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Treasure Island: the Journey of Jim Hawkins Essay

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For the duration of existence, people undergo the physical and mental stages of growing up. During this phase, people establish through their dealings who they actually are in addition to what they are worth. For instance, Treasure Island is an adventure tale, but it is also the story of one boy’s (Jim Hawkins) coming of age. On the outset of the voyage, Jim was a timid adolescent, but by the closing stages, he had matured incredibly. In his novel, Treasure Island, author Robert Louis Stevenson focuses primarily on the journey of main character Jim Hawkins to exemplify the process of growing up and proving oneself. Jim Hawkins’ transformation from a timid, 13-year old boy to a young man began when a sailor by the name of Billy Bones…show more content…
He thought it was in his best interest to see what Dr. Livesey thought of this matter. After Jim comes back to Admiral Benbow from staying with Dr. Livesey, he finds that Jim’s mother has hired a young boy to be an apprentice in replace of Jim. Jim finally begins to see that his adventure has forced him to forget about his previous life at the Inn. He realizes he is leaving his normal life, the Inn, and his mother (Stevenson 59-60). Jim may have got the feeling he was being replaced, but he knew that day would come soon enough. “In many respects a typical British boy of his age, Jim has lead a sheltered life at the Admiral Benbow Inn. The arrival of Billy Bones triggers his desire to explore the larger world beyond his home. Although he has grown up on the sea coast, Jim knows little of the seafaring life. His adventures constitute on initiation into adulthood, by means of which he learns survival skills and moral lessons that far eclipse the typical education of a British gentleman” (Beetz, Niemeyer 2007). Although only the age of thirteen, Jim was determined to set sail and wasn’t going to let his age define who he was, until tragedy struck. Following the death of his father, Jim took this opportunity to discover himself on the open sea. It was at this time that Jim would embark on a journey he would never forget. “I said good-bye to my mother and the cove where I had lived since I was born, and the dear old Admiral Benbow” (Stevenson 59-60).
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