Hola! Last time in the Treasure Island comparison series, I introduced Treasure Island, the original book, and talked about the plot and main characters. Today I'm going to review the minor characters and setting of the novel.
So here we go--Treasure Island review part two, under the break.
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In my last post, I reviewed the main characters of Treasure Island: Jim Hawkins, Dr. Livesey, Squire Trelawney and Captain Smollett, and Long John Silver.
Now I'm going to talk about the minor characters.
First up: Billy Bones, and Ben Gunn. These two are more secondary characters, but still very important to the plot. Billy Bones, of course, is the grizzled, retired pirate who winds up at the Admiral Benbow Inn and spends a month or two there drinking and intimidating everyone he comes in contact with (except for Dr. Livesey). As I stated in Part 1, I don't think this part of the book needed to be as long as it did; we really didn't need to know that much about Bones, or spend that much time with him. Of course he was an important character, seeing as he pretty much set up the entire plot and got Jim involved in the first place, but some of the scenes with him seemed unnecessary.
(I also just realized something: Bones didn't even actually give the treasure map to anyone! The only reason Jim got a hold of it was because he and his mother decided to go through Bones's stuff after he died.
...It makes sense in context.)
Then there's Ben Gunn, a former pirate marooned on Treasure Island. I personally think Gunn was handled a lot better--he's vitally important to the plot, but his involvement isn't dragged out. Also, interactions he has with Jim and Dr. Livesey serve the characterization of those characters. In particular, they serve to demonstrate some of Jim's growth as a character, and Dr. Livesey's thought processes and ability to strategize.
The crew of the Hispaniola is mostly skipped over, with good reason: there'd be far too many characters if the author tried to flesh out every member of the crew. However, a few of the crew are developed as characters, and they are: Israel Hands, Job Anderson, and Mr. Arrow.
Job Anderson is the bosun and one of the mutineers. That's literally all I remember about him. I'm pretty sure he died (as opposed to being marooned). Israel Hands is Flint's and later Silver's gunner; he's killed by Jim in self-defense, after Jim retakes the Hispaniola. I thought this part of the book further served to demonstrate how much Jim grew as a result of the mutiny. He didn't trust Hands throughout the interaction, and he was able to get the upper hand in their conflict through cleverness and quick thinking.
Mr. Arrow, the first mate of the Hispaniola, is the only character where I honestly can't tell why he was included in the story. Like... I'm thinking about it now and I still can't tell why Stevenson decided to do away with the first mate in the way he did. It doesn't contribute to any of the other characters' arcs, and it doesn't really foreshadow anything in the plot, either. (Other than the bit where Jim realizes that Silver must've been the one giving Arrow alcohol.) None of the characters even react to Arrow's death in the narrative. It's just glossed over, like, "Yeah, the first mate fell overboard one night. It was bad. Anderson took over for him and then we kept going." It just doesn't have a lot of bearing on the plot!
The last characters I'm going to talk about are the minor villains: Black Dog and Pew. These characters only really play into the plot at the beginning of the book. They kick the plot off and also sow seeds of mystery in their dealings with Billy Bones. To be fair, they're pretty scary as villains go; they serve to juxtapose the intimidating but mostly harmless demeanor of Billy Bones with the actions of a real pirate/villain. My only complaint is that while Pew does die, Black Dog gets away with everything he does and sort of... disappears from the plot. The last we see of him is when he hurriedly leaves Silver's tavern.
(Come of think of it, how handy that both the blind guy and the amputee... both the disabled characters... are both villains... I mean sure, John Silver isn't the worst person in the book, probably, but he's still a villain... hmmm.)
So anyway, that's minor characters. I've almost certainly left out somebody, so yell at me in the comments if I missed someone important.
Next up: Setting.
Treasure Island was written fairly close to the time period it portrays, so in terms of period-appropriate authenticity and suchlike, it rates pretty high. In terms of place, there are three main settings: the Admiral Benbow Inn, the Hispaniola, and the titular island itself. The port of Bristol functions as a more minor fourth setting that isn't lingered upon.
I've already talked about how the segment spent at the Benbow could've been shorter, so I'll spare you that rant again. As for the other settings, I really liked the time spent on the Hispaniola and the island. The island, in particular, is lovingly described by the author. In fact, the island is almost as much an antagonist as the pirates are, seeing as it has malaria, heat, and intransigent ocean tides.
My only complaint--and I covered this briefly in the Plot section--is that soon after the Good Guys reach the island, say, probably around the point where they take the stockade--the problem is that at that point, the odds start to tip in the Good Guys' favor disproportionately. It becomes clear that the pirates have no advantages--they don't have the map, they don't have good supplies, eventually they don't have the Hispaniola--and even when they do get the map and the stockade, it's clear that they won't get the treasure (thanks to something Ben Gunn says earlier in the book).
That's more of a plot complaint that just happens to overlap with setting, though. The settings in this book really are great--they're gorgeously described and really add to the story.
The crew of the Hispaniola is mostly skipped over, with good reason: there'd be far too many characters if the author tried to flesh out every member of the crew. However, a few of the crew are developed as characters, and they are: Israel Hands, Job Anderson, and Mr. Arrow.
Job Anderson is the bosun and one of the mutineers. That's literally all I remember about him. I'm pretty sure he died (as opposed to being marooned). Israel Hands is Flint's and later Silver's gunner; he's killed by Jim in self-defense, after Jim retakes the Hispaniola. I thought this part of the book further served to demonstrate how much Jim grew as a result of the mutiny. He didn't trust Hands throughout the interaction, and he was able to get the upper hand in their conflict through cleverness and quick thinking.
Mr. Arrow, the first mate of the Hispaniola, is the only character where I honestly can't tell why he was included in the story. Like... I'm thinking about it now and I still can't tell why Stevenson decided to do away with the first mate in the way he did. It doesn't contribute to any of the other characters' arcs, and it doesn't really foreshadow anything in the plot, either. (Other than the bit where Jim realizes that Silver must've been the one giving Arrow alcohol.) None of the characters even react to Arrow's death in the narrative. It's just glossed over, like, "Yeah, the first mate fell overboard one night. It was bad. Anderson took over for him and then we kept going." It just doesn't have a lot of bearing on the plot!
The last characters I'm going to talk about are the minor villains: Black Dog and Pew. These characters only really play into the plot at the beginning of the book. They kick the plot off and also sow seeds of mystery in their dealings with Billy Bones. To be fair, they're pretty scary as villains go; they serve to juxtapose the intimidating but mostly harmless demeanor of Billy Bones with the actions of a real pirate/villain. My only complaint is that while Pew does die, Black Dog gets away with everything he does and sort of... disappears from the plot. The last we see of him is when he hurriedly leaves Silver's tavern.
(Come of think of it, how handy that both the blind guy and the amputee... both the disabled characters... are both villains... I mean sure, John Silver isn't the worst person in the book, probably, but he's still a villain... hmmm.)
So anyway, that's minor characters. I've almost certainly left out somebody, so yell at me in the comments if I missed someone important.
Next up: Setting.
Treasure Island was written fairly close to the time period it portrays, so in terms of period-appropriate authenticity and suchlike, it rates pretty high. In terms of place, there are three main settings: the Admiral Benbow Inn, the Hispaniola, and the titular island itself. The port of Bristol functions as a more minor fourth setting that isn't lingered upon.
I've already talked about how the segment spent at the Benbow could've been shorter, so I'll spare you that rant again. As for the other settings, I really liked the time spent on the Hispaniola and the island. The island, in particular, is lovingly described by the author. In fact, the island is almost as much an antagonist as the pirates are, seeing as it has malaria, heat, and intransigent ocean tides.
My only complaint--and I covered this briefly in the Plot section--is that soon after the Good Guys reach the island, say, probably around the point where they take the stockade--the problem is that at that point, the odds start to tip in the Good Guys' favor disproportionately. It becomes clear that the pirates have no advantages--they don't have the map, they don't have good supplies, eventually they don't have the Hispaniola--and even when they do get the map and the stockade, it's clear that they won't get the treasure (thanks to something Ben Gunn says earlier in the book).
That's more of a plot complaint that just happens to overlap with setting, though. The settings in this book really are great--they're gorgeously described and really add to the story.
***
So that's Treasure Island. Like Around the World in Eighty Days, it's a classic book that still holds a ton of story and appeal, and which I would heartily recommend. It might drag a bit in some places, but overall it's a very solid and entertaining story.
And that's my review! Tune in next time, for when I (hopefully!) review the Disney adaptation of this book! (Assuming I actually get a hold of it in the next week or two.) As always, if you have any thoughts or alternate takes on the book, leave a comment, and I'll see you next time. Adiós!
And that's my review! Tune in next time, for when I (hopefully!) review the Disney adaptation of this book! (Assuming I actually get a hold of it in the next week or two.) As always, if you have any thoughts or alternate takes on the book, leave a comment, and I'll see you next time. Adiós!
There didn't seem to be much significance behind Mr. Arrow's death to me either. Maybe Stevenson wanted to create a sense of foreboding in the reader? I also felt like he was easing me into the concept of death and starting with just a few characters here and there, until, by the end, lots of characters had died.
ReplyDeleteThe descriptions of the island were absolutely gorgeous. Those were actually some of my favorite parts.
That's true... lots of characters do die over the course of the book, and I'm not sure how prevalent that sort of thing was in 18th/19th century stories. But to me, it still seems sort of irrelevant.
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