (house - ship) here represents the opposite of the attitudes of a couch potato and a sailor.
Since the substances of instability and stability in the adventure novel, as already noted, are unequal, the image of the house here is only a frame for the plot-path.
In the center, starting with the title of the novel, there is an image of treasures, and a person in the world of the work also carries something hidden, a mystery. These include, for example, the deceptive first impression made on the squire and Hawkins by Captain Smollett, or the folly and unpredictability of Jim Hawkins. The character of the character in the novel "Treasure Island" is built not as changing, but as revealing something hidden. Such a "treasure" may be courage (old Tom Redruth, whom Hawkins despised at first, dies like a hero) or undead nature (Abraham Gray). On the other hand, the deceit, duplicity of pirates is revealed. Captain Smollett confesses that the crew managed to deceive him (XII). The most terrible of the pirates "softly spreads", as N.K. Chukovsky conveyed the phrase: "Silver was that genteel"; he is good-natured and cheerful, but Billy Bones and Flint himself were afraid of him. The first part of the novel is called The Old Buccaneer, while the first chapter is The Old Sea-dog at the Admiral Benbow. The title of the chapter, in contrast to the more overt title of the part, introduces the point of view of the inn's patrons, as well as Hawkins himself, not yet aware that Billy Bones is a pirate. Already such a divergence of names outlines a dual image of a person whose villainous essence, as it were, hides behind the appearance of a brave sailor.
The discovery of a secret can be considered a general, abstract formula for the construction of an artistic object and the word of the novel "Treasure Island", which predetermines a special reader's behavior. In this regard, let us take a closer look at the episode in Chapter VI. Before opening the package with papers from the chest of Billy Bones, which is impatient for all three characters, and with them - and the reader, a retardation follows - a conversation about Flint. In fact, the most important moment is being delayed - the revelation of the hidden: the "dead man's chest" hides a bundle, about which it is said that it was sewn together (was sewn together). The bundle, in turn, hides the map of the island. But the map also hides because it needs to be deciphered, and so on. Thus, the emphasis is on discovery as overcoming a whole series of obstacles, which, in fact, unfolds the work as a whole precisely thanks to the continued postponing of the final disclosure. The full disclosure of the treasure therefore marks the essential (and not accidental) end of the novel. In this case, we are dealing with treasures as an aesthetic value, since the novel itself ends with the disappearance of the mystery (concealment).
The given episode of the work shows its entire artistic mechanism. Retardation is not just one of the properties of adventure text - it is a way of constructing it, as well as a way of reading it. In chapter XXX, Dr. Livesey gives the map to the pirates, which surprises Hawkins, who does not yet know that Ben Gunn has already hidden the treasure. Thus, the disclosure of the secret is again postponed. Since the narration is conducted on behalf of Hawkins, for him, as well as for the pirates in whose captivity he is (XXXI-XXXII), the card retains its power, as well as for the reader at that time. Therefore, the reader's horizon of anticipation of the opening partially coincides with the horizon of the characters.
Speaking of chivalric romances and implying adventure literature in general, J. Ortega y Gasset makes the following remark: "We neglect the characters that are presented to us, for the sake of the way they are presented to us." Stevenson's novel fully confirms this idea. Here the characters are interesting only insofar as they are related to the event. For example, Chapter XXVI is called "Israel Hands", which, it seems, denotes its main subject. However, the reader by this point already knows about the deceit and duplicity of the boatswain, so the interest of the chapter is focused not on who Israel Hands is, but on the way he appears. The adventurous hero, as Bakhtin accurately put it, "is not a substance, but a pure function of adventures and adventures." It is precisely how the hero will act and where this will lead that is the subject of description. And here, as in the whole novel, the revelation struggles with the concealment and is thus delayed. Hands sends Jim off deck to hide his intention to arm himself with a knife; Hawkins, in turn, having figured out the boatswain's treachery, pretends not to suspect anything, and watches him. But as soon as one trick is revealed, it is immediately replaced by another, when Israel Hands verbally admits his defeat, and then makes a last attempt to kill Hawkins who has lost his vigilance. To lose vigilance in this case means to be in the illusion of the finality of disclosure.
Thus the outcome of the event is constantly delayed; so the reader, seemingly fully understanding who is who, becomes involved in how one trick collides with another. The event of revelation is carried out as delayed due to the active staged concealment. Thus, the reader is placed in a position of anticipation, intense expectation of each subsequent incident.
Retardation is often explained psychologically - as the maintenance of reader interest. And this, apparently, is the correct interpretation, but not the most profound, since it remains unclear why the postponed event is more interesting than the immediate one. In anticipation of an event at the site of its direct experience, there is an open horizon of possibilities that unites the hero and the reader. An event in the status of a possible and supposed one requires from the reader quite special mental efforts, other than an event in the status of a real one and, so to speak, taken into account. In this last case, the reading horizon is closed by a hopeless "already" that can't be helped. An event, as having come true, is radically different from an event that is coming true, preparing to come true. Retardation as a delay puts the event into question, posed to the reader. The reader falls into his sphere of influence. Therefore, the point is not so much in the psychological features of experiencing the event-already and the event-still, but in the special architectonics of the expected event, which is in question, as well as in the special image of the world and man - as opening.
The expectation of a life (narrated) event is, at the same time, the realization of the aesthetic event of storytelling. This expectation, which gradually comes true with the active inhibition of the story, is the particularly exciting nature of the adventure novel.
1 See: Simmel G. Selected. T. 2. M., 1996. S. 215.
2 Ortega y Gasset J. Aesthetics. Philosophy of culture. M., 1991. S. 126
3 Bakhtin M.M. Sobr. cit.: in 7 vols. T. 2. M., 2000. S. 72