Treasure Island Boyhood Analysis

Boyhood in 'Little Women ' and 'Treasure Island '

It is impossible to deal fully with boyhood as a fixed state of childhood without keeping in mind its historical or its cultural setting. Throughout history and across cultures, boyhood has been changing in order to adapt and fit in the changing society. Undoubtedly, it is closely related to ideas about masculinity since masculinity is what a boy is expected to become. It is also commonly associated with the idea of manhood, as the relationship between boyhood and adulthood is a chronological relationship, which means; one has to come after another. The idea of boyhood has been tackled in different places throughout centuries. In fact, it continues to change and adapt depending on the

This essay is going to discuss the competing models of boyhood presented in 'Little Women ' and 'Treasure Island '.

Alcott 's book is a conventional book which depicts the ideal role model for boys and girls in America at the time of the publication, which is the second half of the nineteenth century that follows the expectations of the patriarchal society. It might not seem that obvious, but Alcott has embedded some complex ideas about the role of the patriarchal society on boys in her book 'little women ' by bringing up Laurie 's stories. The patriarchal society has set its boundaries for boys as well as it did for girls. Since it is a girls ' book, many critics have focused on the effects and the role of the society on girls only, paying no attention to its vital role on boys as well. At the first part of the book, Alcott did not present Laurie as a role model boy since he was characterized by features which works on the contrary with what was believed to be an ideal boy. For instance, Laurie tried to resist and rebel against the society 's idea of the typical ideal model boy, as he tried hard to

During that era, masculinity was generally characterized as being: courageous, sharp, strong, adventurous, patriotic, morally flexible and individualistic. To represent a model English boy at that time; one has to support his country by maintaining the self-image of the supremacy of the English ego as a superpower, represent the identity of Englishness, and believe in his superiority in enlightening the rest of the world. These characteristics were very important for the benefit of the colonial society as they help imperialism to flourish and the imperial scheme to succeed. Stevenson 's protagonist 'Jim ' in particular, depicted an ideal example of a model boy in England at that time. This is due to the fact that Jim owns the qualities which make him a typical ideal boy that will benefit the imperialist scheme since they needed a courageous, adventurous, brave, responsible, sharp, manipulator, explorer and an imperial boy who would not fear representing the notion of Englishness. Although Jim 's character has been changing throughout the novel due to his moral growth, which follows the category of the Bildungsroman defined as "a story about the development of a youth into adulthood" (Poole: 261); However, he matures early on in the novel as he has