Essay On Treasure Island In The Eyes Of The Boy Code

Treasure Island in The Eyes of The Boy Code Now more than ever, our society is realizing that the idea of a classic children’s adventure tale is not only a moral lesson for the adolescent audience but also something to connect to in the wider scope of things. Treasure Island is a novel about coming of age, hard ship, and mutiny all while being told through the narration of a young boy, Jim Hawkins. As young Jim sets out on the adventure of a lifetime, we travel along side his journey not only for treasure, but also a journey for acceptance and understanding. Viewing Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale, connecting and analyzing it through William Pollock’s Boy Code poses a better understanding of all the characters and their position in the story. Through this critique it is important to consider that, “boys can rebel against them [the norms and stereotypes of being a man] and revise the code for boys and girls so that they can experience a broad range of feelings and behaviors.” (Pollack, 25) Accepting weakness and failure is now something people are getting used to and doing more often, however according to Pollack’s

Stevenson created a little boy that had the mind and confidence of the entire ship, which was brought out by the many events throughout the time on Treasure Island, and even though it was to his “inexpressible joy, [that] the highest rock of Treasure Island had sunk into the blue round of sea” (Robert L.S, 300) the journey made him out to be a likeable and emotional protagonist. Although Jim along side the rest of the characters, do not necessarily fit with the injunctions of Pollack’s Boy Code, they still progress and take their own steps to become a man. No matter who the reader may be, they will hopefully see that the gender norms are a choice; and choosing to deviate against them may be the best one of