Robert Louis Stevenson Kidnapped

Have you ever been kidnapped? Almost all of you would probably say no. But sometimes it would be interesting just to think about what you would do. In the novel “Kidnapped” by Robert Louis Stevenson, An 18 year old teenager named David Balfour is on a quest to recieve his father’s inheritance. However, his greedy uncle bribes a ship captain to take David on a ship, knock him out, and send him to sea. David makes friends with a war veteran who he protected after the ship crew tried to kill the veteran for his money. As the story goes on, David and his friend finally trek back to David’s town and find a lawyer to get his inheritance back. Although I agree with some of the things that David did during his capture, there would still be some different

For instance, when I realized I was being captured, I would’ve immediatly jumped into the water and scream for help. David stays on the boat just in shock. “I gave a piercing cry – "Help, help! Murder!" – so that both sides of the anchorage rang with it, and my uncle turned round where he was sitting, and showed me a face full of cruelty and terror.” (Stevenson 122). I would’ve not done this on the deck because it would attract attention of the crew. By jumping in the water, not only would I have more time to scream for help, but I would make it look like I’m drowning. By doing this I would attract even more attention to other ships nearby. Another instance that I would do differently is I would tell the captain about the boy’s mistreatment from Mr. Riach. “"Sit down!" roars the captain. "Ye sot and swine, do ye know what ye've done? Ye've murdered the boy!"” (Stevenson 148). Here we see that the captain was not notified of the boy’s abuse. The evil misconduct got so bad that Mr. Riach ended up killing the cabin boy. Even if I risked getting somewhat bossy over the captain, I still would’ve informed him about what was going on. During the scurmage between Alan and David with the crew, David decided to fight with pistols. Although I find his thought process behind this acceptable and wise, I still thing differently about the issue. “By this, my pistols were ready, and there was nothing to do but listen and wait” (Stevenson 189). We see how David has chosen to fight with pistols. I would’ve fought with a cutlass in one hand, and a pistol in the other. The reason I decided this is because I have some experience in fencing and have a talent in it. I also would possess a pistol in my hand in case I get in a bad situation and end up having to use it on someone. Additionally, these are standard sailors that have no experience in battle or any other type of fighting which makes it easier to take