Treasure Island
Chapter 27 — Teaching Companion
Robert Louis Stevenson · Trailblazers 4th–6th
Coaching, not a script — and not an answer key: every question here has more than one defensible answer.
This chapter's big question
Why does Jim, who notices that a great fire is not his party's way and that the watch is "infamous bad", still walk in chuckling to surprise his friends?
The tension Jim has killed a man, watched the fish steer over two bodies, and heaved a corpse overboard like a sack of bran, because "the habit of tragical adventures had worn off almost all my terror for the dead". He wades ashore in great spirits with nothing nearer his fancy than to boast. At the stockade he sees the signs, names them, and fears something has gone wrong; then the snoring sounds like music and he plans to enjoy their faces in the morning. The chapter sets a boy's new hardness and pride against the plain evidence in front of him, and asks what carried him through the door.
Today's focus
Watch what the last hours on the Hispaniola do to Jim, and what he carries into the stockade.
Two core ideas
- Jim is changed by what he has done: he clings in horror from Hands's body and later heaves O'Brien's overboard like a sack of bran.
- Jim walks into the stockade proud and relieved, and the chapter shows how much he has read into signs he cannot check.
The shape at a glance
Hands lies drowned beside the ship and Jim, pinned by the dirk, frees himself with a shudder. He heaves O'Brien's body overboard, does what he can for the ship, and wades ashore in great spirits. He walks to the stockade, sees a huge fire, hears snoring, and creeps in expecting to surprise his friends. The parrot cries out, the sleepers wake, and Silver calls for a torch.
A way in
Start with the two bodies in the water. Ask what Jim feels about each of them.
Lesson plan
Retell The student tells the chapter back in order: Hands in the water, the dirk, O'Brien, the ship, the wade ashore, the fire, the snoring, and the parrot.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes two sentences of their own that begin with a hopeful look ahead, then admit a small risk.
Debate How much should “the recapture of the Hispaniola” count against leaving the garrison short of men? Each side gives one quote from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking what Jim shows about himself in his plan to surprise his friends.
Easier Read Jim's arrival aloud together and talk through discussion questions 4 and 5 only.
On level Talk through all five discussion questions, then have the student write one critical-thinking answer with two pieces of evidence from the chapter.
Harder Ask the student to find one more place where Jim reads a sign and decides what it means, and to add it to a critical-thinking answer.
Discussion
- Jim is more afraid of falling into the water beside Hands than of the dirk in his shoulder. Why might the dead man frighten him more than his wound?Inference
What it asks It asks what a boy fears when his own pain is something he can bear, and why the dead man's body is worse.
One reading
The wound is real but can be borne. The fall, to Jim, means joining the body of the man who tried to kill him.
it was the horror I had upon my mind of falling from the cross-trees into that still green water, beside the body of the coxswain
these real sufferings that distressed me, for these, it seemed to me, I could bear without a murmur
Another reading
He has only just understood what he did, and fear comes late, after the danger has passed.
I was no sooner certain of this than I began to feel sick, faint, and terrified.
Gradually my mind came back again, my pulses quieted down
Listen for
- Compares the two fears in Jim's own words.
- Says why the body is worse than the wound.
If stuck
- What does Jim say he could bear without a murmur?
- What does he see lying on the sand?
- When does Jim begin to feel sick?
A strong answer Jim says he could bear the burning dirk without a murmur, but the thought of falling beside the body filled him with horror. A strong answer can say that his own pain is something he can face while the dead man is something he has done, or that fear comes late when the danger has passed. Either way the fear centres on Hands's body and not on his own wound.
- Earlier Jim clung in horror at the thought of falling beside Hands's body. Now he takes O'Brien “as if he had been a sack of bran” and tumbles him overboard. What has changed?Character
What it asks It asks the student to name what has changed in Jim, and whether the change is a loss, a gain, or both.
One reading
He has toughened, which he needs if he is to do what comes next.
the habit of tragical adventures had worn off almost all my terror for the dead
I could easily have my way with him
Another reading
He has coarsened, and the picture of the two bodies shows what it costs.
There he lay, with that bald head across the knees of the man who had killed him and the quick fishes steering to and fro over both
life-size, indeed, but how different from lifes colour or lifes comeliness!
Listen for
- Names the change in Jim in plain words.
- Says whether it seems to Jim to be good or bad.
If stuck
- What does Jim fear about Hands's body earlier?
- What does Jim compare O'Brien's body to?
- What does Jim say has worn off?
A strong answer Earlier Jim clung to the cross-trees in horror of falling beside a dead man, and now he lifts another body like a sack of bran and drops it over the side. He explains it himself: the habit of tragical adventures wore off his terror. A strong answer can call that toughness, which he needs, or a loss, which he does not remark on, and should say what it shows about Jim.
- Jim says that “the recapture of the Hispaniola was a clenching answer” to any blame for leaving. How much should that answer count?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks the student to weigh Jim's success against the fault he thinks he might be blamed for.
One reading
It counts for a lot. He has taken the ship from the pirates and put it where the garrison can use it.
There lay the schooner, clear at last from buccaneers and ready for our own men to board and get to sea again
nor had I returned thence empty-handed
Another reading
It counts for less than he thinks. He left two sound men to guard the house, and he knows it.
again I blamed myself sharply for leaving them in that danger with so few to mount guard
Possibly I might be blamed a bit for my truantry
Listen for
- Weighs Jim's gain against what the garrison risked.
- Uses Jim's own words about blame.
If stuck
- What does Jim say he has brought back?
- What does he say about leaving the garrison?
- Does he think he will be blamed at all?
A strong answer Jim has taken the ship from the pirates and left it ready for his own side, which is a real gain. But he also admits he might be blamed, and later blames himself sharply for leaving so few to guard. A strong answer weighs the two and says how much a success can answer for leaving others in danger.
- Jim reaches the stockade after dark, sees a huge fire and hears snoring, and says the sleepers' noise is “like music.” What has he decided by then?Inference
What it asks It asks the student to trace how Jim's fear changes into relief, and what each step rests on.
One reading
He has decided his friends are safe, because what he hears is ordinary sleep.
it was like music to hear my friends snoring together so loud and peaceful in their sleep
The sea-cry of the watch, that beautiful Alls well, never fell more reassuringly on my ear.
Another reading
He has let relief settle what the fire left unsettled, without proof of who is sleeping there.
I began to fear that something had gone wrong while I was absent
All was dark within, so that I could distinguish nothing by the eye.
Listen for
- Separates what Jim sees from what he decides.
- Says what Jim still does not know.
If stuck
- What does Jim think when he first sees the fire?
- What does he hear at the corner of the house?
- Can he see anyone inside the block house?
A strong answer At the clearing Jim fears something has gone wrong, but as he crawls up he hears snoring and takes it for music. His relief is natural. A strong answer notes that he hears sleepers but cannot see them, and asks what he has decided on the strength of a sound.
- Jim calls the parrot's noise “keeping better watch than any human being.” Why might the author give the warning to a parrot?Author's choice
What it asks It asks what the parrot adds that a person's voice would not, and what the author gains by ending on her.
One reading
It makes the irony sharp: the only one awake and useful is a bird, and Jim has just called the human watch infamous bad.
they kept an infamous bad watch
it was she, keeping better watch than any human being, who thus announced my arrival with her wearisome refrain
Another reading
It turns the scene from comfort to alarm at once, in a voice that is shrill and odd.
a shrill voice broke forth out of the darkness
like the clacking of a tiny mill
Listen for
- Says what Jim thought just before the parrot spoke.
- Says what the sudden shrill voice does to the mood.
If stuck
- What does Jim think of the watch just before?
- Who does the parrot belong to?
- What happens the moment she speaks?
A strong answer Jim has just thought the watch infamous bad, and then the one who keeps watch is a bird. That is ironic, and it also turns the scene in a moment: the shrill cry wakes the sleepers and Silver's voice asks who goes. A strong answer says what the change from comfort to alarm does to the reader.
Critical thinking
- Using two pieces of evidence, explain how Jim gets himself out of the dirk and back on deck.
What it asks It asks the student to follow a short piece of action and notice how much of it is luck.
One reading
It is luck: the knife had barely caught him, and a shudder finished the job.
The knife, in fact, had come the nearest in the world to missing me altogether
that very shudder did the business
Another reading
It is nerve: he jerks himself free and chooses the safer shrouds.
These last I broke through with a sudden jerk
For nothing in the world would I have again ventured, shaken as I was, upon the overhanging port shrouds
Listen for
- Two separate pieces of evidence.
- Says which part was chance and which part was Jim.
If stuck
- What holds Jim to the mast?
- What tears the last skin?
- Which shrouds does Jim use to come down?
A strong answer The dirk only pinched his skin, and a shudder tore it away, which is luck. Jim then broke through his coat and shirt with a jerk and came down the starboard shrouds, keeping clear of the port ones where Hands fell, which is nerve and care. A strong answer uses one of each and says which it would credit more.
- Using two pieces of evidence, explain what Jim does to try to keep the Hispaniola safe before he leaves her.
What it asks It asks the student to follow Jim's care for the ship and see where it ends.
One reading
He does what he can: he douses the jibs and cuts the halyards.
The jibs I speedily doused and brought tumbling to the deck
At last I got my knife and cut the halyards.
Another reading
He can do little, and he knows it.
pull as I liked, I could not budge the downhall, that was the extent of what I could accomplish
For the rest, the Hispaniola must trust to luck, like myself.
Listen for
- One thing Jim does and one thing he cannot.
- Says what Jim admits.
If stuck
- What does he do about the jibs?
- What happens to the mainsail when he cuts the halyards?
- What does Jim say the ship must do for the rest?
A strong answer Jim douses the jibs and cuts the halyards so the mainsail drops, but he cannot budge the downhall. He admits that the ship must trust to luck, like himself. A strong answer uses one thing he does and one thing he cannot, and says what that shows.
- Using two pieces of evidence, explain how Jim describes the stockade clearing when he arrives.
What it asks It asks the student to gather what Jim sees and hears at the clearing and what he makes of each.
One reading
It looks wrong: a fire and silence he does not recognise.
It had not been our way to build great fires
There was not a soul stirring nor a sound beside the noises of the breeze.
Another reading
It looks safe: the fire is burnt down and the house is quiet.
an immense fire had burned itself into clear embers
my friends snoring together so loud and peaceful in their sleep
Listen for
- Two details, one from sight and one from sound.
- Says what each made Jim think.
If stuck
- What is unusual about the fire?
- What does Jim hear when he is close?
- What does the fire look like now?
A strong answer Jim sees an immense fire burnt down to embers, which is not the garrison's way, and hears nothing but the breeze. Closer in, he hears snoring. A strong answer uses one sign of trouble and one of comfort and says which Jim trusts.