It's All Part of Growing Up

Rachel Beiermeister
A Block Mr. BG
March 3, 2010
Treasure Island Essay

It’s All Part of Growing Up

In Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, the young and naïve Jim Hawkins is the first-person narrator of almost the entire novel. He is related to the innkeepers of a small place near Bristol, England, as their twelve to thirteen year old son. Jim goes through many complete transitions throughout the book, and at times often can alter readers’ opinions and thoughts of him. He can often be spontaneous and hasty, yet he fully demonstrates escalating compassion, sensitivity, and wisdom.
Jim is evidently the central character in this story, mainly because of the manner he takes into his own hands to be the mastermind and instigator of its most significant plot twists. As events open out through the story, the way Jim’s character transforms dramatically is a big eye-opener. He shows increasing courage and cleverness, as well as maturity, development, and perception. His last words of his house before he left for the Hispaniola with the pirates were: “I said good-bye to Mother and the cove where I had lived since I was born, and the dear old Admiral Benbow-since he was repainted, no longer quite so dear. One of my last thoughts was of the captain, who had so often strode along the beach with his cocked hat, his sabre-cut cheek, and his old brass telescope. Next moment we had turned the corner and my home was out of sight.” (Ch 7)
Before any of this rapid transforming takes place, Jim is first seen in the book as an innocent boy who seems to easily be intimidated. From the beginning when he meets Billy Bones, it seems that Jim is too afraid to back down from his yearning for rum. He allows him to treat his sickly father and hard-working mother, as well as himself, very poorly. As the doctor (Livesy) had said to him, “I have only one thing to say to you, sir … if you keep on drinking rum, the world will soon be quit of a very dirty scoundrel!” (Ch 3) This is a boy who started off as a small youngster who was terrified to stand up for himself to a murderous, brutal, vicious pirate-loving gentleman within an extremely short period.
There are a few dominant people and situations that were a big part of altering his self. A big part of his translation is the Hispaniola, where he had to take on the responsibility and actions of a real pirate, hunting for real treasure. He gains a level of strength and the ability to adapt to his surroundings.
A large part of his development was his acquaintance with his soon to be role model and good friend, Long John Silver. The relationship the two of them have is very close, because not only does he serve as a mentor; he is also seen as a fatherly figure later on in the story. He describes him as he sees him: “His left leg was cut off close by the hip, and under the left shoulder he carried a crutch, which he managed with wonderful dexterity, hopping about upon it like a bird. He was very tall and strong, with a face as big as a ham-plain and pale, but intelligent and smiling.” (Pg 56) There is a pretty intense turning point in the story, when Long John Silvers actions create much confusion and hardship for Jim, and it changes his mind about the way he saw him.
People in general change a lot, its part of the natural cycle. Without it, there wouldn’t be anything to try and accomplish, things would always stay the same. We need to grow up and mature, which leads us to the real world where jobs and families come in. Boy changes to man, girl to woman. Change depends on how we set our actions. If we don’t want to listen to the wise as teenagers and children growing up, we don’t get the opportunity to sprout and grow up to face the world in adulthood. If we were to stay at the same maturity level as say eight year olds, when we’re older how would we pull through all the struggles that come upon us? This relates to Jim because he went through all of these changes, and overcame many things including fear, intimidation, and anxiety.
I would say the biggest altering Jim went through was seeing his role model, his best friend, commit murder on Treasure Island to another man using a knife. Life definitely consists of hardships and rough times, but most people don’t expect it to go to this extent. I think Jim knew it was going to be different then his regular life, just a small innkeeper’s son, and although he could barely tolerate it, the situation he put himself into still turned into a wild adventure of chants and killings and overthrowing, secrets, and lies, as well as betrayal and taunting. “But with Silver the blow passed almost instantly. Every thought of his soul had been set full-stretch, like a racer, on that money; well, he was brought up, in a single second, dead; and he kept his head, found his temper, and changed his plan before the others had had time to realize the disappointment. ‘Jim,’ he whispered, ‘take that, and stand by for trouble.’ And he passed me a double-barrelled pistol.” (Ch 33)
Jim also gained knowledge of the life of a pirate. He figured out how life is as one, and how to adapt to his new surroundings. Another key part of being on the island was learning how to keep his self alive. He also learns for himself never to go out again and be a part of those pirates, as he said himself in the book. His decisions are more seriously thought about then what he used to believe in. He was used to the easy going, quiet nature surrounding him, when Jim got pulled into a life of madness. He figured out that being observant is a key in life of the events that surround him, as well as the people who he becomes associated with.
Jim was fortunate enough to always be in the right place at the right time. His decisions were at times bad, but more often then not they saved his life, as well as the life of his companions. He changed from adolescent to adult in such a short period of time. Though he was already used to relying on no one, he still grew more independent by the time he ended at Treasure Island.
His actions throughout the book tell us readers many things about him. When he attempts to warn Billy Bones about Black Dogs arrival, it shows that no matter how obnoxious or rude Billy Bones was to Jim, especially when he was chugging all that rum to the point where he got sick, Jim still had his back. When he makes his very foolish decision to leave the boat that he was supposed to stay on, it shows that he is courageous to take on the risk of what was going on inside that island to happen to him. Throughout all this time he never really brags about his heroism and his tasks that he’s overcome. He went from a young, early teenage boy, to someone who’s actually killing others.
Jim’s actions at times leave us thinking he is almost predictable and not very unanticipated. What happens in the book is sort of expected in a way, because it all goes with what’s going on. His development is shown in an obvious manner, but the novel keeps you interested at all times, whether or not there is expectancy. Jim clearly shows us a different way of growing up than what we’re used to, but with so much crazy stuff going on at once, its something to be anticipated.