Treasure Island

What differences are in Long John Silver's behavior between the beginning and the end of the voyage?

What differences are in Long John Silver's behavior between the beginning and the end of the voyage?

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Many critics claims that Long John Silver is the novel's real hero, and not Jim Hawkins or Flint's treasure. Evidently, Robert Louis Stevenson agreed with this assessment, as he initially entitled this novel, "The Sea Cook." Throughout the novel, Long John Silver clearly possesses a dual personality (thus, many critics also view Long John Silver as a precursor to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde). It is thought that Silver combines two pirate characters that appear before Silver makes his appearance in this novel. First is Billy Bones, the blustering buccaneer who is basically good hearted and kind to Jim, and the blind beggar Pew, a deformed, apparently harmless but who is in fact very strong and extremely cool. At times, Silver shows extreme kindness and a paternal liking for the young narrator. At other times, however, Silver, although deformed like Pew, shows extreme brutality and cruelness in killing other sailors. Robert Louis Stevenson paints this character much more vividly than any of the "good" or "bad" characters and Long John Silver is not "good" or "bad" but rather a composite of both. By the end of the story, the reader is more sympathetic to Silver than at the beginning.

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