Treasure Island
Chapter 34 — 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, with the treasure shared and the survivors home, does Jim end his story with nightmares and a wish never to see the island again?
The tension The ending pays the survivors out: fortunes shared, the captain retired, Gray risen to mate and part owner, Ben Gunn given the lodge he feared, Silver gone with a sack of coin and everyone "pleased to be so cheaply quit of him". Yet the same chapter leaves three men kneeling on a spit of sand begging not to be left to die, counts only five of the crew that sailed returning, and ends with Jim starting upright in bed at the parrot's cry. The chapter sets the happy ending against what it cost, and asks what Jim has really brought home.
Today's focus
Notice how Jim sums up what became of each person, and what he keeps and does not keep from the island.
Two core ideas
- The ending pays out each person's fate in a line or two: a fortune spent in nineteen days, a mate's berth, a sack of coin taken, a retirement from the sea.
- The party makes hard choices about the men who turned against it, leaving three on the island and letting Silver slip away, and Jim reports them plainly.
The shape at a glance
The party spends days carrying the gold to the ship while Jim packs coins in the cave. They hear the three mutineers in the night, and the doctor and Silver talk of going to help them. The party leaves the three on the island with stores and sails for a port, where Silver slips away with a sack of coin. They reach Bristol with five of the men who sailed, share the treasure, and Jim says he will never go back to the island and dreams of the parrot's cry.
A way in
Start with the coins Jim sorts. Ask what he enjoys in them, then what he says of the island at the end.
Lesson plan
Retell The student tells the chapter back in order: the carrying, the coins, the night voices, the leaving of the three, the port, Silver's going, the voyage home, and the fates.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes two sentences of their own in the same pattern: one that says what they will never do, and a second, after a semicolon, that names two sounds that would trouble their sleep.
Debate Is leaving the three mutineers on the island mercy, cruelty, or both? Each side gives one quote from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking what Jim carries home from the island and what he leaves there.
Easier Read the leaving of the three men aloud together and talk through discussion questions 3 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 reports a hard choice plainly, and to add it to a critical-thinking answer.
Discussion
- Jim lists the coins he sorts, from doubloons to pieces stamped like “wisps of string.” Why might the author give us the whole list?Author's choice
What it asks It asks what a long list of coins does for the reader, and what it shows about how Jim sees the treasure.
One reading
It makes the treasure feel huge and real, money from every corner of the world in one place.
nearly every variety of money in the world must, I think, have found a place in that collection
they were like autumn leaves
Another reading
It shows Jim's delight, a boy happily sorting a strange collection.
I think I never had more pleasure than in sorting them
my back ached with stooping and my fingers with sorting them out
Listen for
- Names something from the list, not only that it is long.
- Says what the list does to the reader.
If stuck
- What does Jim say about how many kinds of money there are?
- What does he compare the number of coins to?
- What is Jim doing while he looks at them?
A strong answer The list runs from English and French coins to pieces stamped like wisps of string, and Jim says nearly every variety of money in the world must be there. That makes the hoard feel enormous. It also shows a boy who loves the sorting, since his back aches and he still says he never had more pleasure. A strong answer says what the list does for the reader and for Jim.
- The doctor says he would help the mutineers “at whatever risk to my own carcass,” and Silver says he would be “very wrong.” What does each answer show about the man who gave it?Character
What it asks It asks what the doctor's offer and Silver's warning each tell us about their makers.
One reading
The doctor cares for the sick even when they are his enemies, and Silver is protecting the party as well as himself.
at whatever risk to my own carcass, take them the assistance of my skill
Im on your side now, hand and glove; and I shouldnt wish for to see the party weakened
Another reading
The doctor is moved but bitter, and Silver talks from knowing these men better than the doctor does.
I suppose you would hardly ask me to call you a humane man
they couldnt keep their word
Listen for
- Uses the doctor's offer and Silver's warning together.
- Notices what the doctor says back to Silver.
If stuck
- What does the doctor say he would do if he were sure they were raving?
- What does Silver say the doctor would lose?
- What does the doctor answer to Silver's last point?
A strong answer The doctor offers to help men who mutinied against him, at risk to his own life, though he says it with a sneer. Silver warns him off, saying he would lose his precious life and that the men could not keep their word even if they wished to. A strong answer says what each shows: the doctor's care that goes past enmity, and Silver's hard knowledge of the crew. It should say whether Silver's warning is sense, self-interest, or both.
- The party leaves the three mutineers on the island with powder, goat meat and tobacco. Is that mercy, cruelty, or both?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks the student to weigh what the party gives the three men against what it takes from them.
One reading
Mercy. They are left supplies, and the other road was the gibbet.
We left a good stock of powder and shot, the bulk of the salt goat, a few medicines
to take them home for the gibbet would have been a cruel sort of kindness
Another reading
Cruelty. The three beg on their knees not to be left.
all three of them kneeling together on a spit of sand, with their arms raised in supplication
not leave them to die in such a place
Listen for
- Weighs the stores left against the begging.
- Says what the other choices were.
If stuck
- What did the party leave behind for the three?
- What does Jim say taking them home would have been?
- What do the three men do as the ship draws away?
A strong answer Jim says it went to all their hearts to leave the men in that state, but they could not risk another mutiny, and to take them home for the gibbet would have been a cruel sort of kindness. They leave powder, shot, goat meat, medicines and, by the doctor's wish, tobacco. Yet the three kneel and beg not to be left to die. A strong answer weighs these and says what standard it uses to call the choice mercy or cruelty.
- Silver slips off with a sack of coin, and Jim says, “I think we were all pleased to be so cheaply quit of him.” Why would they be pleased?Inference
What it asks It asks what the party is glad to be rid of, and what “cheaply” tells us about how they add up the cost.
One reading
They are glad to lose a danger, and a sack of coin is a small price for it.
our lives, which would certainly have been forfeit if that man with the one leg had stayed aboard
worth perhaps three or four hundred guineas
Another reading
They are glad to lose a company they never warmed to, and his going spares them deciding what to do with him.
none treated him better than a dog
Silver was gone.
Listen for
- Says what “cheaply” means here.
- Notices that Jim includes himself in “we”.
If stuck
- What did Silver take with him?
- How had the party treated Silver since the treasure was found?
- What does Ben Gunn say he was afraid of?
A strong answer “Cheaply” means at the price of one sack of coin, worth perhaps three or four hundred guineas beside a whole cave of gold. A strong answer says what they were pleased to be rid of: a danger to their lives, a man none of them treated better than a dog, or the trouble of judging him. It can also notice that Jim says “we were all pleased,” though he has something to thank Silver for.
- Ben Gunn spends a thousand pounds in nineteen days and is given a lodge to keep, “exactly as he had feared.” Is that a sad ending for him?Theme
What it asks It asks the student to weigh what Ben Gunn loses against what he keeps.
One reading
Sad. His fortune is gone in days and he ends as the very thing he dreaded.
he got a thousand pounds, which he spent or lost in three weeks, or to be more exact, in nineteen days, for he was back begging on the twentieth
Then he was given a lodge to keep, exactly as he had feared upon the island
Another reading
Not sad. He is alive, liked and useful, with a place in the village and in church.
he still lives, a great favourite, though something of a butt, with the country boys
a notable singer in church on Sundays and saints days
Listen for
- Uses both the money and the lodge.
- Says what Ben Gunn feared and whether it came true in a bad way.
If stuck
- What happens to Ben's money?
- What work does he end up with?
- How do the country boys treat him?
A strong answer Ben's thousand pounds is gone in nineteen days, and he ends up keeping a lodge, exactly as he had feared. But he still lives, a great favourite with the country boys, though something of a butt, and a notable singer in church. A strong answer weighs the lost fortune against the place he has, and says which it counts as the ending.
Critical thinking
- Using two pieces of evidence, explain why moving the treasure to the ship takes so many days.
What it asks It asks the student to gather the reasons the work is slow, from weight and distance to the size of the party.
One reading
The load is heavy and the road is long.
Two of the bars, slung in a ropes-end, made a good load for a grown man
near a mile by land to the beach, and thence three miles by boat to the Hispaniola
Another reading
There are few hands to do it and the sentry has to be kept.
a considerable task for so small a number of workmen
a single sentry on the shoulder of the hill was sufficient to ensure us against any sudden onslaught
Listen for
- Two separate pieces of evidence, not one told twice.
- A reason that explains why it takes days.
If stuck
- How far must the gold go by land, and how far by boat?
- How many workmen are there?
- What does Jim say waits for each morrow?
A strong answer The gold must be carried near a mile by land to the beach and three miles by boat, and two bars make a good load for a grown man. The party is small, and one sentry has to watch the hill. Jim says each evening a fortune is stowed but another waits for the morrow. A strong answer uses one piece on the load or distance and one on the size of the party.
- Using two pieces of evidence, explain how Jim describes the contrast between the port and the island.
What it asks It asks the student to find what Jim sets beside the island to make it look dark, and what he enjoys about the port.
One reading
The contrast is in the people and the food: friendly faces and fruit.
The sight of so many good-humoured faces
the taste of the tropical fruits
Another reading
The contrast is in the light: the town lights against a dark and bloody island.
the lights that began to shine in the town
a most charming contrast to our dark and bloody sojourn on the island
Listen for
- Two separate pieces of evidence.
- Says what the port has that the island lacked.
If stuck
- What does Jim see when the shore boats arrive?
- What does he taste?
- What words does Jim use for the island?
A strong answer Jim sets good-humoured faces, tropical fruit and the lights of the town against what he calls their dark and bloody sojourn on the island. A strong answer uses one piece from the port and one from the island and says what the port gives them that the island did not.
- Using two pieces of evidence, explain how Jim speaks of Silver when he last mentions him.
What it asks It asks the student to hear both the warmth and the coldness in Jim's last words about Silver.
One reading
With a little warmth. He hopes Silver found a comfortable end.
I dare say he met his old Negress, and perhaps still lives in comfort with her and Captain Flint
It is to be hoped so, I suppose
Another reading
With cold judgment. He thinks Silver has little to hope for after death.
for his chances of comfort in another world are very small
has at last gone clean out of my life
Listen for
- One piece that is warm and one that is cold, or two for one side.
- Notices “I suppose” in Jim's hope.
If stuck
- What does Jim hope for Silver in this world?
- What does he say about Silver in another world?
- What does the phrase “I suppose” do to his hope?
A strong answer Jim says that Silver has perhaps found comfort with his wife and Captain Flint, and that it is to be hoped so, though he adds “I suppose.” He also says Silver's chances of comfort in another world are very small. A strong answer uses one piece of hope and one of judgment and says what they show about how Jim feels.