Coming to Terms With Evil in Treasure Island Essay

[he] could a paddled ashore and told somebody" (151). He believed that this was as bad as stealing. He decided he would go in town and give Jim up, but when it came time to do it, he could not bring himself to give Jim up. Jim had become too important to him. Later in the novel, Huck again faced this dilemma about whether or not to give Jim up. This occurred after the king and duke had sold Jim to Mr. Phelps. Huck decided to write a letter to Miss Watson, Jim's owner before he escaped, telling her where her runaway slave was. He again felt awful about allowing and even helping Jim to escape from her, and he believed that "people that acts as [he'd] been acting about that n***** goes to everlasting fire" (365). However, then he started thinking about his friendship with Jim and how good Jim had been to him through the whole voyage. He realized how much Jim actually meant to him . He then decided, once and for all, that he would not give Jim up, "and never thought no more about reforming" (368).

Jim Hawkins in Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, possesses an innocence and idealism as he sets off on a voyage for treasure; Jim fights against the Pirates to survive, leaving him with a new realistic knowledge and experience of the world. Jim first experiences the death of his father; then in the same time frame, he loses Billy Bones. After Billy Bones death, Jim discovers a treasure map, he, the doctor and the Squire set off to find the treasure. When Jim first meets Long John Silver, he appears as a “clean and pleasant-tempered landlord” (45). Jim has a clear image in his head of what a pirate looks like, and Long John Silver appears to be completely different. This reassures Jim's fears. Jim never sees what will occur after the

In this section, insight into the character of Jim is portrayed. Jim comes across as sincere and trustworthy. The loyalty of Jim and Huck to each other begins to be seen. An example of Jim’s loyalty is seen when Jim is overjoyed to find Huck is still alive after they are separated in the fog. During this section, it begins to be apparent that Jim would be willing to sacrifice to be sure that Huck is safe but Huck does not yet return those feelings. During this section, Huck’s moral dilemma about helping a slave escape begins to surface. The fact that the relationship is strengthening is revealed when Huck lies about having smallpox on their raft in order to prevent Jim from being caught as a slave. Huck again assumes several identities during this section, which reveal much about him. On the raft, Huck is very mature and responsible. He becomes the son of a

Treasure Island is a novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. The story is about a boy named Jim Hawkins who finds a treasure map that leads to Captain Flint’s treasure. Jim takes the map to Dr. Livesey, who puts together a crew, who set sail on the Hispaniola to Treasure Island. One theme that is shown throughout Treasure Island is greed. Greed is an intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food. (greed,1) The theme exhibited in this book, greed, causes dishonesty and betrayal. Three characters that vividly portray characteristics of greed are Long John Silver, Benn Gunn and Israel Hands.

Jim, who becomes Huck's friend as he travels down the Mississippi river, is a man of intelligence and consideration. "An understanding of Jim's character is by no means a simple matter; he is a highly complex and original creation, although he appears at first sight very simple" (Hansen, 388). Jim has one of the few well functioning families in the novel. Although he has been estranged from his wife and children, he misses them dreadfully, and it is only the thought of a lasting separation from them that motivates his unlawful act of running away from Miss Watson. Jim is rational about his situation and must find ways of accomplishing his goals without provoking the fury of those who could turn him in. Regardless of the restrictions and constant fear Jim possesses he consistently acts as a gracious human being and a devoted friend. In fact, Jim could be described as the only existent adult in the novel, and the only one who provides an encouraging, decent example for Huck to follow. The people that surround Huck who are supposed to be teaching him of morals, and not to fall into the down falls of society are the exact people who need to be taught the lessons of life by Jim. Jim conveys an honesty that makes the dissimilarity between him and the characters around him evident.

Thanks to his strong personality and nature, Jim develops into a wonderful man by the end of the novel, despite having gone through many difficult times. He used these tragedies to form himself into a strong person, instead of allowing it to break him down. When he was very young, he was orphaned, and sent to live in a new state, ‘I was ten years old then; I had lost both my father

During this time period, runaway slaves were very easy to spot and were captured by slave hunters. Jim was very brave and held a lot of hope by traveling down the Mississippi River with Huck. Jim takes on the role as a father figure towards Huck when they are on their expedition. In the novel, Huck and Jim pass many groups of slave hunters and have to come up with several excuses as to why they shouldn't capture Jim: such as having the pox, painting him blue, and many other bizarre cases. "He's sick-and so is mam and Mary Ann." (93). In chapter thirteen, Huck lies to the slave hunters along the river and tells them that Jim has the smallpox, which drives the men away because they don't want to catch the disease. "I do believe he cared just as much for his people as white folks does for their'n." (153). In chapter twenty-three Twain portrays Jim being white on the inside because of his love and passion for his family that has been taken from him. Jim struggles to get back to his family on his journey to

Jim becomes frightened and runs away from Mrs. Watson. After Jim runs away from Mrs. Watson, Jim becomes a runaway slave. Jims journey with Huck to freedom commenced with only the fear of being caught as a runaway slave. Later in the journey, Jim starts to crave freedom from slavery. Twain states , "Jim said it made him all over trebly and feverish to be so close to freedom" (97). Jim's happiness is also expressed as they’re getting closer and closer to Cairo, as Huck describes more, "Jim was fidgeting up and down past me. We neither of us could keep still. Every time he danced around and says, "Dah's Cairo!" (97) Jim's happiness for freedom is obvious. The only way Jim can attain his happiness is through freedom.

Carter claims that “Jim was a first in American fiction- a recognition that the slave had two personalities; “the voice of survival within a white slave culture and the voice of the individual: Jim, the father and the man.” Twain uses several examples to show that Jim, the voice of slavery, the voice of survival and the individual, faces difficulties and pain. In Huckleberry Finn, one small example of the individual in pain, trying to survive, is where Jim hides while Huck is in town. “I poked into the place away and come to a little open patch as big as a bedroom all hung around with vines, and found a man laying there asleep- and, by jings, it was my old Jim!” (143). This was the moment where readers could truly realize the conditions that the individual had to face while escaping slavery. This is the moment where people should feel sympathetic for

     Jim was brought up as a Methodist. He became quickly fascinated with the pulpit oratory. Vera Price, a childhood playmate remembers, ”He’d always be the preacher, standing up making sermons”(Axthelm 54). Even at the young age of seven Vera, recalls Jim’s speeches encouraging strict discipline. She remembers occasions when Jim was playing with other children and “he’d hit them with a stick and make them cry. He had a power that most boys don’t have”(Axthelm 54). As Jim matured into a young adult this internal power he possessed was not fully matured. In high school Jim was in the popular crowd, but never the leader of the pack. “Only in retrospect does anyone claim to have spotted seeds of the horror to come.’ I had a hunch something bad was going to happen to him,’ says a middle-aged man in Lynn. He was smart as a whip. But he had some strange ideas. He never fit in with the town. He was different”(Axthelm 54).

After a long raft-ride, Huck and Jim are finally about to reach Cairo, which on their arrival would make Jim free. With the smell of freedom, Jim rambles on about how he would buy his wife and then steal his children. This sets off a spark in Huck, igniting his conscience and making him very uneasy. Huck couldn't believe that Jim would steal property from a man that hadn't done him any harm. Huck then begins feeling guilty about helping Jim escape from Miss Watson, since she had never done anything to him and didn't deserve for Jim to be stolen from her. At his departure for the town, on a mission to turn Jim in, Jim leaves Huck with these words. " Pooty soon I'll be a shout'n' for joy, en I'll say say, it's all on accounts o' Huck; I's a free man, en I couldn't ever ben free ef it hadn't it ben for Huck; Huck done it. Jim won't ever forgit you, Huck; you's de bes' fren' Jim's ever had; en you's de only fren' ole Jim's got now". (pg.86-87) Hearing these words, Huck realizes how much Jim's friendship means to him and decides not to turn in Jim. Finally, the last test of Huck's conscience comes when he finds out that the "king" and the "duke" have sold Jim. Huck gets to thinking about how wrong he was to help Jim escape, and decides he should write a letter to Miss Watson. He then changes his mind, seeing that Jim would be worse off as a runaway slave because he would be treated horribly, and Huck

Jim is also a relatively flat character. He goes through the novel with very little change in his character. He is always superstitious, but also is very accepting of people. One example of his superstitions is, “And [Jim] said that handling a snake-skin was such awful bad luck that maybe we hadn’t got to the end of it yet.” (Twain, 64.) Jim always adheres to his superstitions, and in a way they govern his life. Even when Tom and Huck are attempting to set Jim free near the end of the book, Jim goes along with all their crazy machinations. This is similar to his superstitions, because he is willing to do silly things, since he believes they are essential to gaining freedom.

The main idea of the story is finding the treasure. Ben Gunn has lived on the island for three years, and knows where the treasure lies. Before the pirates find Jim and his mother, Jim grabs a key and an oilskin packet from the old sea chest. Jim’s father dies, and he and his mother flee to the nearby town and ask them to help them but they refuse to. They find a nearby bridge to hide under, and escape from the pirates. Finally, the people from the town decide to come to Jim and his mothers rescue. Later in the book, Jim hides in an apple barrel and overhears Silver and other crewmates about taking the ship once they have the treasure on the ship. When land was sighted a conflict went on between Silver and another group of pirates. Jim escapes while the fight is going on. He finds Ben Gunn and they become friends. Jim goes with Silver on the hunt for the treasure. They discover that the treasure is missing, and they fire into the surrounding area. The treasure was stowed in the Hispanolia’s lower deck. Silver steals a sack of coins and escapes.

As soon as they get to Treasure Island, Jim and his comrades escape from the wrath of Silver and hide out in a bunker in the forest. Silver soon realizes this and declares war on Jim and his men. While exploring the forest, Jim comes across a man by the name of Ben Gunn. Ben is the only inhabitant of Treasure Island, and was marooned there three long years earlier. Ben decides to stay hidden in the woods while Jim goes back to the bunker. While at the bunker, Jim and his men are repeatedly attacked by Silver. The next day, Jim boards the Hispanola and beaches it miles down shore

In chapter two Huckleberry has joined Tom Sawyer on a nighttime excursion, unbeknownst to the Widow Douglas. Their destination is a cave outside of town for the first meeting of Tom Sawyer’s gang of robbers, but very early into their journey they encounter a spot of trouble. Miss Watson’s African American slave, Jim, hears the movement of Huckleberry and Tom as they pass the kitchen and, confused as to the origin of the disturbance, sets himself down unwittingly between Tom and Huckleberry waiting until he hears the noise again. When he falls asleep Tom and Huckleberry first retrieve some candles from the kitchen, leaving a nickel as payment, and then Tom playfully hangs Jim’s hat on a branch, before he and Huckleberry make their escape. Huckleberry mentions that Jim interprets this prank as a sign of witchcraft, and then describes how Jim creates a tall-tale about how he was entranced by witches and met the devil that night. This story earns Jim acclaim and respect throughout the local slave population, which Huckleberry mentions, goes to his head a bit. This informal introduction to the character Jim leads the reader to conclude that Jim is uneducated (as typical of the slave population at the tine) and proud, but that the stubbornness exhibited in his