Ben has renounced piracy and promises to help Jim and his friends. However, Gunn also acts as a warning to Jim that money is not all that matters, as Ben's life has left him alone, dissolute, and desperate, and at the end of the novel Ben quickly spends all of the money he gains from his escapades and must turn to begging. Soon, Jim's own morality will be tested when he is captured and is given the choice to join Long John Silver's crew. Jim resists, and when the pirates turn against their leader, both Silver and John narrowly escape wit their lives. From Dr. Livesey, Jim learns to take risks, like travel far and wide in search of treasure. His experiences aboard the Hispaniola teach him that sometimes he has better judgment than esteemed Englishmen with aristocratic titles like Squire Trelawney. From Ben Gunn Jim learns that not all pirates are bad, and that it is essential to stay true to one's own moral character under times of pressure. Jim begins the novel hating Long John Silver yet: "Jim,' said Silver when we were alone, 'if I saved your life, you saved mine; and I'll not forget it. I seen the doctor waving...

Jim, that's one to you.'" (Stevenson, Treasure Island, Chapter 31)
Long John Silver's allegiance is always complex and questionable. Much as Jim rightly distrusts him, Long John Silver occasionally shows some strange affection for Jim's bravery. However, the different examples of Silver and Gunn cause Jim to look less favorably on piracy, adventure, and sailing, and when he is grown, Jim finds the music of the waves haunting rather than beckoning, as they seem to call out "pieces of eight," in the voice of Long John Silver's parrot. (Stevenson, Treasure Island, Chapter 34)

Works Cited

About Robert Louis Stevenson." (2006). The Online Literature Collection. [1 Feb 2007] http://www.online-literature.com/stevenson/

Robert Louis Stevenson." Treasure Island Webpage. [1 Feb 2007] http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/services/treasure/author/

Stevenson, Robert Louis. Treasure Island. 1881. E-text. Project Guttenberg. [1 Feb 2007] http://www.gutenberg.org/files/120/120-h/120-h.htm