Study Guide — Treasure Island, Chapter 25: “I Strike the Jolly Roger”
Themes / Big Ideas
- Reclaiming lawful order vs. piracy
- Jim lowers the black flag and salutes the king, symbolically rejecting pirate rule and restoring legitimate authority—echoing the novel’s broader conflict between order and lawlessness.
- Coming-of-age and leadership
- Jim declares himself “captain” and takes command of the Hispaniola. His initiative and nerve advance the book’s central coming‑of‑age arc.
- Treachery and distrust
- Jim and Israel Hands strike a quick, uneasy bargain. Hands’s watchful, mocking smile foreshadows betrayal, reinforcing the novel’s recurring theme that appearances and alliances can’t be trusted.
- The corrupting power of drink
- The ruined cabin, broken locks, and countless empty bottles show the pirates’ drunkenness and moral decay—part of the book’s ongoing critique of intemperance.
- Knowledge and seamanship as power
- Jim needs Hands’s know‑how to sail; Hands needs Jim’s food and favor. Nautical skill equals leverage, a recurring truth in Treasure Island.
- The cost of violence
- The corpse on deck, blood-spattered planks, and grim imagery dwell on mutiny’s aftermath, reminding readers of the high personal and moral costs that shadow the adventure.
- Isolation and self‑reliance
- Alone on the ship, Jim must act decisively, furthering the novel’s emphasis on courage, resourcefulness, and growing independence.
Vocabulary
| Word | Part of Speech | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| bowsprit | noun | A spar projecting forward from a ship’s bow, supporting sails like the jib. |
| (flying) jib | noun | A triangular sail set ahead of the jib on the bowsprit. |
| lee (side) | noun | The side of a ship sheltered from the wind. |
| forecastle (fo’c’sle) | noun | The forward part of a ship; traditionally the sailors’ quarters. |
| scuppers | noun | Deck-level openings that let water drain off a ship. |
| rudder | noun | A flat piece at a ship’s stern used to steer. |
| main‑boom | noun | The spar along the bottom edge of the mainsail, extending from the mast. |
| sheet (nautical) | noun | A line (rope) used to control a sail’s angle to the wind. |
| blocks (nautical) | noun | Pulleys with grooved wheels used with lines on a ship. |
| bulwarks | noun | The ship’s sides above the deck; a protective railing. |
| handspike | noun | A wooden lever used aboard ship; here, a simile for stiffness. |
| tallow (candle) | noun | Hard animal fat; a “tallow candle” suggests sickly paleness. |
| companion (stairs/way) | noun | The stairs or opening from deck down into the cabin. |
| bulkhead | noun | An interior wall or partition within a ship. |
| lockfast | adjective | Securely locked (archaic). |
| pipelights | noun | Scraps used for lighting a tobacco pipe (here, torn book pages). |
| water‑breaker | noun | A small cask used to store fresh water on a ship. |
| coxswain | noun | The sailor who steers a boat and directs its crew. |
| gill | noun | A liquid measure equal to a quarter of a pint. |
| lubber | noun | A clumsy or inexperienced sailor. |
| strike (colors) | verb | To lower a flag; to haul down. |
| colours (colors) | noun | A ship’s flag(s), especially national or identifying flags. |
| derision | noun | Mocking scorn or ridicule. |
| treachery | noun | Betrayal of trust; deceit. |
Quotes to Look For
- “Well,” said I, “I’ve come aboard to take possession of this ship, Mr. Hands; and you’ll please regard me as your captain until further notice.”
- Jim claims command—key coming‑of‑age moment.
- “By the by… I can’t have these colours, Mr. Hands; and by your leave, I’ll strike ’em. Better none than these.”
- Jim rejects the pirate flag, signaling a return to lawful order.
- “God save the king! … And there’s an end to Captain Silver!”
- A bold symbolic repudiation of piracy and Silver’s authority.
- “But when I remembered the talk I had overheard from the apple barrel, all pity left me.”
- Jim’s moral clarity hardens; connects back to the apple‑barrel revelation.
- “This man… O’Brien… he’s dead now, he is—as dead as bilge… Without I gives you a hint, you ain’t that man…”
- Hands’s blunt bargaining: seamanship as leverage.
- “All the lockfast places had been broken open… Dozens of empty bottles clinked… half of the leaves gutted out… for pipelights.”
- Vivid evidence of the pirates’ lawlessness and drunken desecration.
- “Red-cap on his back, as stiff as a handspike… his arms stretched out like those of a crucifix…”
- Arresting imagery underscores the cost of mutiny.
- “His face as white, under its tan, as a tallow candle.”
- Striking simile for Israel Hands’s condition—deathly pallor.
- “I had now plenty of water and good things to eat… my conscience… was quieted by the great conquest I had made.”
- Jim’s inner shift from guilt to earned confidence.
- “A grain of derision, a shadow of treachery, in his expression as he craftily watched, and watched, and watched me…”
- Clear foreshadowing of betrayal; stay alert to the tension building.