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Luke Evans reads Treasure Island recap

By Robert Louis Stevenson

Every recap below is hidden until you open it. Each one is safe to read once you have finished the chapter it names.

In short (whole book)

Jim Hawkins obtains a map showing where the pirate Captain Flint buried his treasure. Squire Trelawney finances a voyage aboard the Hispaniola, with Doctor Livesey, Captain Smollett, and Jim among the loyal party. The charming cook Long John Silver has secretly recruited former pirates and plans a mutiny. Jim overhears the plot, later meets the marooned Ben Gunn on Treasure Island, and repeatedly risks himself to help his friends, eventually cutting the Hispaniola loose and defeating Israel Hands aboard it. Captured after returning to the stockade, Jim is protected by Silver, whose authority over the mutineers is collapsing. The treasure pit proves empty because Gunn already moved the hoard to his cave. Livesey's group defeats the remaining pirates, recovers the treasure, and sails home, marooning three mutineers. Silver escapes during the return voyage with a modest share, while Jim reaches England safely and has no wish ever to revisit the island.

Story so far - through chapter 5 (this book)

Jim Hawkins lives with his parents at the Admiral Benbow inn when a scarred old sailor calling himself the captain becomes a long-term guest. The man, Billy Bones, drinks heavily and fears former shipmates, especially a one-legged sailor. After visits from the pirate Black Dog and the blind Pew, Bones receives the black spot and dies. Jim's father has also died, leaving Jim and his mother to face the danger alone. They open Bones's sea chest to take only the money owed to the inn, and Jim also removes a sealed packet. Pew's gang raids the inn moments after they escape but cannot find what it wants. Revenue officers approach on horseback; the pirates scatter, and Pew is accidentally trampled and killed. Jim brings the packet to Doctor Livesey and Squire Trelawney for protection.

Story so far - through chapter 10 (this book)

Livesey and Trelawney open Billy Bones's packet and find a detailed map of an island where the notorious Captain Flint buried a large treasure. Trelawney goes to Bristol, buys the Hispaniola, and hires a crew, including the personable one-legged innkeeper Long John Silver as cook. Jim is startled to meet the very sort of man Bones feared, but Silver easily wins his trust and helps chase away Black Dog. Captain Smollett, the ship's master, distrusts the crew and is angry that the supposedly secret treasure hunt is common knowledge. He insists on moving the arms and powder near the loyal passengers' quarters. Despite his misgivings, the voyage begins successfully. Silver appears industrious and friendly, and Jim spends time with him in the galley, admiring his skill and good humor as the Hispaniola approaches its destination.

Story so far - through chapter 15 (this book)

Hidden in an apple barrel, Jim overhears Silver revealing himself as a former member of Flint's crew and leader of a planned mutiny. Silver intends to wait until the treasure is aboard before killing the loyal men. Jim warns Livesey, Trelawney, and Smollett, who count only a small number of certain allies and decide to conceal their knowledge. When the island comes into view, Smollett allows a shore party to leave in hopes of easing the crew's unrest. Jim slips into a boat and explores alone. He witnesses Silver murder the honest sailor Tom after Tom refuses to join the mutiny. Fleeing through the woods, Jim encounters Ben Gunn, another former pirate who has survived three years marooned on the island. Gunn offers to help in exchange for a passage home and suggests that he possesses something of great value.

Story so far - through chapter 20 (this book)

While Jim is ashore, Livesey's party discovers an abandoned stockade with a spring and moves supplies there before the mutineers can control the ship. Their overloaded boat is swamped during the final trip, costing them much of their powder and provisions. In the retreat, the loyal servant Tom Redruth is shot and dies, while the seaman Abraham Gray chooses to join Captain Smollett. Jim reaches the stockade and reports both Silver's murder of Tom and his meeting with Ben Gunn. The loyal group raises the British flag despite cannon fire from the Hispaniola. Silver arrives under a flag of truce and proposes that they surrender the treasure map in exchange for their lives. Smollett refuses, and Silver leaves promising an attack. The defenders now hold the fort, but they are outnumbered and short of supplies.

Story so far - through chapter 26 (this book)

Silver's men attack the stockade. The defenders repel them and kill several mutineers, but Captain Smollett is badly wounded. Restless after the battle, Jim slips away without permission, finds the small boat Ben Gunn made, and paddles out at night to cut the Hispaniola loose. The drifting ship carries him away from shore, but he later manages to board it. Only Israel Hands and another pirate remain aboard; the second man is dead, and Hands is wounded. Jim runs the ship toward a safe anchorage while watching Hands carefully. Once the vessel grounds, Hands attacks him. Jim climbs into the rigging and shoots Hands, who falls into the sea. Jim secures the Hispaniola and returns toward the stockade at night, proud that he has recovered the expedition's ship but unaware of changes ashore.

Story so far - through chapter 34 (this book)

Jim enters the stockade and finds it occupied by the pirates. Silver prevents the others from killing him, partly because Jim's knowledge and status may provide bargaining power. Jim admits cutting the ship loose and defeating Hands. The mutineers give Silver the black spot and try to depose him, but he restores his authority by producing the treasure map, which Livesey has unexpectedly surrendered. Livesey visits to treat the sick and wounded and privately urges Jim to escape; Jim refuses to break his promise to Silver. Guided by the map, the pirates find Flint's treasure pit empty and turn on Silver and Jim. Livesey, Gray, and Ben Gunn ambush them. Gunn had discovered the hoard and moved it to his cave, allowing the loyal party to abandon the stockade safely. The survivors transfer the treasure to the recovered Hispaniola, leave three pirates marooned, and sail away. Silver escapes at a port with a small bag of money. Jim and his companions return to England and divide their shares, but Jim remains haunted by the island and never wishes to see it again.

How does it end? (ending)

Jim returns to the stockade as a captive and discovers that Doctor Livesey has surrendered the fort and treasure map to Silver's depleted band. The map leads the pirates to an empty pit: Ben Gunn found Flint's hoard long before and moved it to his cave. Livesey, Gray, and Gunn drive off the mutineers, while Silver changes sides again to save himself. The loyal party loads the treasure aboard the recovered Hispaniola and leaves three surviving pirates marooned on the island. At a port on the voyage home, Silver escapes with a small bag of coins. The others reach England and divide their shares: Smollett retires, Gray builds a respectable career at sea, and Ben Gunn rapidly spends or loses most of his money. Jim says no reward could persuade him to return to the island, which remains associated in his dreams with surf and the cry of Silver's parrot.

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