For the duration of existence, people undergo the physical and mental stages of growing up. During this phase, people establish through their dealings who they actually are in addition to what they are worth. For instance, Treasure Island is an adventure tale, but it is also the story of one boy’s (Jim Hawkins) coming of age. On the outset of the voyage, Jim was a timid adolescent, but by the closing stages, he had matured incredibly. In his novel, Treasure Island, author Robert Louis Stevenson focuses primarily on the journey of main character Jim Hawkins to exemplify the process of growing up and proving oneself. Jim Hawkins’ transformation from a timid, 13-year old boy to a young man began when a sailor by the name of Billy Bones
The death of Jim’s father frees him to prove adventure and burdens him with the necessity of supporting his widowed mother (Howes 471). Although the death of one’s father would deliver enormous amounts of pain, it gave Jim the freedom to become his own man. Leaving his mother by her lonesome at a time like this may not have been in Jim’s best interest, but there was no other option. While at sea, Jim had numerous close calls involving mortal danger. Life on the water was a tough chore for Jim, especially when his life was at stake. Two experiences in which Jim encounters danger come in the finding of Silver’s plan in the apple barrel, as well as the duel with Israel Hands. Jim discovers Silver is planning a mutiny. Jim defeats Hands, even after being struck in the shoulder with a knife (Stevenson 216-220). Hawkins had no choice but to use stealthy actions to keep quiet while overhearing Silver’s plan. Jim also faced a near death experience due to the scuffle between him and Hands. “By the end of the novel, Jim has been initiated into a brutal world of violence, murder, greed and treachery. He has certainly matured during the course of his adventures, but whether Jim learns any lasting moral lessons, aside from his loathing of the treasure, is uncertain” (Beetz, Niemeyer 2008). Throughout the journey, Jim was faced with many grueling obstacles to obtain maturity. This wasn’t the normal life of a thirteen year old boy, but Jim