Study Guide: Treasure Island — Chapter “The Ebb-tide Runs”
Brief context: Jim Hawkins, alone in Ben Gunn’s coracle at night, risks cutting the Hispaniola loose, is swept to sea by the ebb tide, and glimpses the pirates’ drunken infighting.
Themes / Big Ideas
- Coming of age through nerve and seamanship: Jim’s cool timing (waiting for the hawser to slacken) shows growing skill and judgment.
- Agency versus chance: Jim’s choices matter, yet the tide and wind—forces beyond him—ultimately drive events.
- The sea as an indifferent power: Currents, narrows, and breakers dwarf human plans; nature “talks” while men struggle.
- The ebb of the mutiny: The ebb-tide mirrors the pirates’ ebbing fortune; their quarrels and drink undo them.
- Alcohol and moral decay: Rum fuels rage and carelessness; discipline collapses into violence.
- Observation over bravado: Jim’s patience, listening, and watching from the shadows become survival strategies.
- Fear, faith, and resolve: Facing likely death, Jim recommends his spirit to its Maker—courage mixed with humility.
- Nautical realism grounds the adventure: Ropes, currents, yaw, and ship-handling details give the action credibility and tension.
Vocabulary
| Word | Part of Speech | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| coracle | noun | A small, light, roundish boat; here, a flimsy, hard-to-steer craft. |
| leeway | noun | Sideways drift of a boat due to wind/current; also, margin for error. |
| seaway | noun | A stretch/condition of open sea with waves running. |
| broadside (on) | adj/adv | With the side of a ship facing the wind, waves, or an object. |
| hawser | noun | A very thick rope for mooring or towing a ship. |
| taut | adjective | Pulled tight; not slack. |
| ebb (tide) | noun | The outgoing movement of the tide toward the sea. |
| sea-gully (gully) | noun | A seaman’s knife. |
| foolhardy | adjective | Recklessly bold; rash. |
| coxswain | noun | The person who steers and is in charge of a boat and its crew. |
| spars | noun (plural) | Poles (masts, yards, booms) supporting a ship’s sails/rigging. |
| bulwarks | noun (plural) | The ship’s side above the deck; protective rail along the edge. |
| consort | noun | A vessel sailing in company with another. |
| wake | noun | The track of disturbed water left behind a moving vessel. |
| yaw | verb | To swing or swerve off course from side to side. |
| phosphorescent | adjective | Emitting a faint, cold light without heat; glowing. |
| narrows | noun (plural) | A narrow stretch of water connecting wider bodies. |
| straits | noun (plural) | A narrow channel of water; also difficulty or distress (figurative). |
| thwart | noun | A crosswise seat in a small boat. |
| fairway | noun | The main navigable channel in a body of water. |
| weltering | adjective | Rolling and surging, as of waves; in turmoil. |
| companion ladder | noun | The stairway between a ship’s deck and cabin/interior. |
| encrimsoned | adjective | Made crimson; reddened (as with blood or rage). |
Quotes to Look For
- “Even Ben Gunn himself has admitted that she was ‘queer to handle till you knew her way.’” — The coracle as a symbol of precarious independence and skill.
- “By good fortune… the tide was still sweeping me down; and there lay the Hispaniola right in the fairway…” — Fate/chance aiding daring action.
- “The hawser was as taut as a bowstring…” — Physical tension mirrors narrative tension.
- “One cut with my sea-gully and the Hispaniola would go humming down the tide.” — A single decisive act can alter everyone’s fate.
- “But they were not only tipsy; it was plain that they were furiously angry. Oaths flew like hailstones…” — Rum and rage erode pirate unity.
- “It showed me Hands and his companion locked together in deadly wrestle…” — The mutiny devours itself.
- “But, indeed, from what I saw, all these buccaneers were as callous as the sea they sailed on.” — Moral numbness contrasted with the indifferent sea.
- “The ship was talking, as sailors say…” — Vivid personification of the sea’s power over human schemes.
- “The current had turned at right angles… spinning through the narrows for the open sea.” — Nature’s force redirects the plot.
- “I wrought like a fiend…” — Jim’s desperate exertion in the face of danger.
- “I lay down flat… and devoutly recommended my spirit to its Maker.” — Fear, faith, and courage at the edge of death.
- “Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest—Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! … Drink and the devil had done for the rest—” — The mutineers’ anthem, grimly literal here.