We think Long John Silver is the better part of this book. He is completely what we imagine a pirate should be : cunning, crafty, peg-legged, with a parrot on his shoulder. There is a reason which explains why he is what we think about when we hear the word “pirate.” It’s in part due to Long John Silver’s acclaim as a personality that Treasure Island has become the hottest, most enduring pirate novel ever. Long John Silver appears like the classic pirate because he is the personality whom all of the pirates in favored culture are based totally on. He is the granddaddy of all, and we like him for it.
Long John Silver is a quartermaster, which implies he handles the ship’s foods and drinks in the excursion. That is also why his fellow pirates call him Bar-b-cue . He is reputedly the sole man whom the mythical pirate Captain Flint was terrified of ( “Flint his very own self was feared of me” ( 11.13 ) ). And since we discover later on in the book that Captain Flint managed to singlehandedly kill 6 of his crew while he was burying his treasure on the island, Long John Silver must be a pretty difficult, frightening guy. But he is firstly a con man, so that the rage and violence that lie under the surface are concealed beneath a mask that is as smooth as pudding.