Discussion Report, Group __________________ Reporter:__________________________

Others participating:
 
 
 

(Circle the number(s) of the question(s) your group chose)

1. Since this is a story of action, characters must either be stock figures, functional figures (like "extras" in movies), or individualized by external traits of action, speech, and appearance.  Which characters in Treasure Island fall into the last category, and what traits distinguish each? (Note that characters are often referred to by category: the squire, the captain, the one-legged man, the boy).

2. What are the effects of having Jim be the narrator of the story?  We are several times told about Jim's fear or horror; do we share his terrors or are we insulated from them?  What clues to the plot are provided or conveniently withheld by this narrative method (in contrast to an omniscient narrator)?  What is the time of the story, and why does that matter?  Would it make a difference if this book were presented as Jim's diary?

3. The action of this book has been called "cinematic" (and its characters "pictographic").  What aspects of setting and events lend themselves to visual representation?  This book has also been treated as simply an outline for a film---e.g., the Muppets' Treasure Island--as if it were a folk tale or generic myth.  Note that both Tom Sawyer and Jim Hawkins have clearly read books "like" Treasure Island without, of course, having read Treasure Island itself.  What are the elements of the treasure island "myth" that films and earlier books use?  Hint: start with what the introduction says was the item that caused Stevenson to write the book.

4. Several characters in the book affect the action by their own plots and plans--they intend to "write" the story.  But their plots cross and interfere with each other.  The major plotters are Captain Flint (the dead pirate, not the bird!), Long John Silver, and Mr. Trelawney.  Other characters interject short-term or abortive plans (Captain Bill, Pew, Jim himself, Captain Smollett, Ben Gunn).  At other times, these characters and others simply contribute to the action by chance, by carrying out orders, or by responding to situations as they arise.  Discuss what the major "plots" are and how their interactions, plus the other contributions, cause and change the major events in the novel.

5. Death is frequent in this novel.  Enumerate the important deaths in the book and discuss what effect they are likely to have on children's imaginations and values.

6. One life-lesson the novel teaches, not necessarily on purpose, is that "appearances are deceiving."  However, we can't just assume that no one's real character is revealed by how he looks and what he does.  How many examples can you find of deceptive appearances vs. examples where someone's appearance truly reveals his inner qualities?