Law, Crime, Morals, and Sense of Justice in Treasure Island

• Main Author: Iker Nabaskues
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law 2018-12-01
• Series: Oñati Socio-Legal Series
• Subjects: Treasure Island; The Persons of the Tale; Stevenson; sense of justice; pirates; Long John Silver; Jim Hawkins; La isla del tesoro; Los personajes del relato; sentido de justicia; piratas
• Online Access: http://opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/view/925

The aim of this article is to examine the legal, ethical and moral complications shown in Robert Louis Stevenson&acute;s masterpiece, <em>Treasure Island</em> and the short story <em>The Persons of the Tale</em>. At first glance the romance is associated with ethical Manichaeism and puerility. Nothing could be further from the truth. The sympathy towards the criminals and the dislike towards the representatives of the order, betrayal and loyalty, rigor of the legal system and personal gain... All of them are characteristic features of the novel. This analysis shows a shifting moral landscape where the characters of the plot make ethical choice out of the moral and social conventions of society. Of particular interest is the reflection about the function of the representatives of the legal order in the novel. There are not legal institutions on the island. But we are reminded of the presence of the rule of law at all times. Stevenson uses this particular scenario to express a special and suggestive moral code where ambiguity, paradox and contradiction are the dominant pattern. Loyal to his legal and moral roots of Scottish Enlightenment as well as to an Aristotelian framework, Stevenson shows the connection between morals and action.<br /><br /> El objetivo de este art&iacute;culo es analizar las complejidades jur&iacute;dicas, &eacute;ticas y morales presentes en <em>La isla del tesoro</em>, obra maestra de Robert Louis Stevenson, y en la narraci&oacute;n <em>Los personajes del relato</em>. La metodolog&iacute;a consiste en la observaci&oacute;n cualitativa de varios pasajes del libro. Ese an&aacute;lisis muestra un paisaje moral cambiante donde los personajes hacen elecciones morales fuera de las convenciones morales y sociales. No hay instituciones jur&iacute;dicas en la isla; pero en todo momento se nos hace recordar el imperio de la ley. Stevenson utiliza este particular escenario para expresar un c&oacute;digo moral muy especial y sugerente, donde la ambig&uuml;edad, lo parad&oacute;jico y lo contradictorio son las t&oacute;nicas dominantes. Hay muy pocas obras sobre Stevenson desde un enfoque iusfilos&oacute;fico, por lo cual el art&iacute;culo hace una aportaci&oacute;n al campo del Derecho y la Literatura. <br /><br /> <strong>DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN:</strong> <a href="http://ssrn.com/abstract=3258317" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/abstract=3258317</a>