Do you think that Jim is happy or sad about the escape? Prove it.

I personally think Jim rather likes Silver and is glad for his escape. Some critics have questioned the moral lesson of letting Long John Silver get away with the money, but in some way this adds to the moral ambiguity that is present throughout this work. Having Robert Louis Stevenson let the arguable hero get away serves as a motivation for the book, for remember in both the conclusion and the introduction you remember that although Jim Hawkins has never seen or heard from Long John Silver again, he haunts his dreams until he is an adult. Thus, this also has implications on the father figure - although Jim was able to transcend the rest of the parental figures in the book, even becoming "Captain Jim," if only to Israel Hands, he is never able to transcend the mysterious, yet influential and helpful, Long John Silver.