When I was reading the book, Treasure Island I noticed that the language that was used by the pirates, is basically the same type of language that has been used in contemporary media. Long John Silver, in particular, is just like a stereotypical pirate is today.
One example between the book and contemporary media are the sea shanties. For example, in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean, they sing the song “A Pirate’s Life For Me” An excerpt from the lyrics is “We pillage plunder, we rifle and loot. Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.” In Treasure Island the song is “Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!”(Stevenson 7). I find that the two songs though written over 100 years apart still share similarities. Both are about finding treasure, and drinking, though the Disney song is much less dark. I also find pirating terms that are still heard of today. For example Silver says “Why shiver my timbers...” (Stevenson 51), “Aye aye mates” (Stevenson 58) as well as “...let her rip!” (Stevenson 66). When the crew reach Treasure Island, the lookout shouts “Land ho!” Aside from “let her rip”, which is a common saying in itself, all of the others are very typical pirate sayings that we would say when we were a kid dressing up for Halloween or when watching Spongebob Squarepants. It shows that pirate lingo has lasted a long time, and hasn’t really changed greatly.
Initially Long John Silver in the book is described as “His left leg was cut off close by the hip, and under the left shoulder he carried a crutch...He was very tall and strong, with a face as big as a ham-plain and pale, but intelligent and smiling.”(Stevenson 49) Silver also has a green parrot that he has named Captain Flint. Relating this to current media, in the newly released movie Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides a man named Captain Barbossa has a peg leg, and a crutch. He also owns an exotic pet, in this case a monkey. I personally believe that Barbossa was based off of Long John Silver, because the two characters are so familiar. Either Stevenson and current artists are drawing from other historical facts about pirates, or current artists are using Stevenson’s portrait to describe pirates in current movies and media.
You reached a really thoughtful idea at the very end of this response. At the start and in the middle of your response, you are simply identifying similarities between a few different texts. At the end you get to looking at what might be the significance of these identified similarities. You use the word 'stereotype' at the beginning. who creates and extends this stereotype? Media? This novel? Real pirates as they existed and maybe exist today?
ReplyDeleteMove beyond the comparison to think deeply about this. What is the lasting significance of this portrayal of pirates?