1. Introduction
2. Biography of R.L. Stevenson
3. The main literary trends in England in the XIX century.
4. Contribution of Stevenson RL to literature.
5. Neo-romanticism R.L. Stevenson
6. The history of the creation of the novel "Treasure Island"
7. Feature of the story in the novel "Treasure Island"
8. Facts and Fiction in Treasure Island
9. The novel "Treasure Island" in Russia
10. Conclusion
11. Footnotes
12. References
Introduction.
The purpose of this course work is to analyze the work of the outstanding English writer of the 19th century, Robert Louis Stevenson. The work examines the points of contact of the writer's work with the general literary process, and also highlights the new that makes up his bright personality.
At the same time, we analyze the “biographical origins” of the formation of a special - own - creative method of R.L. Stevenson and tracing the creative dynamics of the writer. Particular attention is paid to the central and most famous work of the writer "Treasure Island" and the features of the narration in it. However, this work is analyzed in the context of the entire work of the writer.
The relevance of the topic is due to the peculiarity of the literary process in England in the 19th century.
In Great Britain in the last third of the 19th century, the effectiveness of the influence of the concept of "new imperialism" on the mass consciousness is largely explained not only by the deep and skilled study in the works of intellectuals and political practitioners, but also by its embodiment in an artistic form, in various genres of music and visual arts... Prose and poetry, filled with vivid and memorable images, their exotic flavor, sharp and intense compositions, exciting plots became effective means of establishing control over the psyche of ordinary British people. Thus, the basic theses of the concept of "new imperialism" were introduced into the Victorian system of values. Moreover, evolution artistic images rather accurately reflected the changing priorities of empire building, expansion and defense.
We also mean the wide distribution of entertainment, narrative literature.
For example, we know that many, now classics of world literature, often made compromises with the public and publishers, and wrote taking into account the market conditions.
It is also known that R.L. Stevenson originally published his novel "Treasure Island", which later brought him worldwide fame and the title of a classic, in the respectable children's magazine "Young Folks" among the banal, "mass", as they would now be defined, works.
Thus, we are talking, in our opinion, about the similarity of the situation of the existence of literature in England in the XIX century and the interests of the reading public. It is known that the public, in its reading habits, tends to be drawn to the exoticism of wanderings and adventures, or to science fiction, in order to forget about the frightening reality. And also to social literature in order to know and comprehend this reality.
And the basic aesthetic principle of the artistic version of the “new imperialism” was the principle of “courageous optimism” as the creative credo of neo-romanticism. This trend manifested itself in almost all genres of art as a challenge, on the one hand, to the Victorian routine of philistine vegetation, everyday life, hypocrisy and hypocrisy of the middle class, and, on the other, to the decadent decadent aestheticism of the intelligentsia. Neo-romanticism was oriented primarily towards a youthful audience, embodying "not a relaxed and painful, but a life-loving, bright outlook of a healthy youth." The neo-romantic heroes acted “by no means in a greenhouse environment; through a fascinating plot, they encountered extraordinary circumstances that required the exertion of all forces, energetic, independent decisions and action. The neo-romantic system of values \u200b\u200bwas characterized by opposition to spiritual inertia and moral patterns, the individual's need for independence, for self-realization, not limited by any everyday conventions. This is naturally associated with the values \u200b\u200bof spiritual and physical forces, manifested in the fight against a hostile outside world and in the victory over powerful and dangerous opponents.
One of the brightest and most complete expressions of the imperial system of values \u200b\u200bin England XIX was fiction, and especially those of her genres that were intended for youth. "New Romanticism" by R.L. Stevenson, J. Conrad, A. Conan - Doyle, R. Kipling, D. Henty, W. Kingston, R. Ballantyne and others embodied the moral credo of duty and self-sacrifice, discipline and faith, harmonious unity of fortitude and physical strength. The heroes of the "new romantics" are purposeful, ready for risk and struggle, full of a thirst for wandering and adventure. They sever ties with the world of monotonous and respectable philistine prosperity for the sake of the moral obligations of the imperial mission, for the sake of seeking deeds and glory.
In this work, we will try to emphasize the creative uniqueness of R.L. Stevenson, making his works relevant at all times.
And we will try to resolve the paradox of R.L. Stevenson, who in the reader's memory often turns out to be the author of one book. They call Stevenson's name and after him, as an exhaustive explanation of it, - "Treasure Island". The special popularity of "Treasure Island" in the school environment has strengthened the reputation of Stevenson's work as an open and very accessible book, and for its author - the fame of a literary man writing for youth. A similar circumstance prompts us to see in this novel, as in the work of Stevenson in general, a phenomenon that is simpler and rather narrow in meaning (adventure, fascination, romance) in comparison with its actual meaning, real meaning and impact. Meanwhile, it is known that the most complex knots of many literary problems on English soil converge both before and now to the work of R.L. Stevenson. Stevenson is the creator of such a "light" book as Treasure Island. To understand and understand the originality of Stevenson and its meaning, one must remember him - the author of many books other than "Treasure Island" and examine more closely the romance in creativity and, possibly, life.
Biography of R.L. Stevenson
STEVENSON, ROBERT LEWIS (Stevenson, Robert Louis (Lewis)) (1850-1894), English writer of Scottish descent. Born November 13, 1850 in Edinburgh, in the family of an engineer. When he was baptized, he received the name Robert Lewis Balfour, but in adulthood he abandoned it, changing his surname to Stevenson, and the spelling of the middle name from Lewis to Louis (without changing the pronunciation).
The biography of the writer was by no means similar to the life of his heroes - knights, pirates, adventurers. He was born into a family of hereditary civil engineers from an ancient Scottish clan. On the maternal side, he belonged to the old Balfour family. Childhood impressions, songs and fairy tales of his beloved nanny brought up in Robert a love for the past of his country, determined the choice of theme for most of his works: Scotland, its history and heroes. The only son of a family of hereditary engineers at the North Lighthouse, Stevenson grew up in an environment where he said every day one could hear "about shipwrecks, about reefs that stand like sentries along the coast ... about heather-covered mountain peaks."
From the age of three, the bronchial disease put the boy to bed, deprived him of his studies and games with his peers. Periodically repeated bleeding from the throat constantly reminds him of imminent death, taking the artist out of the hustle and bustle of everyday life into existential "borderline situations", to the fundamental principles of being. This disease tormented Robert from childhood until his death, making him feel disabled. “My childhood,” he wrote, “is a complex mixture of experiences: fever, delirium, insomnia, painful days and agonizing long nights. I’m more familiar with Bed Country than Green Garden. ”
But the involuntary settler of the "Land of the Bed" flared up a passion for life affirmation. So it was the fate of Stevenson that he, an aborigine of the "Country of Bed", was almost an eternal wanderer out of mental need and out of cruel need. He expressed his emotional need in the poem "The Tramp", in lines that sound like the motto:
“This is how I would like to live,
I need a little:
The vault of heaven, and the sound of the brook,
And the road too.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Death will come someday
In the meantime, he lives -
Let the earth bloom all around
Let the road wind. "
(Translated by N. Chukovsky)
She found a way out in romantic impulses and forms, which was facilitated by the vivid imagination of the child and the early, again, forced involvement in the "Land of Books".
“In my childhood and youth,” Stevenson recalled, “I was considered a lazy person and, as an example of a lazy person, they pointed their fingers at me; but I didn’t idle, I was constantly busy with my own concern - learning to write. I read, wrote in another. I went for a walk, and my brain diligently searched for the proper words for what I saw; sitting down by the road, I began to read or, taking a pencil and a notebook, took notes, trying to convey the features of the area, or I wrote down for memory the lines of poetry that struck me. So I lived with words. " Stevenson's notes were not made with a vague purpose, he was guided by a conscious intention to acquire skills, he was tempted by the need for skill. First of all, he wanted to master the skill of description, then dialogue. He composed conversations about himself, played roles, and wrote down successful remarks. And yet this was not the main thing in training: the experiments were useful, but in this way only "the lowest and least intellectual elements of art were mastered - the choice of an essential detail and the exact word ... The happier natures achieved the same natural instinct." The training suffered from a serious flaw: it was devoid of a measure and a model.
L.Yu. Fuchson
READING THE NOVEL BY R.L. STEVENSON'S TREASURE ISLAND
This article is an attempt to interpret the novel by RL Stevenson "Treasure Island". This interpretation, firstly, is based on the identification of the internal value and symbolic connections of the work. Second, the description of the figurative logic of Stevenson's novel leads to an elucidation of his adventurous artistic mechanism that provokes appropriate reader behavior.
Key words: R.L. Stevenson; adventure novel; postponement of the event; instability of life; way; concealment of a person.
The title of the book "Treasure Island" immediately promises a completely definite plot: you need to get to the island somehow, and the treasures appeal to search, extraction, revelation (which is clearly in the Russian translation word). Therefore, the reader is tuned in, firstly, to the journey, and secondly, to unraveling the mystery (opening the hidden). But along with such a plot, the title reveals a completely definite genre encoding of the adventure novel. So already by the name it is sometimes possible to identify the artistic language of the work that you begin to read. However, decoding a language is, although a necessary condition for understanding, but, of course, completely insufficient, since we are trying to understand mainly the message itself in this language. In addition, a fictional text is not so much a message as an appeal that puts the reader in the position of not just an addressee, but a response. Therefore, the very step from the sphere of ready-made (code) meanings into the sphere of occasional, specifically situational meaning requires special efforts to correlate the details of the text that appear on the reader's horizon and predetermine a completely unique experience that is relevant only for the novel being read.
Starting with the title itself, the work draws the line between the natural and artificial planes of existence. Treasure Island is not only a geographic point in natural space, but also a place of hidden treasure, because of which unnatural atrocities have been and continue to be committed. The following detail is characteristic in this regard: the body of the murdered pirate Allardyce is not interred, but is blasphemously used as a pointer to what the murder was for (as John Silver says, this is one of Flint's "jokes").
A number of unnatural (violent) deaths in the novel are accompanied by images of physical deformity: the blind Pew, the fingerless Black Dog, Billy Bons with a saber scar on his cheek, the one-legged Silver. All these are traces of a dashing robbery life, that is, an anti-natural trade of wealth. Therefore, physical deformity in Stevenson's work has a symbolic meaning of marks of deformity of the soul.
If you look at the novel from this point of view, then the meaning of some seeming, at first glance, insignificant details becomes clear. For example, the moment when "Hispaniola" swims up to the island (chapter XIII), the narrator describes as follows: "Our anchor rumbled, falling, and whole clouds of birds, circling and screaming, rose from the forest ..." (translated by N.K. Chukovsky). This detail points to the aforementioned border of nature and man, the live cries of birds and the metallic sounds of civilization that have not been heard here for a long time. And treasures, money are also metal, because of which blood is shed and because of which the whole voyage is performed.
It is no accident that the novel ends with the cry of Captain Flint's parrot, “Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! " (N.K. Chukovsky in his translation does not follow the path of literal correspondence, but poetically accurately conveys this expression: "Piastres! Piastres!"). We hear the same cry in Chapter X when John Silver speaks of the parrot's prediction of a successful swim. This is “Piastres! Piastres! " immediately gives out the meaning of the journey being undertaken. The unnatural background of the heroes' adventures is most acutely felt by the young storyteller, who admits that "at first sight he hated the Treasure Island" (Chapter XIII, translated by N.K. Chukovsky). Chapter XXXIV, describing in particular the arrival at the coast Latin AmericaJim Hawkins talks about the contrast between this charm of the place and the "dark, bloody island experience." And at the very end of Stevenson's novel, the narrator calls Treasure Island accursed.
The Hawkins boy's aversion to Treasure Island reveals the value boundary of natural naturalness and ugliness, the romance of travel and its selfish motive, the bold enterprise of man and the horror of villainy.
Throughout the entire work, the song of the pirates sounds several times:
Fifteen men on the dead man's chest -Yo - ho - ho, and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest -Yo - ho - ho, and a bottle of rum!
Let's make a reservation right away that in this case we are not interested in folklore or literary sources on which the author relied, but exclusively in the internal figurative connections of the novel, in its value-symbolic logic. This song, which Billy Bones sings at the beginning of the novel, is essentially about himself: after all, it is his chest that is mentioned here. Later, the reader learns about his death and that a whole gang is hunting for the chest ("15 people"). But at the same time, the "dead man's chest" is Flint's treasure. The image of the chest represents the image of treasures (hidden values) that we found in the title of the novel. "Dead" is both Billy Bones and Flint (who also died of rum: the devil "calmed him", as the song says. "Rest" here, of course, is a metaphor for death. N.K. Chukovsky translated it this way: " Drink, and the devil will bring you to the end ”).
Dead man's chest connects valuables with the danger of getting them. The chest seems to continue to belong to the dead and death itself. This also includes the already mentioned skeleton of the sailor killed by Flint, which is used as an indicator of the place of hidden treasures, a symbol of the entire journey. Skeleton Island is not just a topographical name; it represents the true essence of the treasure island. Such duality as the proximity of the valuable and the terrible, attractive and disgusting is the most important feature of an adventurous work.
With Billy Bons, the theme of the sea comes into the novel, slightly revealed by the title. Already the description of his appearance is saturated with marine details. This image and the maritime theme itself are ambivalent: they unite the opposite experiences of all characters (and the reader). The "Captain" brought excitement to a quiet country life. And this excitement is twofold. For the couch potato, accustomed to a steady, calm life, this excitement tends to fear, and visitors to the Admiral Ben Bowe were frightened by his stories. But the same excitement in each of them awakens the traveler and indicates the attractiveness of another - wide open - world, the vastness of the unsteady (fluttering) sea, filled with adventures of life.
Jim Hawkins, who is paid by the "captain" to spy on the one-legged sailor and who has nightmares, admits: "My fourpence was dear to me." This situation is constantly repeated: the price of money is danger, risk. Fourpence is a compensation for Hawkins's terrible dreams, similar to the fact that in the "dead man's chest" from the song, which hides the entire plot of the novel, treasures (map) and fear (death) are combined. The same ambivalent neighborhood is observed in the episode where Jim's mother, next to the corpse of Billy Bones, deducts money from his debt. Fear and curiosity are combined in the description of the feelings of different characters, but most often - Jim Hawkins, which is explained by his central position in the plot and the role of the narrator (this also includes his young age - both adventurism and fear). Moreover, curiosity associated with danger sometimes turns out to be salutary, which is shown, for example, by the episode with the barrel (Chapter XI), where it is no coincidence that there is a single apple at the bottom (a terrible truth overheard by Jim). Or the capture of the ship by the hero after the escape at the end of the fifth part.
The moment of recognition, exposure of the pirates in the episode at the barrel coincides with the shout of "Earth!", And also with the fact that a ray of moonlight hit the barrel where Hawkins was hiding. This chronological intersection is significant: the acquisition of the firmness of the soil, the replacement of darkness by light, and ignorance by knowledge - all this is a single, symbolically multidimensional event. Here, as always, the symbolic, and at the same time the value nature of the elements of the artistic world, in fact, forces (and also directs) the efforts of interpretation. Water and earth in Stevenson's work (like all adventure literature in general) mean different attitudes and conditions of a person, and not just purely topological characteristics. For example, the title of Chapter XXIII (“The Ebb-tide Runs”) was read by the translator (N.K. Chukovsky) as “In the power of the low tide”. The literal accuracy is not observed here, but the translation is quite consistent with the spirit of the chapter and the entire book, since it echoes those numerous situations where recklessness, the spiritual analogue of the physical substance of water, wins. The ebb tide carries the hero, surrendered to the power of circumstances, in an uncontrollable shuttle directly to the Hispaniola (XXIII). This and the next chapters of Jim Hawkins' adventures at sea ("My Sea Adventure") are a concentration of images of instability, uncontrollability of the situation. The element of water in the world of the work is indisputably dominant, and so much so that even the earth in an adventure novel loses its usual characteristics of stable reliability. Therefore, the adventures of Jim Hawkins on the shore ("My Shore Adventure") demonstrate the same as at sea, a precarious, desperate situation and the hero's loss (entirely lost), when, for example, he mentally says goodbye to his friends (end of Chapter XIV).
The images of the Roma are related to the theme of water as a substance of insecurity and recklessness. Rum is symbolically equated with the sea, as a man is with a ship, for example, in the plea of \u200b\u200bBilly Bons in Chapter III: "... if I" m not to have my rum now I "ma poor old hulk on a lee Shore" ("if I will not drink rum now, I will be like a poor old vessel thrown ashore by the wind ”). Rum - crazy, devilish water ("Drink and the devil had done for the rest") - is an analogue of the recklessness and riskiness of a sea voyage. Rum destroys heroes as well as the sea. Moreover, madness here merges with insensibility: ".buccaneers were as callous as the sea they sailed on" - pirates are insensitive, "like the sea on which they sail" (XXIII).
Water (sea) equals death in another pirate song:
But one man of her crew alive, What put to sea with seventy-five.
The emphasis in the novel of the substance of water, and with it the instability, uncertainty of a person's position in the world, generates not only images of death, fear, loneliness, etc., but, on the other hand, the experience of unlimited personal freedom. initiative, looking for luck.
The expression "gentlemen of fortune", referring to pirates, against the background of the gentlemen themselves (Dr. Livesey, Squire Trelawney, Captain Smollett) has an important meaning in the novel. Already the clash of Billy Bons and Dr. Livesey in the first chapter of the novel represents not just the opposition of a gentleman and a gentleman of fortune, but also a whole series of related opposites: law and robbery; reason and recklessness; calculating and betting on a case, luck; order and chaos; the stability of the coast and the waves of the sea; houses and ways. However, an essential closeness arises between gentlemen and gentlemen of fortune in an adventure novel, the connection (with all the difference in the motives of their actions) is a moment of adventurism. In admiration of young visitors to "Admiral Benbow" Billy Bons ("true sea-dog", "real old salt" - I), in Squire Trelawney's delight from the team recruited by Silver ("toughest old salts" - VII); Hawkins' sympathy for Silver, who turned out to be "the most interesting companion" (VIII), - in all this there is an archetype of pernicious temptation. It is clear that different things seduce the hero-adventurers. But in this way the concept of treasure acquires a complex, symbolic meaning. "Treasures" in the novel mean not only money, but also those personal qualities of a person that are usually hidden in the stability of existence and are revealed only in the face of danger, when a person can rely only on himself.
The adventurous mood captures even such a "sane" hero of the novel as Dr. Livesey. But especially Squire Trelawney, the greatest adventurer. Trelawney becomes more like a child than even the boy Jim Hawkins, who notices, reading the squire's letter, that the doctor will not like his talkativeness. For example, in a hired boatswain, the squire is primarily attracted by the fact that he "knows how to whistle signals on the boatswain's pipe." Jim also likes this (end of Chapter VII). But where young Hawkins doubts, there Squire Trelawney reveals perfect innocence and naivety. His letter ends with an expression of impatience to hit the road quickly: “Seaward, ho! Hang the treasure! It "s the glory of the sea that has turned my head" (VII) ["At sea! Spit on the treasures! The splendor of the sea is why my head is spinning."] Only its opposite, Captain Smollett, is completely immune to the poetry of travel. Therefore, at first he does not develop a relationship with either the squire or Hawkins. He is a man of duty, therefore “favorite” is a swear word for him. The captain does not play a sailor, but is a sailor, and the sea itself is a space of hard work for him. His adult and thus completely prosaic mood reminds of the danger of the enterprise for which he takes responsibility. We see that the image of Captain Smollett is constructed as a contrast to the romance of adventure. adult characters and childish carelessness. The latter is very essential for an adventure novel. Even Georg Simmel brought the phenomenon of adventure closer to play (the search for luck), as well as to youth1 ... The reader of "Treasure Island" is carried away by the narration on the border of children's and adult attitudes and is, in fact, forced to pay tribute to both sides of the dual situation of the novel. Stevenson's work is sometimes referred to as children's literature. It was not without reason that before the release of a separate book it was published in parts in the children's magazine "Young Folks", and was also translated into the USSR by the publishing house "Children's Literature". This is partly justified by the novel's very appeal to that childhood experience of opening up the horizon of yet unrealized possibilities, to which the adult reader must also become involved, returning to the dizzying sensation of freedom inherent in the rise of life.
For the plot of the journey, the collision of the house and the path is important, which in the novel "Treasure Island", as we have already noted, is connected with the opposite of land and water. The inn "Admiral Benbow", from the image of which the story begins, is related to both of these substances. A tavern is a place for a passer-by, a casual visitor, but at the same time you can settle here. In other words, this is the border of the house of Jim Hawkins and the path along which the old sailor comes here, and with him - the mystery itself. For Hawkins, his father's inn is home. Billy Bones, who stopped at the Admiral Benbow, applies a purely nautical definition to it: berth (anchorage, pier). Or: "Silence, there, between decks!" (translated by N.K. Chukovsky: "Hey, there, on the deck, be silent!"). In Chapter III, Billy Bones says: "... aboard at the Admiral Benbow" (aboard the Admiral Benbow). The opposition of topological definitions (house - ship) here represents the opposition of the attitudes of a couch potato and a sailor.
Since the substances of instability and stability in the adventure novel, as already noted, are unequal, the image of the house here is only a frame for the plot-path.
In the center, starting with the title of the novel, there is an image of treasures, and the person in the world of the work also carries something hidden, a secret. These include, for example, Captain Smollett's deceptive first impression on the squire and Hawkins, or the extravagance and unpredictability of Jim Hawkins. The character of the character in the novel "Treasure Island" is built not as changing, but as revealing something hidden. Such a "treasure" may be courage (old Tom Redruth, whom Hawkins despised at the beginning, dies like a hero) or an undead nature (Abraham Gray). On the other hand, the cunning, duplicity of pirates is revealed. Captain Smollett confesses that the team managed to deceive him (XII). The most terrible of pirates "softly lays down", as N.K. Chukovsky conveyed the phrase: "Silver was that genteel"; he is good-natured and cheerful, but Billy Bones and Flint himself were afraid of him. The first part of the novel is called "The Old Buccaneer", while the first chapter is "The Old Sea-dog at the Admiral Benbow" ("The Old Sea-wolf in Admiral Benbow"). The title of the chapter, in contrast to the more frank title of the part, introduces the point of view of the visitors of the inn, as well as Hawkins himself, who did not yet know that Billy Bones was a pirate. Already such a discrepancy in names outlines a dual image of a man, whose villainous essence seems to be hiding behind the appearance of a brave sailor.
The discovery of a secret can be considered a general, abstract formula for constructing an artistic object and the words of the novel "Treasure Island", which predetermines a particular reading behavior. Let's take a closer look at the episode in Chapter VI. Before opening the package of papers from Billy Bons' chest, which is impatient for all three characters, and with them - and the reader, there is a retardation - a conversation about Flint. The most important moment, in my own words, is being delayed - the revelation of the hidden: the "dead man's chest" hides the bundle, about which it is said that it was sewn together. The bundle, in turn, hides the map of the island. But the card also hides, because it needs decoding, and so on. Thus, the emphasis is placed on discovery as overcoming a whole series of obstacles, which, in fact, unfolds the work as a whole precisely due to the continuing postponement of the final disclosure. The full disclosure of the treasures therefore signifies an essential (and not accidental) end to the novel. We are dealing in this case with treasures as an aesthetic value, since with the disappearance of secrecy (concealment) the novel itself ends.
The given episode of the work shows its entire artistic mechanism. Retardation is not just one of the properties of an adventure text - it is the way it is constructed, as well as the way it is read. In Chapter XXX, Dr. Livesey gives the map to the pirates, which surprises Hawkins, who does not yet know that Ben Gunn has already hidden the treasures. Thus, the disclosure of the secret is again postponed. Since the narration is conducted on behalf of Hawkins, then for him, as well as for the pirates in whose captivity he is (XXXI-XXXII), the card retains its power, as for the reader at that time. Therefore, the reader's horizon of anticipation of discovery overlaps with the horizon of the characters.
Speaking about chivalric novels and implying adventure literature in general, H. Ortega y Gasset makes the following remark: “We neglect the characters that are presented to us for the way they are presented to us”. Stevenson's novel fully supports this idea. Here the characters are interesting only insofar as they are relevant to the event. For example, chapter XXVI is called Israel Hands, which seems to indicate its main subject. However, the reader by this point already knows about the boatswain's treachery and duplicity, so the chapter's interest is focused not just on who Israel Hands is, but on the way he appears to be. The adventurous hero, as Bakhtin accurately put it, "is not a substance, but a pure function of adventures and adventures." It is precisely how the hero will act and what it will lead to that is the subject of the description. And here, as in the rest of the novel, revelation struggles with concealment and is thereby delayed. Hands sends Jim off deck to hide his intention to arm himself with a knife; Hawkins, in turn, unraveling the boatswain's cunning, pretends not to suspect anything, and watches him. But as soon as one trick is revealed, it is immediately replaced by another, when Israel Hands verbally admits defeat, and then makes a last attempt to kill Hawkins, who has lost his vigilance. Losing vigilance in this case means being in the illusion of finality of revelation.
Thus the outcome of the event is constantly postponed; so the reader, seemingly fully understanding who is who, gets involved in how one trick collides with another. The event of revelation is realized as a delayed event due to the active, phased concealment. Thus, the reader is placed in a position of anticipation, an intense expectation of each subsequent incident.
Retardation is often explained psychologically as maintaining the reader's interest. And this, apparently, is the correct interpretation, but not the most profound, since it remains unclear why the postponed event is more interesting than the immediate one. In anticipation of an event at the place of its immediate experience, there is an openness of the horizon of possibilities that unites the hero and the reader. An event in the status of the possible and the supposed requires from the reader quite special mental efforts, other than an event in the status of actual and, so to speak, taken into account. In this latter case, the reading horizon is closed by a hopeless "already" with which nothing can be done. An event that has come true is radically different from an event that is coming true and is about to come true. Retardation as a postponement brings the event to the question posed to the reader. The reader falls into his sphere of influence. Therefore, it is not so much a matter of psychological characteristics the experience of the event — already and the event — still, but in the special architectonics of the expected event that is in question, as well as in the special image of the world and man - as opening up.
The expectation of a life (narrated) event is, at the same time, the realization of the aesthetic event of narration. It is this expectation, which gradually comes true when the story is actively inhibited, that is the particularly exciting nature of the adventure novel.
1 See: G. Simmel, Selected Works. T. 2.M., 1996. P. 215.
2 Ortega y Gasset H. Aesthetics. Philosophy of culture. M., 1991.S. 126
3 Bakhtin M.M. Coll. cit .: in 7 volumes.Vol. 2.M., 2000.S. 72
3.049. Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island
Robert Louis Stevenson
(1850-1894)
The English writer who left his mark on almost all literary genres, literary critic, poet, founder of neo-romanticism, author of the famous works "The Strange Story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", "Black Arrow", "The Adventures of Prince Florizel", "Suicide Club", "Raji Diamond", "Shipwrecked", "Kidnapped "," Katriona "," The Master of Ballantre "and others, Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) is best known for his adventure novel, which brought him worldwide fame," Treasure Island "-" Treasure Island "(1881-1883).
"Treasure Island"
(1881-1883)
The writer was inspired to create "Treasure Island" by D. Defoe's novel "Robinson Crusoe"; from it he took Captain Flint's parrot. Stevenson raved about this book since childhood. “Sooner or later, I was destined to write a novel. Why? An idle question ", - the writer recalled at the very end of his life in the article" My first book - "Treasure Island".
Written according to the canons of an adventure novel, this work has become a set of common nouns and “ catch phrases":" Treasure Island "," John Silver "," Captain Flint "," Hispaniola "," Admiral Benbow "," Fifteen Men for a Dead Man's Chest, / Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum "," Piastra! Piastres! " etc.
The book can be safely recommended not only to adolescents who are thinking with whom they would make their lives and who want to quickly find out that evil and vice threaten retribution, and good is supposed to be rewarded, but also to university students as study guide on finance turnover.
The novel was born out of the game. “One Chilly September Day” in 1881, to amuse his twelve-year-old stepson Lloyd Osborne, Stevenson drew a map of Treasure Island, marked Spyglass Hill, Skeleton Island, drew bays and coves and began to tell its story. The stepson became the prototype of the protagonist, and the writer dedicated his novel to him. He "copied" the image of Silver from his friend, co-author on a number of plays, W. Henley, and borrowed the details of everyday life from E. Poe, A. Dumas, V. Irving and other writers.
“I found the right course of the narrative,” Stephenson rejoiced, “and I will prove that Dumas in vain muted the treasure hunt in his Monte Cristo; the most interesting thing is the search, not what happened next. We know that money spoils a person, and therefore I am only for the first half of one of the strongest passions. The second is almost always immoral, always devoid of an educational, moral element. "
At first, the novel was called "The Ship's Cook". Stevenson wrote a chapter daily and read it to family and friends in the evening. A number of details suggested by the audience were included in the book. Treasure Island was published in Young Folks magazine in 1881-82. under the pseudonym "Captain George North". The publication went unnoticed, but when the novel came out as a separate edition under the author's real name in 1883, 1884 and 1885, it became a bestseller.
"Treasure Island" is not a "pure" invention of Stevenson. The writer drew many facts from the notes. famous pirates G. Morgan, F. Drake and others. The place of action of the novel, according to researchers, was the island of Pinos, located 70 km south of Cuba. Pinos with its nature, coves and mountains, small islands and pine forests, as well as the remains of a log fort and a cave exactly coincides with Stevenson's Island. Pinos has been a haven for pirates for over 300 years. Hundreds of pirates have visited Treasure Island (as it was called already in the 20th century) for 300 years, and hundreds of treasure hunters are now looking for their treasures.
In the 18th century, when the novel takes place, there were still quite a few gentlemen of fortune, whose names give goosebumps. And from the description of their appearance, you really want to crawl under the bed.
Time has preserved many glorious nicknames of corsairs, one of which - Blackbeard - was worn by the famous Edward Teach, who became the prototype of Captain Flint. Flint, who is now and then remembered by the characters of the novel, has become the dark background of the book and almost its main character, a kind of invisible pirate.
In life, Blackbeard was a two-meter-long fellow of extraordinary strength and enviable fearlessness, a deserved master of boarding attacks. Half of his torso, from eyes to waist, was occupied by a black beard. Before boarding, the pirate drank a mixture of rum and gunpowder on the road, set fire to the fuses woven into his beard and, thrusting a dozen loaded pistols into his pockets, with a sword in his hand, covered in smoke and with eyes burning like the devil, jumped onto the deck of a foreign ship, carrying behind a perfectly played team. This impressed all the participants in the action. In any case, the name of the pirate, pronounced in vain, instilled sacred terror in the inhabitants and robbers. Captain Flint enjoyed exactly the same fame as his successor, even after his death.
So, all the characters in the novel went in search of the treasure buried by the late Flint on Treasure Island.
The story was told on behalf of Jim Hawkins, whose quiet life in the Bristol tavern "Admiral Benbow" (he was the son of the hostess) was interrupted by pirate "showdowns". The innkeeper Billy Bones was mortally afraid of a certain sailor on a wooden leg. After a fight with the intruder Black Dog, he had a stroke of apoplecticism, and he told Jim that he served as navigator for Captain Flint and that his former "colleagues" were hunting the contents of his sailor's chest. Soon, the blind man Pew came to see Bill, who handed him a black mark, testifying to the seriousness of the bandits' intentions. Bons's heart broke down. Without waiting for the robbers, Jim hastened to take from the dead man's chest the money owed for the stay. Together with the money, he took from the chest and some kind of package.
The package contained a map of Treasure Island. Jim gave it to Dr. Livesey and Squire Trelawney. The gentlemen were not a mistake themselves and decided to go for the treasure. Trelawney phoned in Bristol about his plans, bought the schooner "Hispaniola" and hired captain Smolett and a team, which later turned out to be made up of notorious thugs. The one-legged owner of the "Spyglass" tavern, John Silver, of whom Billy Bones was so afraid, helped to hire the crew. Silver was taken on the ship as a cook, and Jim as a cabin boy.
When the Espanyola approached Treasure Island, Jim overheard the cook's conversation with the sailors, from which he learned that almost all of them are pirates, and their leader Silver was Flint's quartermaster. The robbers were going to find treasures, and then finish off all the "outsiders". Jung told his friends about Silver's idea, and they worked out their own alternative plan.
However, Silver's plan was almost violated by the pirates themselves, who decided to riot ahead of time. Captain Smollett asked the cook to calm down his friends and relax with them on the shore. Leaving accomplices on the schooner, Silver and the pirates went to the island. Jim jumped into one of the boats, and immediately ran away as soon as the boat landed on the shore.
On the island, he met Ben Gun, who had been abandoned by the pirates three years earlier for persuading them to embark on an unsuccessful search for Captain Flint's treasure. Ben Gun was ready to help Jim and his friends and provide his boat.
At this time, the captain, doctor, squire and several other people on the skiff fled from the ship and took refuge in a log house behind a palisade. Seeing the British flag over the fort, Jim hurried to his friends. To seize the map, the pirates launched an attack repulsed by the garrison. Jim left the fort without permission and went to the Espanyola in Ben Gun's boat.
One of the two pirates who guarded the ship was killed in a drunken fight, and the second, wounded, in pursuit of the cabin boy, fell off the yard and died. Jim took the ship to a secluded bay, after which he returned to the fort. However, there he found pirates, and if not for the intercession of Silver, they would have dealt with him.
Kok understood perfectly well that the game was lost, and Jim became his only saving trump card. Soon Dr. Livesey gave Silver the map, promising him to save him from the gallows.
The shocked pirates found an empty pit instead of a treasure and almost got rid of the cook and the boy - well, they were rescued by the doctor, squire and K ;. As it turned out, Ben Gan had already dragged Flint's gold into his cave for a long time.
Having loaded the treasures on "Hispaniola", "ours" went home, and the pirates were left on the island. In one of the ports, Silver fled, taking a bag of gold coins. The rest made it to Bristol and shared the values \u200b\u200b"justly."
The novel has been translated into many languages. It was first published in Russian in 1886. The best translation was made by N.K. Chukovsky, although he suffers from some inaccuracies in the naming of naval and ship terms.
There are dozens of screen versions of Treasure Island. In our country, three feature films and one cartoon were shot.
Reviews
Thank you for discovering the Robinson Crusoe analogy. Ben Gun is, of course, Crusoe himself. His surname is suspiciously similar to the name of the cruzeiro currency. "Fifteen Men Per Dead Man's Chest" is kind of like a real old song. I heard it in English, on the credits of one film. Although it may be stylization. The song was not at all funny. but very sad. Of the film adaptations, the Soviet cartoon with famous songs is inimitable, which went into perestroika, apparently in order to prepare children for the dashing nineties to come. Well, and a three-part film, after which I found it impossible to accept any other John Silver. It was the same with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Only Livanov and Solomin.
The writing
and easy, with careful reading it becomes multifaceted and meaningful. Its adventurous plot, despite the tradition of the theme - this is a tale about pirates, adventures at sea - is original.
To the young hero "Treasure Islands" Jim Gawkins has to independently navigate in difficult circumstances under adverse conditions, take risks, strain his brain and muscles. You have to make a moral choice, to defend a life position. Jim and his friends meet pirates. These are real marauders, the embodiment of predatory cunning. Jim in their midst is "treasure island". And the deep meaning of his adventures is to manifest real treasures in himself,
Stevenson praises the romantic inspiration of feelings, but does not isolate these high feelings from the real ground. He is attracted by complex characters, spiritual disagreements and contrasts. One of the brightest characters is the one-legged ship's chef John Silver. He is cunning, evil, cruel, but at the same time smart, cunning, energetic and dexterous. Him psychological picture complex and controversial, yet convincing. With great force of artistic expression, the writer shows the moral essence of man. Stevenson sought to "teach people joy" with his works, proving that such "lessons should sound cheerful and inspired, should strengthen courage in people." After all, many young romantics dream of finding their own treasure island ...
Other compositions on this work
My reflections on the character and actions of Jim Hawkins (based on the novel by R. Stevenson "Treasure Island") Clarifications to RL Stevenson's Novel Treasure IslandIn search of treasures
"Treasure Island". Is an interesting and exciting book, imbued with the spirit of adventurism and pirate romance. The main character of the book is the boy JIM, the son of a simple innkeeper. But thanks to him, his fearless and sometimes reckless actions, the main characters get to the treasure island. DOCTOR LIVsey is a true gentleman. SQUIRE JOHN TRELONI is a rich, kind and trusting chatterbox. CAPTAIN SMOLLETT is a real Captain with a capital letter. PIRATES are narrow-minded and greedy people hungry for easy money.
But JOHN SILVER with his parrot FLINT is a real gentleman of luck. Despite all his insidious plans and actions, for some reason he is very popular with all the readers of the novel. He is smart, cunning, always trying to turn the situation in his favor. No wonder that not only BILLY BONES was afraid of him, but also the captain FLINT himself. At the same time, from the whole team of pirates, it is he who manages to sail away from the treasure island in the company of his yesterday's enemies, and then also escape with the money, lulling the guard's vigilance. He is not characterized by excessive cruelty, rather, he simply acts according to circumstances. He knows how to calculate the situation and always remains on the side of the winner. He knows how not only to make money, but also to manage it wisely. All of Captain FLINT's associates drank and spent all the money obtained by piracy. BLIND DRINK was begging and begging. BILLY BONES lived on debt from an innkeeper. And only the one-legged pirate had his own tavern "Spyglass" and money in banks, which brought a steady income.
Vovk Andrey, 7 "B" class
RL Stevenson "Treasure Island »
Treasure Island is an incredibly addictive book that can be read without interruption. The intrigue is preserved until the very end, and you are in constant tension and, it seems, you yourself find yourself in the center of events along with the main characters. Treasure Island is a wonderful book, a true classic of the adventure genre that will certainly interest anyone who is not indifferent to adventure. This work, which has long become a classic, never ceases to amaze and attract new readers to the exciting world of adventure. The book can be read over and over again without getting bored. It will be interesting for a reader of any age. Treasure Island to this day gives us a sea of \u200b\u200badventurism and satisfies the thirst for adventure that we so lack in the modern world.
All those who love adventure, of course, read the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson "Treasure Island". From the beginning to the end, all the events of the novel keep the reader in suspense. Sincerely worried about the beloved characters, sometimes frost ran down my back.
Lukmanova Vika, 7 "B" class
Review of the book: "Treasure Island"
The Treasure Island book made a deep impression on me. I met this author when I first read this work, but now I can say with confidence that I will continue to read the books of this author. I read this book, as they say: "in one sitting", this adventure is so exciting that it is impossible to stop for a minute. At school I love geography, and for me personally, this story has become the embodiment of all that unimaginable that can happen in such a brave adventure.
This story tells us about adventures of brave heroes who had to face a gang of pirates in pursuit of treasures hidden on a desert island by Captain Flint. The story is told by Jim, a daring boy in the past, who tells us about his difficult journey. How aboutone day an unusual guest settled in a tavern owned by the boy's father, how he and his mother saved the documents of this person completely incomprehensible to them, how this boy and Dr. Livesey ventured out in search of treasures. Not suspecting anything dangerous, the admiral hires a gang of pirates on the ship. Upon arrival on the island, everything becomes clear, and the goodies learn a terrible secret, thanks to the same boy Jim. Then both those and others understand that without each other they cannot get out of the island. A lot of incredible things happen on the island: you meet a person who has lived on the island for a long time, several people die, and in the end everything falls into place. Good triumphs over evil.
The outstanding hero for me in this work is the young cabin boy. So young, but already seen the world. He could fight back any pirate, and he could not oppose anything. Not knowing the outcome of this or that situation, he always came out the winner. This boy was a real hero for all sailors.
Ustinov Egor, 8 "A" class
Robert Louis Stevenson "Treasure Island"
book review
Roman R.L. Stevenson's Treasure Island is one of the best adventure stories ever. But besides traveling and exciting adventures, the book also reveals moral problems - decency and meanness, loyalty and betrayal, nobility and baseness.
I consider such a high assessment of the book to be fair, because:
Adolescents at all times are concerned with the topic of long-distance travel and risky adventures. Pirates have always been a no less exciting theme for boys and girls. "Treasure Island" combines a long sea voyage, and new mysterious lands, and the secrets of pirate treasures.
The heroes of the book are characters of very different characters. Jim Hawkins is an inquisitive, courageous and honest boy who sometimes acts recklessly and will never agree to a mean or mean act. Dr. Livesey is a noble, cold-blooded and judicious gentleman. Squire Trelawney is a silly, but kind and honest man. Captain Smollett is a straightforward, honest and brave sailor. John Silver, despite the fact that he is a pirate hunting for treasure, is still not bloodthirsty, and at the very end of the novel he repented of his crimes. Ben Gunn is a former pirate who has embarked on a path of correction and deserves forgiveness.
One of the main ideas of the novel "Be brave and honest in any conditions." Only courage and bravery save Jim from the most desperate situations. Any deception will sooner or later be revealed and will not bring any benefit, only honest deeds can lead a person to achieve his goal.
The novel is written in the first person, on behalf of the boy - the main character of the adventure. This manner of presentation immerses the reader in the described world. Every teenager reading this novel easily imagines himself in the place of Jim Hawkins.
Treasure Island not only quenches the thirst for adventure, but also teaches you to remain noble in any situations, not to lose your “human face” even in “inhuman” conditions.
IV... I can recommend reading this book to my peers who do not want to sit at the computer, but want to see the world.
Kiryanova Daria, 7c grade
Review of the book: "Treasure Island"I read the wonderful book Treasure Island by Robert Stevenson. This is the first work of this author that I have read. After reading this work, I became interested in the biography of this writer. From literature I learned that he was born on November 13, 1850 in Edinburgh,
in the family of a hereditary engineer, lighthouse specialist. At baptism he received the name Robert Lewis Balfour. He studied first at the Edinburgh Academy, then at the Faculty of Law at the University of Edinburgh, from which he graduated in 1875. He traveled a lot, although since childhood he suffered from a severe form of tuberculosis. The novel "Treasure Island" brought world fame to the writer.
This work is a classic example of adventure literature.The book, at first glance, is simple and easy, with careful reading it becomes multifaceted and multi-valued.
Stevenson celebrates the romantic inspiration of the senses. He is attracted by complex characters, spiritual disagreements and contrasts. One of the most striking characters is the one-legged ship's chef John Silver. He is cunning, cruel, but at the same time smart, cunning, energetic and dexterous. His psychological profile is complex and contradictory, but convincing. With great power of artistic expressionwriter shows the moral essence of a person. Stevenson sought with his works to "teach people joy", arguing that such "lessons should sound cheerful and inspired, should strengthen courage in people."
In my opinion, this work should be read by every student, maybe even in earlier grades than we learn, because it excites the imagination about a mysterious island, pirates, treasures and at the same time makes you choose between good and bad, teaches you to understand actions and relationships of people.
Prokhorova Nastya, 7 "B" class
Review of the book "Treasure Island" by R.L. Stevenson
I read a book in which the protagonist is a teenager embroiled in a dangerous treasure adventure. I liked this character because during the whole trip he showed ingenuity, courage, loyalty to his friends and faith in them. I would like to have such a friend in our time.
While reading the book, I drew attention to the life and life of different estates of those times, united in this work. How much that life was different from our modern days. It was possible to embark on a journey across the endless seas, without having the opportunities that are now. I am amazed at the courage of the people of that time. You involuntarily realize the importance of knowledge and skills of every person on the ship - from the captain to the cabin boy. And let the team mainly consisted of pirates - illiterate people, greedy for profit, murderers, but nevertheless, they knew well their main business of life - the sea.
Despite the fact that the book was written so long ago, it was interesting for me to read it. The storytelling style itself was difficult for me, since nowadays we are used to clearer and faster actions through films and computer games. This work is very different from the films we are used to about pirates. But for those who love history and adventure, I think they will love it.
Shcherbakova Daria, 8 "b" class