Is long John silver the good guy or the bad guy?

There is a duality to Silver's character that makes labelling him "good" or "bad" difficult. 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.

As Stevenson implies, John Silver is actually a lot smarter and more "socially savvy" than most other buccaneers (why, he even initially fooled the inherently-distrustful and grimly-no-nonsense Captain Smollett into thinking that he was a good and honorable sailor --- Smollett later confesses to Squire Trelawney that he himself was just as big a fool as the Squire for being deceived by Silver's charm and good humor), in that he possesses patience, refinement, and restraint, and habitually tries to maintain a cheerful and friendly attitude towards everyone (even individuals who might be considered his enemies, like the captain, doctor, and squire), unlike his gluttonous, often-drunken, and instant-wealth-greedy colleagues who always feel resentful of authority and moderation, and are irritably impatient to get their hands on Captain Flint's treasure regardless of the circumstances or risks to their own safety that such rash actions would likely bring. The much-wiser and more-future-considering Silver also realizes that if he treats Jim Hawkins with respect and kindness, Jim might put in a good word for him if he ever "went up before the Assizes" --- i.e., was arrested and brought to trial for his piracy and other crimes against humanity. I think that it's also implied that Silver has taken a genuine liking to Jim, perhaps as a son that he never had. (This same feeling of comradery with a likeable younger male at least partially happens in the case of Black Dog, as well, in that he takes a liking to Jim, as he reminds him of his own son back home.) Perhaps the intimated idea here is that Silver --- while being a pirate in the general sense --- still possesses a sizable modicum of kindness and depth of personality, maybe even feeling somewhat longingly regretful of the path he has chosen in life, and is secretly sorrowful that he did not "settle down with a good woman and raise a family" the way he sees so many other apparently-more-contented folks doing.