Quote 1
"Davis was a man too, by all accounts," said Silver. "I never sailed along of him; first with England, then with Flint, that's my story; and now here on my own account, in a manner of speaking. I laid by nine hundred safe, from England, and two thousand after Flint. That ain't bad for a man before the mast--all safe in bank. 'Tain't earning now, it's saving does it, you may lay to that. Where's all England's men now? I dunno. Where's Flint's? Why, most on 'em aboard here, and glad to get the duff--been begging before that, some on 'em. " (11.3)
This is the key point that distinguishes Long John Silver from other pirates: he has vision for the future. He puts aside money to keep himself financially secure. In what other ways does Long John Silver's unusual ability to plan demonstrate itself?
Quote 2
"Well," said the other, "but all the other money's gone now, ain't it? You daren't show face in Bristol after this."
"Why, where might you suppose it was?" asked Silver derisively.
"At Bristol, in banks and places," answered his companion.
"It were," said the cook; "it were when we weighed anchor. But my old missis has it all by now. And the Spy-glass is sold, lease and goodwill and rigging; and the old girl's off to meet me. I would tell you where, for I trust you, but it'd make jealousy among the mates." (11.7-11)
Long John Silver is also the only pirate in the novel who is not alone in the world: his "old missis," his wife, is helping him take his money out of Bristol to some unknown location. We would give a million dollars to meet the woman who married Long John Silver. She must be amazingly patient. Do we see any signs of Long John Silver's personal loyalty or ability to form emotional attachments beyond these vague references to his "old missis"?
Quote 3
"That's your sort, is it?" [Long John Silver] added, returning his pipe to his mouth. "Well, you're a gay lot to look at, anyway. Not much worth to fight, you ain't. P'r'aps you can understand King George's English. I'm cap'n here by 'lection. I'm cap'n here because I'm the best man by a long sea-mile. You won't fight, as gentlemen o' fortune should; then, by thunder, you'll obey, and you may lay to it!" (28.36)
When Long John Silver first sees signs that George Merry wants to sabotage his captaincy, his response is that they are too afraid to fight him, so he'll hang on to the captaincy as long as he likes. It seems that what makes a good pirate leader is charisma. These pirates are all so superstitious and suspicious of one another that they will only listen to leaders who frighten them. They don't understand any rule but fear.
Quote 4
"Right you are," said Silver; "rough and ready. But mark you here, I'm an easy man--I'm quite the gentleman, says you; but this time it's serious. Dooty is dooty, mates. I give my vote--death. When I'm in Parlyment and riding in my coach, I don't want none of these sea-lawyers in the cabin a-coming home, unlooked for, like the devil at prayers. Wait is what I say; but when the time comes, why, let her rip!" (11.31)
Here, Long John Silver is drastically redefining duty. His duty is to his pirate crewmates, which mean that he votes for killing Captain Smollett, Squire Trelawney and the other good guys. The problem with telling people to do their duty as a moral lesson is that we all have different notions of duty. To Long John Silver, apparently killing people for the profit of his pirate friends is a kind of duty.
Quote 5
"Is that you, John Silver? What brings you here, man?"
"Come back to my dooty, sir," returned Silver.
"Ah!" said the captain, and that was all he said (33.41-3)
This moment is one of Long John Silver's rare missteps. He knows nobody believes in his humble, friendly act anymore, but he still puts it on. Why does he even bother to tell Captain Smollett that he has "come back to [his] dooty [duty]" in Chapter 33? What duty could Long John Silver mean here?
Quote 6
"Ask your pardon, sir, you would be very wrong," quoth Silver. "You would lose your precious life, and you may lay to that. I'm on your side now, hand and glove; and I shouldn't wish for to see the party weakened, let alone yourself, seeing as I know what I owes you. But these men down there, they couldn't keep their word--no, not supposing they wished to; and what's more, they couldn't believe as you could." (34.12)
Long John Silver is telling Doctor Livesey that to try to treat the sick pirates now would be madness – they would kill him in a second. But perhaps the most tragic thing about Long John Silver's comment is that the pirates "couldn't believe as [Doctor Livesey] could" keep his promise to help. In other words, they are so used to breaking promises that they can't imagine anyone being able to keep them. This is the key problem with the way pirates live in Stevenson's world: because they are violent and untrustworthy, they assume that everyone around them will be that way too, so they can't see or understand goodness anymore. Is Long John Silver any different? Do you see any good in his character?
Quote 7
"Now, that bird," [Long John Silver] would say, "is, maybe, two hundred years old, Hawkins--they live forever mostly; and if anybody's seen more wickedness, it must be the devil himself. She's sailed with England, the great Cap'n England, the pirate. She's been at Madagascar, and at Malabar, and Surinam, and Providence, and Portobello. She was at the fishing up of the wrecked plate ships. It's there she learned 'Pieces of eight,' and little wonder; three hundred and fifty thousand of 'em, Hawkins! She was at the boarding of the viceroy of the Indies out of Goa, she was; and to look at her you would think she was a babby. But you smelt powder--didn't you, cap'n?" (10.18)
Here, the tales Long John Silver is spinning are all about his delightful parrot, Captain Flint. Silver uses his tales of derring-do to keep Jim Hawkins interested and to persuade Jim to sympathize with him. It's interesting, though: these tales are meant to distract and intrigue Jim, but they work on us, too. It's partly Long John Silver's gift with language that makes him so appealing to the reader, no matter the terrible things he does over the course of the novel.
Quote 8
"Doctor, I'm no coward; no, not I--not so much!" and he snapped his fingers. "If I was I wouldn't say it. But I'll own up fairly, I've the shakes upon me for the gallows. You're a good man and a true; I never seen a better man! And you'll not forget what I done good, not any more than you'll forget the bad, I know. And I step aside--see here--and leave you and Jim alone. And you'll put that down for me too, for it's a long stretch, is that!" (30.37)
Long John Silver doesn't fear any kind of battle, nor does he fear his fellow men. But he's afraid of exploring that final horizon, death – specifically death at the hands of the law. Does this suggest some kind of fear of religious judgment? We can't be sure, but we have some thoughts on the subject in our "Character Analysis" of the pirate crew.
Quote 9
"Now," resumed Silver, "here it is. You give us the chart to get the treasure by, and drop shooting poor seamen and stoving of their heads in while asleep. You do that, and we'll offer you a choice. Either you come aboard along of us, once the treasure shipped, and then I'll give you my affy-davy, upon my word of honour, to clap you somewhere safe ashore. Or if that ain't to your fancy, some of my hands being rough and having old scores on account of hazing, then you can stay here, you can. We'll divide stores with you, man for man; and I'll give my affy-davy, as before, to speak the first ship I sight, and send 'em here to pick you up. " (20.37)
Long John Silver is offering Captain Smollett a deal. (The Captain, of course, will have none of it.) We find this an interesting example of Long John Silver's unusual speech, which is a weird mix of slang and officialese. He promises to "clap" them somewhere safe or else to hail a boat and "send 'em here to pick you up." But at the same time, he also promises his "affy-davy" (affidavit, which means oath) to abide by any deal they strike. Long John Silver's language is a puzzle, just like his character: he's got this odd mix of highfalutin' words ("affy-davy") and slang ("clap") that makes it difficult to place him.
Quote 10
"The black spot! I thought so," [Long John Silver] observed. "Where might you have got the paper? Why, hillo! Look here, now; this ain't lucky! You've gone and cut this out of a Bible. What fool's cut a Bible?" (29.10)
Of all the people we might think would respect a Bible, Long John Silver would be the last. As usual, his motives are unclear. We know he is frightened of what appears to be a ghost (but is actually Ben Gunn) later on in the chapter, so he is at least a little bit superstitious. But he's also clearly using this Bible thing to tease poor young, feverish Dick Johnson unmercifully about being cursed. Long John Silver is punishing Dick for giving him the black spot by frightening him half to death.
Quote 11
"'Tain't much use for fools, you may lay to it--that, nor nothing," cried Silver. "But now, you look here: you're young, you are, but you're as smart as paint. I see that when I set my eyes on you, and I'll talk to you like a man."
You may imagine how I felt when I heard this abominable old rogue addressing another in the very same words of flattery as he had used to myself. I think, if I had been able, that I would have killed him through the barrel. Meantime, he ran on, little supposing he was overheard. (11.4-5)
Here's the moment when Jim realizes he's been tricked, when he sees Long John Silver use the same flattery ("you're as smart as paint") on Dick Johnson that he's been using on Jim. But how does Long John Silver know which words will charm each individual? What experiences have come together to forge such a gifted diplomat? Sure, even though this scene fills Jim with so much rage that he "would have killed [Long John Silver] through the barrel" if he could, seeing evidence of Long John Silver's craftiness in action only increases his interest to us.
Quote 12
"Did any of you gentlemen want to have it out with me?" roared Silver, bending far forward from his position on the keg, with his pipe still glowing in his right hand. "Put a name on what you're at; you ain't dumb, I reckon. Him that wants shall get it. Have I lived this many years, and a son of a rum puncheon cock his hat athwart my hawse at the latter end of it? You know the way; you're all gentlemen o' fortune, by your account. Well, I'm ready. Take a cutlass, him that dares, and I'll see the colour of his inside, crutch and all, before that pipe's empty." (28.34)
It's impossible to rule pirates by friendship and decency because they don't trust each other. The only thing that will truly keep them in line is a show of force – and even that will only last for so long. In this scene, Long John Silver is responding to George Merry's claim that he is no longer fit to be captain now that they have lost the Hispaniola and have no treasure to show for it.
Quote 13
"Ah," said Silver, "it were fortunate for me that I had Hawkins here. You would have let old John be cut to bits, and never given it a thought, doctor."
"Not a thought," replied Dr. Livesey cheerily. (33.30-1)
But it's not jut Silver who has learned to be so practical about death. Doctor Livesey agrees that, if Jim had not been along on the final treasure hunt, he and the rest of his friends would have left Long John Silver to deal with the disappointed pirates by himself. Do you observe any changes in Doctor Livesey's moral compass over the course of the novel? Is he the same person at the end of the trip that he was at the beginning?
Quote 14
"Why, how many tall ships, think ye, now, have I seen laid aboard? And how many brisk lads drying in the sun at Execution Dock?" cried Silver. "And all for this same hurry and hurry and hurry. You hear me? I seen a thing or two at sea, I have. If you would on'y lay your course, and a p'int to windward, you would ride in carriages, you would. But not you! I know you. You'll have your mouthful of rum tomorrow, and go hang." (11.25-7)
Long John Silver offers this diatribe to Israel Hands when Hands tries to hurry him into mutinying before they reach the island. He points out that he's got experience and a plan on his side, but the other pirates are so impatient that they want everything right now. Long John Silver's go-to symbol for this self-indulgence is their "mouthful of rum tomorrow": they would rather have a shot of rum tomorrow than carriages in the future. And Silver proves correct: as soon as they fall to open warfare with the good guys, all the pirates get drunk, leaving them vulnerable to more sober minds.
Quote 15
"Well now, you look here, that was a good lay of yours last night. I don't deny it was a good lay. Some of you pretty handy with a handspike-end. And I'll not deny neither but what some of my people was shook--maybe all was shook; maybe I was shook myself; maybe that's why I'm here for terms. But you mark me, cap'n, it won't do twice, by thunder! We'll have to do sentry-go and ease off a point or so on the rum. Maybe you think we were all a sheet in the wind's eye. But I'll tell you I was sober; I was on'y dog tired; and if I'd awoke a second sooner, I'd 'a caught you at the act, I would. He wasn't dead when I got round to him, not he." (20.24)
Long John Silver comes to make a deal with Captain Smollett (which Captain Smollett promptly rejects) in response to an incident that has "shook" all of his men, even the unshakeable Long John Silver. While all his men were drunk on rum the night before, someone crept into their camp and killed one of them. Even the disciplined Long John Silver can't keep his men sober enough to stand guard. This inability to keep watch because of drunkenness proves to be a repeated theme: not only does Ben Gunn come around and kill a pirate their first night on the island, but Jim Hawkins walks right into their fort unnoticed. It's lucky for the pirates that Jim has no clue what he is doing.
Quote 16
"Drunk or raving," said [Doctor Livesey].
"Right you were, sir," replied Silver; "and precious little odds which, to you and me."
"I suppose you would hardly ask me to call you a humane man," returned the doctor with a sneer, "and so my feelings may surprise you, Master Silver. But if I were sure they were raving--as I am morally certain one, at least, of them is down with fever--I should leave this camp, and at whatever risk to my own carcass, take them the assistance of my skill." (34.9-11)
In our discussion of "Quotes: Duty," we use this passage to explore Doctor Livesey's dedication to treating the pirates even at the risk of his own life. Here we will focus on the fact that the three remaining pirates on Treasure Island are either drunk or crazed (or both). Now that these pirates have lost the treasure, the ship, and their leaders, their drunkenness is perhaps like Billy Bones's: an effort to avoid acknowledging a horrible reality. We find their descent into total drunkenness and/or sickness both pitiful and tragic. This detail makes the decision of the good guys to leave them behind on Treasure Island seem all the more cruel and ethically problematic to us. What do you think?