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Treasure Island
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
Why does Silver, who boasts that Flint himself was afraid of him, spend the whole talk in the dark urging his men to wait?
The tension Silver could take the ship tonight; Hands wants the cabin's pickles and wines now. Instead Silver preaches saving over spending, patience over hurry, and points at Pew and Flint, who died a beggar and a drunk, as the price of hurry. Yet in the same breath he votes death for the gentlemen and claims Trelawney for his own hands, and turns young Dick with the very flattery he once spent on Jim. The chapter sets Silver's cold foresight against his crew's greed, and asks what kind of power his waiting really is.
Listen in on the apple barrel as Jim does, and weigh what Silver says, how he says it, and whom he says it to.
Inside the apple barrel Jim hears Silver, a young hand and the coxswain Israel Hands. Silver talks of Flint, Pew and his savings, flatters the young hand, and calls piracy being a gentleman of fortune. Hands asks when they will act, and Silver says they must wait and tells what he would do with the gentlemen. Jim catches a clause that shows some men are still faithful, and the moon rises as the lookout cries "Land ho!"
Start with the flattery Jim hears. Ask why it stings him so much.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in order: Silver's talk of Flint, the young hand, the gentlemen of fortune, Hands' question, Silver's answer, Jim's terror and the cry of land.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes two sentences in the same pattern: one about what they heard someone say to another person, and one about how that made them feel.
Debate Take sides: can Silver be trusted about anything he says in the barrel? Each side uses at least one quote from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking what Jim now knows that he did not know at the start of the chapter, and what he still cannot be sure of.
Easier Read Silver's talk with the young hand aloud together and talk through discussion questions 2 and 3 only.
On level Talk through all five discussion questions, then have the student write one critical-thinking answer with two pieces of evidence.
Harder Ask the student to add a third piece of evidence to a critical-thinking answer, showing how Silver's words differ from what he does.
1. Israel says other crews “liked a bit o' fun.” Silver answers, “where are they now?” Is that a good answer?Theme
What it asks It asks the student to test Silver's way of arguing: does pointing at two dead men answer a wish for fun?
It is a good answer: the men who took their fling ended badly.
Pew was that sort, and he died a beggar-man.
Flint was, and he died of rum at Savannah.
It is only half an answer: Silver has lived well himself, so the trouble is not the fun.
Ive lived easy in the meantime, never denied myself o nothing heart desires
They lives rough, and they risk swinging, but they eat and drink like fighting-cocks
A strong answer Silver's answer has weight: Pew “died a beggar-man” and Flint “died of rum at Savannah,” so two men who took their fling ended badly. But Silver himself has “never denied myself o nothing heart desires,” so what he is against is not enjoying life but how these men spent what they had. A strong answer says what the answer proves, and where it stops.
2. Jim says he would have “killed him through the barrel” when Silver flatters the young hand. Why might that sting so much?Character
What it asks It asks why Jim's anger starts with a compliment and not with a crime.
It stings because it is personal: Jim thought the praise was for him alone.
You may imagine how I felt when I heard this abominable old rogue addressing another in the very same words of flattery as he had used to myself.
youre as smart as paint
It stings because Jim sees what the praise is for: to win over an honest hand.
the little scene that I had overheard was the last act in the corruption of one of the honest hands
Ill talk to you like a man
A strong answer Jim hears Silver speak to another boy in “the very same words of flattery” he used on Jim, and that stings: what felt special was a habit. A second reading is that Jim sees what the words are for, since the talk ends with an honest hand joining them. A strong answer says which hurts more, pride or what he now understands, and can hold both.
3. Silver calls pirates “gentlemen of fortune.” Is that a harmless way of talking, or a way of hiding what the job really is?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks whether a polite name changes what the thing is, and who the name helps.
Harmless: Silver names the dangers openly, so nobody is fooled.
They lives rough, and they risk swinging
by a gentleman of fortune they plainly meant neither more nor less than a common pirate
It hides something: the name makes a crime sound like a rise in the world.
I set up gentleman in earnest
a finer figurehead for a gentleman of fortune I never clapped my eyes on
A strong answer The name does not hide everything: Silver says they “risk swinging,” and Jim himself knows it means “a common pirate.” But Silver also says he will “set up gentleman in earnest,” and he tells the young hand he is a fine “gentleman of fortune.” A strong answer says what the name adds to the plain word, and who is pleased by it.
4. Silver tells Dick, “I trust you,” then adds, “I've a gauge on the keg, mind.” What do you make of that?Inference
What it asks It asks what a man means by trust when he is also keeping count.
The trust is real but careful, as Silver says gentlemen of fortune usually are.
Gentlemen of fortune, returned the cook, usually trusts little among themselves
Dick, said Silver, I trust you.
"Trust" is a word he uses to win a man, while he keeps the facts to himself.
I would tell you where, for I trust you, but itd make jealousy among the mates.
Ive a gauge on the keg, mind.
A strong answer Silver trusts Dick enough to send him for the rum and hand him the key, yet in the same breath he says he has “a gauge on the keg.” That fits his own rule that gentlemen of fortune “usually trusts little among themselves.” He also tells Dick he would say where the money is “for I trust you,” but he does not. A strong answer weighs trust that is real but limited against trust that is only a word.
5. Jim hears all this from inside a barrel, in the dark, without seeing a face. What does Stevenson gain by making him only listen?Author's choice
What it asks It asks what hearing without seeing does to a scene, for Jim and for the reader.
We hear Silver with nothing held back, because he thinks no one is listening.
Meantime, he ran on, little supposing he was overheard.
Ill talk to you like a man.
We share Jim's fear and helplessness, hidden and unable to move.
You may fancy the terror I was in!
my limbs and heart alike misgave me
A strong answer With Jim hidden, Silver talks as he would to his own men: “little supposing he was overheard.” The reader also gets Jim's fear, for he says “You may fancy the terror I was in!” and cannot move. Hearing and not seeing also means Jim has to piece things together from scraps. A strong answer names one thing the barrel gives the reader and says why it might matter.
1. Silver says his savings are “all safe in bank” and the Spy-glass is “sold.” Using two pieces of evidence, how far would you trust what he says about himself?
What it asks It asks the student to weigh a man's claims about himself when the only source is himself.
Trust it: he gives figures and says where the money is.
I laid by nine hundred safe, from England, and two thousand after Flint.
my old missis has it all by now
Be careful: he is talking to impress, and he says he is not boasting.
Im not a boasting man
I would tell you where, for I trust you, but itd make jealousy among the mates.
A strong answer Silver gives figures, “nine hundred safe, from England, and two thousand after Flint,” and says his “old missis has it all by now.” Specific claims can be true. But he says them to a young man he is trying to win, says “Im not a boasting man” in the middle of a boast, and will not say where the money is. The chapter gives only his words. A strong answer says how far it trusts them and what would change its mind.
2. Jim guesses the keg is how Mr. Arrow got his drink. Using two pieces of evidence, is that a fair guess?
What it asks It asks the student to test a frightened boy's guess against what the chapter actually shows.
Fair: Silver keeps the keg and has the key.
Ive a gauge on the keg, mind.
Theres the key; you fill a pannikin and bring it up.
Not proved: it is only Jim's thought, and Silver here tells Hands to stay sober.
I could not help thinking to myself that this must have been how Mr. Arrow got
youll keep sober till I give the word
A strong answer The guess has some basis: Silver has “a gauge on the keg,” hands over “the key,” and so controls the rum. But Jim says only that he “could not help thinking” it, and Silver tells Hands to “keep sober till I give the word,” which does not look like a man who wants them drunk. A strong answer says how much of the guess the chapter supports and leaves the rest open.
3. Jim catches one clause and decides “there were still faithful men on board.” Using two pieces of evidence, how safe is that conclusion?
What it asks It asks the student to weigh how much a few overheard words can carry.
Fairly safe: the clause came with other scraps pointing the same way.
besides other scraps that tended to the same purpose
Not another man of them'll jine.
Thin: Jim catches only a word or two, and he has just feared the last honest hand was gone.
It was but a word or two that I could catch
perhaps of the last one left aboard
A strong answer Jim does not catch much: “a word or two,” though “other scraps that tended to the same purpose” and the clause “Not another man of them'll jine.” He reasons from it to “faithful men on board.” That may be right, but he has just feared the last honest hand was gone, and a hopeful listener may hear what he hopes. A strong answer says what the clause shows and what it does not.