Study Guide: Treasure Island — Chapter “Silver’s Embassy”
Themes / Big Ideas (and how they connect to the novel)
- Law vs. lawlessness: Smollett stands for legal authority and due process (“fair trial in England”), while Silver dresses piracy in the language of honor and contracts (“affy-davy,” “word of honour”). The “flag of truce” tests the boundary between civility and treachery.
- Leadership and legitimacy: Who has the right to be “captain”? Smollett denies Silver’s self-promotion, contrasting principled command with manipulative charisma—an ongoing contest throughout the book.
- Rhetoric as a weapon: Negotiation here is warfare by other means. Both men bargain, threaten, and posture; the shared pipe signals a duel of poise, not friendship.
- Courage and resolve under pressure: Smollett’s composure (even whistling) models steady leadership, while Jim watches and learns—part of the novel’s coming-of-age arc.
- Deception, performance, and moral ambiguity: Silver dons fine clothes and “gentleman” language to mask ruthless aims; the chapter spotlights how appearances in Treasure Island rarely align with motives.
- Civilization vs. savagery: The white flag and polite forms clash with spitting in the spring and violent threats—echoing the book’s tension between codes of conduct and raw brutality.
- Environment as mood mirror: The cold, vaporous morning and “feverish” island reflect the sickly, perilous moral climate—nature heightens the novel’s sense of danger.
- Seafaring metaphors for fate: Smollett’s “in irons” and “lee shore” frame Silver’s predicament in nautical terms, tying character fortune to seamanship—a persistent motif.
Vocabulary
| Word/Phrase | Part of Speech | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| stockade | noun | A defensive wooden fence or enclosure around a fort. |
| flag of truce | noun phrase | A white flag signaling a temporary cease-fire and request to negotiate. |
| buccaneer | noun | Pirate, especially in the Caribbean of the 17th–18th centuries. |
| mutineer | noun | A person who rebels against lawful authority on a ship. |
| morass | noun | A bog or swamp; figuratively, a troublesome situation. |
| cavalier | adjective | Offhand; showing a lack of proper concern; dismissive. |
| lay (as in “a good lay”) | noun | A plan or scheme, often for getting money or loot. |
| handspike | noun | A heavy wooden or metal lever used aboard ships for prying or turning equipment. |
| sentry-go | noun | A turn of sentry (guard) duty. |
| sheet in the wind’s eye | idiom | Drunk; unsteady (nautical slang; “sheet” = rope controlling a sail). |
| stoving (stave in) | verb (gerund) | Smashing something inward; to break in (e.g., a barrel or wall). |
| affy-davy (affidavit) | noun | Dialect for “affidavit”; here, a supposed solemn pledge or guarantee. |
| avast | interjection | Nautical command meaning “stop!” or “hold!” |
| clap (someone) in irons | verb phrase | To shackle or imprison someone (on a ship, with leg irons). |
| in irons (sailing) | adjective | Of a sailing ship: caught head-to-wind and unable to maneuver. |
| in stays (sailing) | adjective/phrase | Momentarily stopped head-to-wind while tacking; can stall like “in irons.” |
| lee shore | noun | A shore downwind; dangerous because wind can drive a vessel onto it. |
| Davy Jones | noun | Personification of the sea’s depths; “Davy Jones’ locker” = the ocean bottom (death). |
| rum puncheon | noun | A large cask used to store rum. |
| blockhouse | noun | A small, sturdy fort, often with loopholes for firing. |
Quotes to Look For
- “Cap’n Silver! Don’t know him. Who’s he?” — Smollett rejects Silver’s self-made authority; theme of legitimate leadership.
- “You’re either my ship’s cook…or Cap’n Silver, a common mutineer and pirate, and then you can go hang!” — Identity as a moral choice; law vs. lawlessness.
- “We want that treasure, and we’ll have it—that’s our point!” — Silver’s blunt motive; the treasure as the engine of conflict.
- “You give us the chart… and we’ll offer you a choice… I’ll give you my affy-davy…” — Silver’s slippery “honor”; legal language used to cloak piracy.
- “If Abe Gray—” … “Avast there!” — Smollett refuses to be baited or divided; loyalty and discipline.
- “If you’ll come up one by one, unarmed, I’ll… clap you all in irons and take you home to a fair trial in England.” — Smollett’s offer frames justice within the law, not revenge.
- “I’ve flown my sovereign’s colours, and I’ll see you all to Davy Jones.” — Patriotism and the moral weight of duty; vivid nautical threat.
- “Your ship’s in irons, Master Silver; you’re on a lee shore…” — Seamanship as metaphor for moral and strategic peril.
- “He was whistling ‘Come, Lasses and Lads.’” — Smollett’s calm under pressure; tone-setting detail.
- “I know a gentleman, and you may lay to that.” — Silver’s knack for reading (and manipulating) codes of respectability.
- “There!… That’s what I think of ye.” [Silver spits into the spring.] — Desecration of “civil” space; truce vs. contempt.
- “Them that die’ll be the lucky ones.” — Silver’s chilling threat foreshadowing the violence to come.