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Theme Of Identity In Treasure Island

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In a quote by Joseph Kestner he said, “In Treasure Island, Hawkins is forced to achieve an identity, but this process is riddled with ambiguity, including the fact that Jim commits murder and remains haunted by the experience as a nightmare,”(______). He specializes in masculinity theory from novels written in the late nineteenth century. Kestner is able to relate Jim because he is forced to become a new person, kill a man to save his own life, and questions why situations happen. Wyeth suggests that Jim is about take on a courageous mysterious journey by using Jim’s poses, gender roles, darkness, and specific details to portray his maturation throughout the novel, thereby suggesting that we are all subject to transitions that are …show more content…

The use of darkness and shadowing conveys a sense of mystery and of the unknown, altogether foreshadowing events to come. Jim is displayed under a shadow and his mother is in the sunlight next to the house. Wyeth designed this image to show that Jim is about to go on a mysterious journey, and his mother is going to stay where she is. Jim states, “I said goodbye to mother and the cove where I had lived since I was born, and the dear old “Admiral Benbow” - since he was repainted, no longer quite so dear,” (57). Jim is walking away from everything that he has ever known and starting his new life as an adult. Jim’s house and his mother are illuminated by the light to show that they are going to stay in a safe, known place; meanwhile, the darker figures, like Jim, are heading to an unknown destination. The use of darkness shows that Jim has a dark path ahead of him. Normally, darkness is associated with evil and corruption, which is fitting for Jim’s path. The use of darkness can foreshadow later in the novel to when Jim kills Israel Hands. Ultimately, when Jim kills a man this shows how he became corrupt along his adventure. When Jim killed Hands, this showed his transition from innocence to corruption, which can also be viewed as his maturation to an adult. All transitions can mature us in both good and detrimental ways this instance happened to be

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