Book Anatomy · Treasure Island
Treasure Island: Setting and world
13 lenses on setting and world for Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: I1 I2 I3 I4 I5 I6 I7 I8 I9 I10 I11 I12 I13
I1. Places named and how often each appears. Count
Hispaniola is the place named most, 53 times.
| Place | Mentions | Chapters |
|---|---|---|
| Hispaniola | 53 | 20 |
| stockade | 39 | 14 |
| anchorage | 29 | 15 |
| Admiral Benbow | 18 | 9 |
| Bristol | 17 | 7 |
| Treasure Island | 11 | 8 |
| North Inlet | 11 | 6 |
| the plateau | 7 | 4 |
I2. Setting by chapter, as a map. Both
The place named most in each chapter. A rough setting map. (rough estimate from word lists)
| Chapter | Place named most |
|---|---|
| 1 | Admiral Benbow |
| 2 | Admiral Benbow |
| 3 | Admiral Benbow |
| 4 | Admiral Benbow |
| 5 | Admiral Benbow |
| 6 | Bristol |
| 7 | Bristol |
| 8 | Admiral Benbow |
| 9 | Hispaniola |
| 10 | Hispaniola |
| 11 | Bristol |
| 12 | anchorage |
| 13 | anchorage |
| 14 | Hispaniola |
The book moves from the Admiral Benbow inn (c1 to 5), to Bristol (c7), to the Hispaniola at sea (c10), to Treasure Island (c13 onward). The island becomes the main setting from c13 to c34, with the stockade and treasure pit as focal points.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 7, Ch 10, Ch 13, Ch 31, Ch 33
The ship is bought and fitted. She lies at anchor, ready for sea. You never imagined a sweeter schooner--a child might sail her--two hundred tons; name, HISPANIOLA. (Ch 7, para 6)
If the conduct of the men had been alarming in the boat, it became truly threatening when they had come aboard. They lay about the deck growling together in talk. (Ch 13, para 14)
The log-house was made of unsquared trunks of pine--roof, walls, and floor. The latter stood in several places as much as a foot or a foot and a half above the surface of the sand. (Ch 19, para 21)
I3. Setting shown in blocks or woven into action? AI
Setting is woven into action. The inn's danger emerges through Billy Bones's fear and the blind beggar's arrival (c1 to 5). The island is revealed through Jim's flight and exploration (c13 to 15) rather than description. Stevenson shows places through what happens there.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 13, Ch 15, Ch 19
But you may suppose I paid no heed; jumping, ducking, and breaking through, I ran straight before my nose till I could run no longer. (Ch 13, para 30)
The log-house was made of unsquared trunks of pine--roof, walls, and floor. The latter stood in several places as much as a foot or a foot and a half above the surface of the sand. (Ch 19, para 21)
I4. Weather and light used for mood. Both
Weather and light words: 2.05 per 1,000 words.
Weather and light words, chapter by chapter
Weather and light are used sparingly but effectively. The night of Pew's death (c5) is dark and violent. The island's heat and open spaces (c32) contrast with the stockade's confinement. Storms at sea (c23) heighten Jim's peril.
Chapters: Ch 5, Ch 23, Ch 32
Down went Pew with a cry that rang high into the night; and the four hoofs trampled and spurned him and passed by. (Ch 5, para 33)
So I must have lain for hours, continually beaten to and fro upon the billows, now and again wetted with flying sprays, and never ceasing to expect death at the next plunge. (Ch 23, para 28)
The pines, great and small, grew wide apart; and even between the clumps of nutmeg and azalea, wide open spaces baked in the hot sunshine. (Ch 32, para 39)
I5. The social world: class, money, rules. AI
Class shapes the plot: the squire and doctor are gentlemen, Jim is 'poor born' (c30), Silver is a former pirate. Money drives the voyage; the treasure is the prize. Rules of honour matter: Jim gives his word (c30), Silver respects it. Mutiny violates naval hierarchy.
Chapters: Ch 6, Ch 7, Ch 28, Ch 30
Hawkins shall come as cabin-boy. You’ll make a famous cabin-boy, Hawkins. You, Livesey, are ship’s doctor; I am admiral. (Ch 6, para 50)
Hawkins, will you give me your word of honour as a young gentleman--for a young gentleman you are, although poor born--your word of honour not to slip your cable? (Ch 30, para 26)
Doctor, when a man’s steering as near the wind as me--playing chuck-farthing with the last breath in his body, like--you wouldn’t think it too much, mayhap, to give him one good word? (Ch 30, para 34)
I6. Rules of the world (magic, science) and when each is shown. AI
The book is grounded in naval science and seamanship: sailing, navigation, gunnery. Superstition appears but is explained away: Flint's ghost is Ben Gunn (c32). The world follows natural rules; fear and rumour create false magic.
Chapters: Ch 10, Ch 25, Ch 32
There was an echo. Now, no man ever seen a sperrit with a shadow; well then, what’s he doing with an echo to him, I should like to know? That ain’t in natur’, surely? (Ch 32, para 27)
I7. Lore: dripped in or dumped? AI
Pirate lore is dripped in through character speech. Billy Bones mentions Flint (c1), Ben Gunn describes the burial (c15), Silver recruits with tales of riches (c11). The lore builds atmosphere without halting action; it emerges from dialogue and memory.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 11, Ch 15
old Flint’s crew, man and boy, all on ’em that’s left. I was first mate, I was, old Flint’s first mate (Ch 3, para 17)
LAMBS wasn’t the word for Flint’s old buccaneers. Ah, you may be sure of yourself in old John’s ship. (Ch 11, para 14)
I were in Flint’s ship when he buried the treasure; he and six along--six strong seamen. They was ashore nigh on a week, and us standing off and on in the old WALRUS. (Ch 15, para 43)
I8. Real history used, and how. AI
Real history is minimal. Captain Hawke is mentioned as a reference for Silver's lost leg (c7). The book is set in an unspecified past and uses no dated events. The world feels timeless, focused on adventure rather than historical accuracy.
Chapters: Ch 7
Long John Silver, he is called, and has lost a leg; but that I regarded as a recommendation, since he lost it in his country’s service, under the immortal Hawke. (Ch 7, para 15)
I9. Journeys: distance and time taken. Both
The voyage from Bristol to Treasure Island takes weeks (c10). Jim's solo adventures span days: cutting the ship adrift (c22 to 23), fighting Hands (c24 to 26), returning to the blockhouse (c27). The treasure hunt is brief (c31 to 33). Time is compressed for pacing.
Chapters: Ch 10, Ch 22, Ch 31
I10. Objects that matter, where they appear. Both
coracle is the object named most.
| Object | Mentions | Chapters |
|---|---|---|
| coracle | 25 | 5 |
| crutch | 24 | 9 |
| cutlass | 15 | 8 |
| black spot | 12 | 3 |
| sea-chest | 4 | 3 |
| Jolly Roger | 4 | 3 |
| oilskin packet | 2 | 2 |
The oilskin packet and treasure map drive the plot from c4 onward. Billy Bones's sea-chest holds secrets (c1 to 4). The black spot is a death threat (c3, c29). Silver's crutch marks him as a survivor (c8). Captain Flint the parrot announces Jim's arrival (c27).
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 8, Ch 27, Ch 29
a bundle tied up in oilcloth, and looking like papers, and a canvas bag that gave forth, at a touch, the jingle of gold (Ch 4, para 19)
And I’ll take this to square the count,” said I, picking up the oilskin packet. (Ch 4, para 26)
And he cast down upon the floor a paper that I instantly recognized--none other than the chart on yellow paper, with the three red crosses, that I had found in the oilcloth at the bottom of the captain’s chest. (Ch 29, para 29)
I11. Density of period detail. AI
Period detail is moderate. Nautical terms (cutlass, coxswain, schooner) are used naturally. Clothing is mentioned (blue coat, goatskins) but not dwelt on. The book avoids heavy historical texture, prioritising story over setting immersion.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 7, Ch 15
a tall, strong, heavy, nut-brown man, his tarry pigtail falling over the shoulder of his soiled blue coat (Ch 1, para 3)
The ship is bought and fitted. She lies at anchor, ready for sea. You never imagined a sweeter schooner--a child might sail her--two hundred tons; name, HISPANIOLA. (Ch 7, para 6)
His left leg was cut off close by the hip, and under the left shoulder he carried a crutch, which he managed with wonderful dexterity, hopping about upon it like a bird. (Ch 8, para 5)
I12. Setting as an enemy. AI
Treasure Island itself is an enemy: it harbours mutineers, offers no escape, and its terrain traps Jim (c13 to 15). The sea is hostile (c23). The island's isolation makes it a prison; survival depends on cunning and luck, not on defeating a place.
Chapters: Ch 13, Ch 15, Ch 23
But you may suppose I paid no heed; jumping, ducking, and breaking through, I ran straight before my nose till I could run no longer. (Ch 13, para 30)
So I must have lain for hours, continually beaten to and fro upon the billows, now and again wetted with flying sprays, and never ceasing to expect death at the next plunge. (Ch 23, para 28)
I13. Indoors against outdoors. Both
Outdoor words outnumber indoor words 324 to 238. (rough estimate from word lists)
Indoor share %, chapter by chapter
Outdoors dominates: the beach, the forest, the sea. The stockade is a brief refuge (c16 to 21). The inn is a starting point (c1 to 5). Stevenson uses outdoor space to show vulnerability; characters are exposed to danger and weather.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 13, Ch 16, Ch 23
The log-house was made of unsquared trunks of pine--roof, walls, and floor. The latter stood in several places as much as a foot or a foot and a half above the surface of the sand. (Ch 19, para 21)
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