Similarities and Differences Found Within the Book Treasure Island and Older Pirate Movies in Corrolation with Every Day Life

Buried treasure, eye patches, and walking the plank are all words and phrases that often appear in stories involving pirates. Tales about the voyages of pirates are often adventurous and riveting ones. It is very awe-inspiring to think about the daring lives those pirates once led. However, it might not be safe to assume that these stories are close to the truth or even based on genuine facts. In 1881 Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a book entitled Treasure Island, which in return would forever change the way people looked at the term "pirate." Due to this book there are several different movies that have been created to interpret the term pirate in different ways. Black Pirate, The Dancing Pirate, Sea Hawk, and Captain Blood include some of the movies that we viewed in class that caught my attention. There are also many Cds and DVDs that have been released about pirates, one of the most popular ones is Pirates of the Caribbean. All of these films offer many different similarities and differences in relation to the book Robert Stevenson wrote entitled Treasure Island. This in return has shaped our society.

According to the definition of the word "pirate," which states "someone who uses another person's words or ideas as if they were his own," means that they will use a great deal of dishonesty in there every day life. This is a great similarity to the book Treasure Island and the movie The Black Pirate. In the movie a young nobleman, whose father is killed by pirates, vows to avenge his dad's death by becoming a buccaneer himself and routing out the villains. He does this by taking over as captain and not telling the other pirates who he really is or what his motives are. Also in the movie The Dancing Pirate the main character is believed to be a pirate by the local citizens of the town, and they also believe that he is trying to deceive them with his ways. This in return correlates to the book Treasure Island almost the entire crew is "fake" about the person they really are by putting on a different face or doing a thing that they normally would not do. Dishonesty is one of the easiest ways for a pirate to get his way about things. The main thing that this is that it allowed him to befriend someone and gain their trust and when they were not looking to it was time to leave they would steal all of their belongings and run away with them.

A definite similarity within the movie Sea Hawk and the book Treasure Island is the way that they govern them selves. In this movie and the book they use more of a self-governing policy, kind of like a democratic society. In the scenes that we watched in class, the captain (leader) of the crew was challenged by a newcomer, which was considered to be a completely acceptable way of doing things. In Treasure Island the black spot is used as a way for crew members to elect a new captain if they choose so. In an event that this may happen, the crew decides on a possible replacement and announces it to the captain. The captain is given a chance to shield himself and deliberate with the crew the problems they might have. In this similarity there is also a distinct difference. The difference is that in Treasure Island, Captain Silver retains his position as captain after persuasive his crew that everything he is doing is right and just.

During watching the films in class and reading the book Treasure Island there is one distinct difference. This difference is in the way a pirate is depicted within the movie Sea Hawk. In the movie Sea Hawk the pirates are depicted as patriots, not very dirty, wearing bandanas and striped shirts, they had a level of organization and military discipline, ideas of order among the ship, and most of all the captain had a level of education. The captain's physical appearance was also different, which was thin and cleaned-up. The nice thing about this was they all were a lot more appealing to the eyes and anyone of them might have been a next-door neighbor to you. In other words, you could not really tell that these people were pirates by the way that they dressed and acted for the most part.

The most important feature about the movie Sea Hawk is that pirates were for doing what the pirates thought was right. These pirates could almost be thought of as gentlemen. These men were out fighting for their country and for a just cause, not out to steal someone else's ideas or positions, it seems. This is because these pirates were fighting a naval war against Spain for the benefit of the British. For these pirates this was considered an act of piracy for a just cause. The pirates in the movie Sea Hawk were considered to be the heroes which is a major movement away from the standard evil, rival, or self-serving character the pirates normally represent in other movies of books. There was a point to their piracy, which was to defeat the British. Even though these pirates still enjoyed the rewards of their actions, they did it not for the fame of fortune but more for the physical rewards. These pirates were doing something much different then the normal pirate might do and it is that they were doing what they were doing in the name of their county and in Spain there were considered patriots by their fellow countrymen.

Now, the film Sea Hawk can be quite deceiving unless you look at the somewhat hidden meaning behind these pirates. In the back of all of these pirates' minds, they were doing everything to supply their own self-fish needs and wishes. The pirates portrayed in the movie placed themselves on the side where they could obtain the most benefits. This is also seen in the book Treasure Island, Captain Silver switched sides in the end to save his own life and eventually acquired a share of the treasure. The faithfulness of these pirates goes is no longer mentioned when there was a way for them to serve them selves better. This is also seen in the recent film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. In this major motion picture, the main character Jack Sparrow, changes sides a quite few times in order to achieve what he in return is trying to gain. Pirates like Jack Sparrow do whatever they need to do to extend their lives and gain riches and only think of themselves in these types of situations.

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