Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Table of Contents
Dr. Livesey
Dr. Livesey—If Silver is a complicated character, Livesey is fairly simple. He represents the ideal of respectable adulthood: He cares for his patients (even those who have tried to kill him); he is firmly in the right; he is not afraid of having an adventure; he manfully recognizes valor with praise; and he respectfully submits to a higher authority (for example, to Captain Smollett, who assumes command once the ship has sailed). Livesey is consistent and dutiful. He provides Jim with the sort of father figure missing in Jim’s life. Jim’s own father is barely described. Weak and near death at the beginning of the tale, Mr. Hawkins does not make an impression on the reader. Livesey, on the other hand, serves as an appropriate role model for Jim, a man who places honor, duty, and virtue above all else.
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