This map has also started a trend for other authors. Some authors especially those who write adventure stories will draw maps of the world they have created in order to guide the reader throughout the story.
Finding a dead pirates treasure is an adventure indeed. The person with the map would be the only one to be able to find it.
Ben Gun being marooned on the Island was a good way to find the Treasure in the end of the book. Pirates really did maroon men on Islands as punishment.
Pirates generally did not have treasure map's. They may have had a map to navigate, but it was Robert Louis Stevenson who created the fictional treasure map and the saying "X marks the spot."
The "Black spot" was possible created by Robert Louis Stevenson as well. Although it could fit in with how superstitious pirates really were.
The Hispaniola is based on the ships used during the golden age of piracy.
The story Treasure Island has been retold in films by many film makers. Disney's first film which was not animated was Treasure Island It was released in 1975 with all the violent scenes omitted, so it could be rated G. Later in 1981 it was released on video with all the deleted scenes and was rated PG. Bobby Driscoll Played Long John Silver. The movie kept to the book as best as it could.
Jim Henson films also made a Muppet movie called Muppet Treasure Island in 1996. It's a hilarious rendition of the well loved novel. Featuring our well loved Muppet characters. Rizo the rat and Gonzo are orphans who travel along with Jim Hawkins. Billy Bones is played by Billie Connelly who makes the death of Billie bones Hilarious the last thing he say's to Jim is "..and whatever you do never run with scissors..."and Long John Silver is played by Tim Curry and Polly is played by a lobster Muppet. Tim Curry is the voice of many Disney villains. The movie is full of song and dance numbers such as "Cabin Fever" and has a sub plot about rats who think they are going on a Caribbean cruise. Ben Gunn is none other than Miss Piggy who was in love with Captain Smulet who is played by Kermit the Frog. This film was made to entertain children and it has a bit of the story in it, so it does not not go too off plot.
Robert Louis Stevenson He had been sickly from a young age and had travelled to find a place that would not affect his health. He married an American woman. was 30 years old when he started writing Treasure Island.
The whole idea came to him when he was playing with his twelve year old stepson Lloyd Osbourne. Lloyd was painting, so Stevenson joined him. He started off by drawing a map.
Stevenson then created names for all the places on the map. The characters were born through Stevenson's imaginations and with the help of Lloyd's imagination they were brought to life. Even Stevenson's father helped by naming every item that could be found in Billie Bone's chest.
The reason there were not many woman in the novel is because most adventure storeys excluded woman for they were seen as weak and a were often a distraction to from the actual storey. This is confirmed in introduction written by R.H.W. Dillard in the printed edition's of Tressure Island It say's that "Lloyd insisted that there would be no women or girls to get in the way of the action..." Another reason the book excluded woman and girls was that it was originally written for boy's.
Today we can see that Treasure Island is still enjoyed by boy's and girls of all ages.
Long John Silver is the most memorable character in Treasure Island. He is the fictional pirate image that we have all grown up with. Some people say Stevenson based Long John on one of his friends W.E. Henley a writer and poet. Lloyd described him as "a great, glowing, massive-shouldered fellow with a big red beard and a crutch; jovial, astoundingly clever, and with a laugh that rolled out like music..." These are some of the qualities seen in the character Long John.He also may have used an image from Captain Johnson's General History of the Pirates.
Long John silver was a cook hired to work on the Hispaniola. Stevenson created this perfect image of a pirate cook from sources which said that cooks during that time would usually be injured sea men. this is why Silver has no leg and carries a crutch.
He is in fact the perfect pirate a gentleman when it comes to charming the Young Jim Hawkins and a rouge when it comes to seeking the treasure. Unlike captain Hook who is a comical nonsensical pirate made up by J.M Barrie to entertain or Gilbert and Sullivans pirates from Pirates of Penzance Long John is a more rounded character.