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Treasure Island
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
Why does Captain Smollett say the one man the cabin party can rely on is Silver, the ringleader of the mutiny?
The tension The sight of the island loosens every cord of discipline: the men growl, Anderson grumbles louder than his crew, and even the honest hands catch the infection. The one man working hardest to keep the peace is Long John, all smiles and songs, and Jim calls that cheerfulness the worst sign of the afternoon. The captain's answer is to hand Silver the chance to calm his own men. The chapter sets the enemy's need for order against the honest men's, and asks how far a plot and a defence can depend on the same man. Jim, meanwhile, slips ashore on the first of his "mad notions" and regrets it the moment Silver calls his name.
Notice how the island, the crew and Silver look on the day the ship anchors, and how Jim acts on a sudden idea.
Next morning the Hispaniola lies becalmed off the island, and Jim takes a dislike to it at first sight. The crew grumble as the ship is warped into the anchorage, which Silver knows well. In the cabin the captain decides to give the men an afternoon ashore. Thirteen, including Silver, go in the boats and six stay aboard. Jim slips into a boat and runs into the woods when Silver calls after him.
Start with Jim's first look at the island. Ask what he sees and why his heart sinks.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in order: the becalmed morning, the boats, the anchorage, the crew's mood, the council, the shore leave and Jim's leap into the boat.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes two sentences in the same pattern about someone who is cheerful to cover a worry: what the person does, then how the writer can tell.
Debate Take sides: was the captain right to let the men go ashore? Each side uses at least one quote from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking why Stevenson ends the chapter on Jim running blind.
Easier Read the council scene aloud together and talk through discussion questions 3 and 4 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 one more piece of evidence from the council scene to a critical-thinking answer.
1. Jim says that from the first look, “I hated the very thought of Treasure Island,” though the sun was bright. What might lie behind that feeling?Tone
What it asks It asks the student to look for what lies behind a first feeling, using the two causes Jim himself offers.
The island itself looks dismal and wild.
the general colouring was uniform and sad
grey, melancholy woods, and wild stone spires
Jim is sick and uneasy from the ship's rolling, and the island takes the blame.
this standing still and being rolled about like a bottle was a thing I never learned to stand without a qualm or so
Perhaps it was this
A strong answer Jim gives two possible causes himself: the ship's rolling, which he “never learned to stand without a qualm or so,” and the look of the island, with its “grey, melancholy woods, and wild stone spires.” Yet “the sun shone bright” and “the shore birds were fishing,” so the gloom may be partly in how Jim sees it. A strong answer picks a cause, or says both, and says why.
2. Anderson, in charge of a boat, grumbles as loudly as the men: “it's not forever.” What does that tell us about how things stand on the ship?Inference
What it asks It asks what an officer's grumbling shows, and whether it is a warning or only a hot day's bad temper.
A warning: discipline is slipping, and an officer is part of it.
instead of keeping the crew in order, he grumbled as loud as the worst
I thought this was a very bad sign, for up to that day the men had gone briskly and willingly about their business
Ordinary grumbling: the work is hot and hard, and the words mean only that it will end.
The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely over their work.
Well, he said with an oath, its not forever.
A strong answer Jim takes it as “a very bad sign”: Anderson, who should be “keeping the crew in order,” grumbles “as loud as the worst,” and up to that day the men had gone about their business “briskly and willingly.” But the heat was “sweltering,” the work was hard, and his words “its not forever” may mean only that the job will end. A strong answer says what Anderson's rank changes and does not claim to know what he means.
3. Silver works the deck with smiles and songs, and Jim calls his anxiety the worst feature of the afternoon. Why would that worry Jim more than the men's scowls?Character
What it asks It asks why a man's eagerness to please could alarm someone more than open anger.
A man working this hard to please everyone shows how bad things are.
Of all the gloomy features of that gloomy afternoon, this obvious anxiety on the part of Long John appeared the worst.
Long John was hard at work going from group to group
The smiles and songs cover the crew's mood, so Jim cannot tell what lies underneath.
he kept up one song after another, as if to conceal the discontent of the rest
he was all smiles to everyone
A strong answer Silver “fairly outstripped himself in willingness and civility,” and Jim says this “obvious anxiety” appeared the worst of the afternoon's features. One reading is that a man working so hard to please everyone shows how bad things are. Another is that his songs are “as if to conceal the discontent of the rest,” so Jim cannot see what lies beneath. The chapter gives what Jim sees and fears, not what Silver intends. A strong answer says what worries Jim and stays with what is shown.
4. Jim says it is “one thing to be idle and skulk and quite another to take a ship and murder.” Does that excuse the honest hands for catching the grumbling too?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks the student to judge where the line falls between grumbling and mutiny, and whether the men on the near side of it are blameless.
It excuses them in part: grumbling is not murder, and they will go no further.
a few, being good fellows in the main, could neither be led nor driven any further
It is one thing to be idle and skulk
It does not excuse them: the honest hands let the trouble spread, and there was no one to put it right.
Even the honest hands must have caught the infection, for there was not one man aboard to mend another.
all hands were disaffected by the example of the ringleaders
A strong answer Jim draws a line: “It is one thing to be idle and skulk and quite another to take a ship and murder a number of innocent men.” On that line the honest hands, “good fellows in the main,” can be excused for grumbling. But Jim also says “Even the honest hands must have caught the infection” and there was “not one man aboard to mend another,” so grumbling may be part of how a mutiny grows. A strong answer says where the line falls and what it would take to cross it.
5. Why might Stevenson end the chapter with Jim running “till I could run no longer,” with Silver's voice behind him, before we learn what happens ashore?Author's choice
What it asks It asks what an ending that stops in the middle of a chase does for the reader, and what it says about Jim's choice.
It keeps us in suspense: Jim is alone ashore, out of reach of his friends.
Jim, Jim! I heard him shouting.
I ran straight before my nose till I could run no longer.
It ends on the cost of his choice: the regret starts at once.
from that moment I began to regret what I had done
But you may suppose I paid no heed
A strong answer The chapter stops as Jim runs “straight before my nose till I could run no longer,” with Silver shouting “Jim, Jim!” behind him. That keeps the reader in suspense about what happens ashore, since Jim is on his own and out of reach of the cabin party. It also ends on Jim's choice: he says “from that moment I began to regret what I had done” and “paid no heed.” A strong answer says what the last line leaves the reader wanting, and does not guess what comes next.
1. Silver steers the ship into the anchorage and “never hesitated once.” Using two pieces of evidence, what does his piloting show about him?
What it asks It asks what a man's sure handling of the ship shows, and what more it could show than skill.
He knows the place well and trusts his own knowledge.
He knew the passage like the palm of his hand
though the man in the chains got everywhere more water than was down in the chart, John never hesitated once
He steps forward and takes charge at a moment when the ship needs a guide.
All the way in, Long John stood by the steersman and conned the ship.
A strong answer Silver's piloting shows knowledge and confidence. Jim says he “knew the passage like the palm of his hand,” and though the man in the chains found more water than the chart showed, “John never hesitated once.” He also “stood by the steersman and conned the ship” all the way in, which is taking charge. A strong answer gives two pieces and says what each shows.
2. Jim reasons that the cabin party has “no present need” of him, and slips ashore. Using two pieces of evidence, was that sound reasoning?
What it asks It asks the student to test a quick decision against the reasons Jim gives for it and the regret that follows.
Sound: with six men left aboard, the cabin party cannot fight the ship anyway, so he is not needed.
If six men were left by Silver, it was plain our party could not take and fight the ship
the cabin party had no present need of my assistance
Rash: he acts in a moment and regrets it the moment he is noticed.
In a jiffy I had slipped over the side and curled up in the fore-sheets of the nearest boat
from that moment I began to regret what I had done
A strong answer Jim's reasoning is tidy: “If six men were left by Silver, it was plain our party could not take and fight the ship,” so the cabin party has “no present need of my assistance.” But he acts “in a jiffy,” and the moment Silver calls out he says he began to regret what he had done. Jim himself calls it the first of his “mad notions.” A strong answer says what Jim did not stop to think about and whether the reasoning was enough.
3. The captain says any order will bring the ship down “about our ears.” Using two pieces of evidence, how much room does he really have to act?
What it asks It asks the student to weigh a commander's own picture of his trouble against what he actually holds.
Very little: any order draws a rough answer, and the ship might come about his ears.
if I risk another order, the whole shipll come about our ears by the run
I get a rough answer, do I not?
More than he says: he has sure men, loaded pistols and a plan for the afternoon.
loaded pistols were served out to all the sure men
Hunter, Joyce, and Redruth were taken into our confidence and received the news with less surprise and a better spirit than we had looked for
A strong answer The captain makes his case sound bleak: another order and “the whole shipll come about our ears,” and if he speaks back “pikes will be going in two shakes.” Yet after the council loaded pistols are “served out to all the sure men,” and Hunter, Joyce and Redruth take the news “with less surprise and a better spirit than we had looked for.” A strong answer says how much room the captain has, and whether his plan for the afternoon widens it.