📝 Summary · Summary
Treasure Island Summary: Chapter by Chapter, Six Parts
Treasure Island summary, chapter by chapter, in six parts: the Admiral Benbow, the Hispaniola, the stockade, Jim's sea adventure and Captain Silver. Full spoilers.
Classic adventure (pirates and a treasure map)
Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson
A boy named Jim Hawkins finds a treasure map in a dead pirate's sea chest and sails for the island with the doctor, the squire and a ship's cook named Long John Silver, in the Project Gutenberg text.
★★★★½ 4.5 / 5
A fast, short-chaptered adventure whose best idea is its most charming villain. The sea slang takes a few pages to get used to, and the middle spends a lot of time on who is on whose side. Four and a half out of five (draft).
Treasure Island: summary, ending explained and characters explained
Every guide comes as a video and a full written article. Pick the one you need: the review is spoiler-free, the ending explained is not.
🔍 Ending explained · Full spoilers
Treasure Island Ending Explained: Where the Gold Goes
Treasure Island ending explained: who moved the gold, what happens to Long John Silver, who comes home and what is still buried. Full spoilers.
👥 Characters explained · Light spoilers
Treasure Island Characters: Who Wants What
Every character in Treasure Island and what each one does with money: Jim, Silver, Livesey, Trelawney, Smollett, Billy Bones, Pew and Ben Gunn. Light spoilers.
What is Treasure Island about?
Treasure Island is an adventure novel told by Jim Hawkins, the son of an innkeeper, about a map, a ship called the Hispaniola and a ship’s cook named Long John Silver. We used the Project Gutenberg text, ebook #120, illustrated by Louis Rhead. It has 34 chapters in six parts, and by our count about 68,000 words.
Below you’ll find a chapter-by-chapter summary in six parts, a who-is-who sorted by what each person does with money, the ending explained, and counts from the text, such as how many times Silver’s name appears. The summary and ending spoil everything; the characters page stops at chapter 15.
Read it if
- You want a classic with real pace: the chapters run about two thousand words each
- You like a villain you cannot quite dislike
- You want a story told by a boy who is brave, curious and sometimes foolish
Skip it if
- Sailing and sea slang wear you out
- You want a romance or a female lead: the cast is almost all men
- You dislike violence: the book is more violent than its reputation
Treasure Island review scorecard
Pace
4.5
Characters
4.5
Readability
3.5
Atmosphere
4.5
Ideas
3
Average4.0 / 5
Treasure Island: questions people ask
Is Treasure Island worth reading?
A fast, short-chaptered adventure whose best idea is its most charming villain. The sea slang takes a few pages to get used to, and the middle spends a lot of time on who is on whose side. Four and a half out of five (draft). Read it if: you want a classic with real pace: the chapters run about two thousand words each; you like a villain you cannot quite dislike; you want a story told by a boy who is brave, curious and sometimes foolish. Skip it if: sailing and sea slang wear you out; you want a romance or a female lead: the cast is almost all men; you dislike violence: the book is more violent than its reputation.
How does Treasure Island end?
Our ending explained covers the final chapters in full, with spoilers. Treasure Island ending explained: who moved the gold, what happens to Long John Silver, who comes home and what is still buried. Full spoilers. Treasure Island Ending Explained →
Is there a summary of Treasure Island?
Treasure Island summary, chapter by chapter, in six parts: the Admiral Benbow, the Hispaniola, the stockade, Jim's sea adventure and Captain Silver. Full spoilers. Treasure Island Summary: Chapter by Chapter, Six Parts →
What is Treasure Island about?
Jim Hawkins, a boy who helps run his father's inn, finds a treasure map among the belongings of a dead pirate. Dr. Livesey and Squire Trelawney fit out a ship, the Hispaniola, and sail for the island with Jim as cabin boy. The crew includes the ship's cook, Long John Silver.
Who is the narrator of Treasure Island?
Jim Hawkins writes the story years later, at the request of Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey and the rest. The exception is chapters 16 to 18 in the Gutenberg text, which are narrated by the doctor.
How long is Treasure Island?
The Gutenberg text, ebook number 120, has 34 chapters in six parts. By our count the story is about 68,000 words, and most chapters run about two thousand words, so it reads quickly.
What is the black spot in Treasure Island?
It is a summons. In chapter 3 the captain tells Jim that the black spot is a summons from his old shipmates. It is a small circle of paper, blackened on one side, with a message on the other.
What are the six parts of Treasure Island?
The Old Buccaneer (chapters 1 to 6), The Sea-cook (7 to 12), My Shore Adventure (13 to 15), The Stockade (16 to 21), My Sea Adventure (22 to 27) and Captain Silver (28 to 34).
Where does the song Fifteen Men on the Dead Man's Chest appear?
The old captain sings it in chapter 1, at the Admiral Benbow inn. It comes back in later chapters, so you will hear it more than once.
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