treasure island
Treasure Island In the very first sentence of the novel, Jim tells us that he is recounting the story of Treasure Island because Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey, and other gentlemen have asked him to write it down. Stevenson’s choice of Jim as a narrator is noteworthy and unexpected, since the adult men have greater life experience, education, and verbal skills than this young boy has, and would seem to be able to bring more perspective to the narrative. Nonetheless, Stevenson chooses Jim as the storyteller in order to give us a personal, subjective account of the adventure, which is just as important as the objective plot events that take place. A large part of Jim’s adventure is his development from a sheltered, protected young boy into a responsible, free thinking, charismatic young man. We would not be as emotionally invested in the treasure hunt, or feel as conflicted about the two sides—the pirate world and the civilized world—if Jim were not the narrator. The novel would not have the same tensions, passions, and suspense if Livesey narrated the tale. Jim’s coming-of-age from childhood to adulthood would likely not figure in the novel at all if it were told by another character or an external narrator. The novel’s subjective elements—such as Jim’s admission that he had to struggle to regain his composure after the fight with Israel, or his regret at the decision to go ashore with the pirates—might be lost in the hands of another narrator. Instead, with Jim narrating, we see that he is learning about himself and developing his own moral character. Without this subjective side, the novel would just be a narration of events, rather than a more complex history of a boy becoming a man, the process of forming his identity, and an exploration of what comprises a human being. Ben Gunn is one of the novel’s strangest characters. He does not receive much attention in the narrative, yet his inclusion in the