Treasure Island was first published in 1883 by author Robert Louis Stevenson. Within the novel, Jim Hawkins is a normal 12 year old until one day a mysterious pirate named Billy Bones shows up at his parent’s inn and brings along a slew of intriguing yet highly dangerous characters as they search for a mysterious treasure on-well-an Island. Two of these characters that Jim meets along the way are Captain Smollet and Long John Silver. These two characters play a major role in the novel but one is a better captain than the other.If this was a competition based on morals and principles, I think the victor would be quite clear, but what fun would that be in a novel that’s mainly about pirates and finding treasure. I believe that Long John Silver is the superior leader overall in this novel. Smollet and Silver could not be more different in terms of personality and morals. Both are strong leaders and important figures to Jim. Captain Smollet has a strong moral compass but to Silver the areas are …show more content…
Silver is known to change his tune whenever convenient for him. Examples include that despite his unwillingness to comply with Captain Smollots request of surrender twice earlier in the novel, once Livsey arrives at the supposed site of the treasure, he seemingly gives in to their requests to save himself at least for the time being. Silver knows just what to say or how to act within the moment. An example of this would be when the mutineers first get a hold of Jim, he dampens Jim’s faith in the opposing party by telling him that they have left him and that they are upset with him. Silver then begins to form a close bond with Jim by pretending to have each other’s back and by treating Jim as a friend instead of a hostage .This is intelligent because it furthers Jims trust towards Silver and the mutineers because he otherwise has none based on past experiences with