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Treasure Island
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
Why does the same plain speech from Captain Smollett make the doctor trust him while it makes the squire and Jim hate him?
The tension The captain says he does not like the cruise, the crew or his officer, and asks for powder aft, the squire's men beside the cabin, and no more talk. The doctor hears reasons and duty, and calls him honest. The squire hears insult and calls him "unmanly, un-sailorly, and downright un-English". Jim, ordered off as "ships boy" with "no favourites on my ship", hates him deeply. One man, one speech, three readings: the chapter asks what each listener brought to it.
Listen to the captain's speech in the cabin, and notice how each of the three who hear about it takes it.
Jim, the squire and the doctor go aboard the Hispaniola, where Mr. Arrow greets them and Captain Smollett asks to speak with the squire. The captain says he does not like the cruise, the crew or his officer, asks for the powder and arms to be kept aft and the squire's men to sleep near the cabin, and says the secret has been blabbed. The squire agrees but thinks the worse of him; the doctor calls him honest. On deck the captain sends Jim off to the cook, and Jim hates him.
Start with the captain's three “I don't like” lines. Ask the student how they would say them aloud.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in order: the ship and Mr. Arrow, the captain's complaints, his requests, the squire's and doctor's answers, and the scene on deck.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes one sentence that moves from one person to some to all, and ends on what they do not know.
Debate Take sides: was the captain right to speak so plainly, or should he have kept his doubts to himself? Each side uses at least one quote from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking what the chapter gives us to judge the captain by, and what it does not.
Easier Read the cabin scene aloud together and talk through discussion questions 1 and 2 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 compare how the squire and the doctor each answer the captain, and add it to a critical-thinking answer.
1. Read the captain's three “I don't like” lines aloud. What tone do you give them: rude, blunt, worried, or something else?Tone
What it asks It asks the student to hear the captain's first words as a speaker would, and to say what the choice of tone shows.
Serious and plain: he is warning them and says so, even at the risk of giving offence.
better speak plain, I believe, even at the risk of offence
life or death, and a close run
Curt and cross: he sounds annoyed with everything.
a sharp-looking man who seemed angry with everything on board
Thats short and sweet.
A strong answer The lines can be said in more than one way. Said flatly they sound serious and plain, and the captain says he will “speak plain” even “at the risk of offence.” Said sharply they sound cross, and Jim describes him as “a sharp-looking man who seemed angry with everything on board” who calls his own three lines “short and sweet.” A strong answer picks a tone, reads a line in it, and says what the choice shows.
2. The captain says he came in meaning “to get discharged,” yet he asks for changes and says he will do his duty. Which did he want more: to leave, or to stay?Character
What it asks It asks what a man wants when his first plan and his spoken plan differ, using what he says in the room.
He wanted to leave: the changes he asks for come with a way out.
When I came in here I meant to get discharged.
or let me resign my berth
He wanted to stay and make the ship safer.
But I am responsible for the ships safety and the life of every man Jack aboard of her.
Youll find I do my duty.
A strong answer The captain says plainly that when he came in he “meant to get discharged,” and he ends his list with “or let me resign my berth.” But he also says he is “responsible for the ships safety and the life of every man Jack aboard of her,” and he tells the squire he will “do my duty.” A strong answer says what he may have wanted at different moments and does not pretend the chapter settles it.
3. The squire swears he told no one the island's position, and Jim believes him. Does it matter who let it out, or only that it is out?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks whether finding someone to blame helps more than deciding what to do next, using the two ways the men answer.
It matters who: the squire's word is doubted, and someone may be talking.
I never told that
Livesey, that must have been you or Hawkins
Only that it is out: the next step is to keep the secret from now on.
It doesnt much matter who it was
it shall be kept secret even from me and Mr. Arrow
A strong answer The squire is stung that he is suspected and says “I never told that.” The doctor answers that “It doesn't much matter who it was,” and the captain asks that the secret be “kept secret even from me and Mr. Arrow.” One reading says the source matters because trust is at stake; the other says the next step matters more. A strong answer weighs both and notes that Jim believes the squire even though he calls him “so loose a talker.”
4. The captain says a mate should “keep himself to himself.” Is being friendly with the crew a fault in an officer?Theme
What it asks It asks what an officer owes his crew and what he owes his rank, using the captain's complaint about Mr. Arrow.
A fault: an officer has to stay apart for his orders to be obeyed.
hes too free with the crew to be a good officer
A mate should keep himself to himself
Not a fault: by the captain's own account the mate is a good seaman and does nothing worse than be familiar.
I believe hes a good seaman
only that hes too familiar
A strong answer The captain grants that he believes Mr. Arrow is “a good seaman,” but says he is “too free with the crew to be a good officer.” When the squire asks if he drinks, the captain answers “only that hes too familiar.” So the fault is about distance, not skill or drink. A strong answer says whether distance matters for an officer and what friendliness might give a crew instead.
5. Why might Stevenson end the chapter on Jim hating the captain, rather than on the doctor's “we shall see”?Author's choice
What it asks It asks what the last line does, and why an author would end on a boy's feeling.
It keeps the story with Jim, so we feel the snub as he does.
Ill have no favourites on my ship.
I assure you I was quite of the squires way of thinking, and hated the captain deeply.
It sets Jim's feeling beside the doctor's doubt, so the reader is asked to wait and judge.
Well, says the doctor, we shall see.
Very likely, sir
A strong answer The chapter ends with the captain sending Jim off and saying “Ill have no favourites on my ship,” and with Jim saying he “hated the captain deeply.” Ending there keeps us close to a boy who has just been snubbed. It also sits beside the doctor's earlier “we shall see,” so a reader may feel with Jim and still wait to judge. A strong answer says what the last line leaves the reader feeling.
1. The doctor says the captain fears a mutiny, and he answers, “I deny your right to put words into my mouth.” Using two pieces of evidence, is that answer honest or evasive?
What it asks It asks the student to weigh a refusal to name a fear, using the captain's own words.
Honest: he will not claim what he cannot prove.
saying things that I could not prove
No captain, sir, would be justified in going to sea at all if he had ground enough to say that.
Evasive: he asks for the precautions a mutiny would call for, while denying he means one.
all may be for what I know
I ask you to take certain precautions or let me resign my berth.
A strong answer The captain's answer can be read as honest. He has said he is “saying things that I could not prove,” and he adds that no captain “would be justified in going to sea at all if he had ground enough to say that.” It can also be read as evasive, since he leaves open that “all may be for what I know” and still asks for “certain precautions.” A strong answer uses two pieces of evidence and says which reading it finds stronger.
2. The squire says, “I will do as you desire, but I think the worse of you.” Using two pieces of evidence, is the squire fair to the captain?
What it asks It asks the student to judge a man who gives way and holds a grudge in the same breath.
Fair: he listens and keeps his word, though it costs him.
As it is, I have heard you.
I will do as you desire
Unfair: the captain spoke with no wish to give offence, yet the squire thinks worse of him.
with no intention to take offence
Youll find I do my duty.
A strong answer The squire does act fairly in one way: he says “I have heard you” and “I will do as you desire,” and he keeps to it. But he also says that without the doctor he “should have seen you to the deuce,” and he says “I think the worse of you” to a man who spoke “with no intention to take offence.” A strong answer says what fairness asks of someone who has given way, and whether thinking badly of the man undoes his yielding.
3. Silver comes aboard and asks about the powder, then goes below at once when told. Using two pieces of evidence, what does that suggest about him?
What it asks It asks the student to read a man from two quick moves, a question and a yielding, without guessing what the chapter has not said.
A sensible hand: he speaks up about the tide, then obeys.
if we do, well miss the morning tide!
Aye, aye, sir, answered the cook, and touching his forelock, he disappeared at once in the direction of his galley.
A quick, watchful man: he sees the change the moment he is aboard and speaks up.
The cook came up the side like a monkey for cleverness
as soon as he saw what was doing, So ho, mates! says he. Whats this?
A strong answer Silver asks “Whats this?” the moment he sees the change, and worries about missing “the morning tide.” Then, told “My orders!”, he touches his forelock and goes below at once. That could show a sensible, obedient hand or a quick and watchful one. The chapter does not say which: the doctor calls him “a good man” and the captain answers only “Very likely.” A strong answer uses two pieces of evidence and stays with what the chapter says.