Reno Pennell
G block
2-26-10


Friendship

Friendship is something that everyone has in their life. People have different qualities they look for and expect, for me the one of the most important qualities to me are trust. Without trust you have no building block. To trust someone I feel that you have to have a special connection. The strongest friendship I have is with my sister, she is the only person I can truly trust. Besides my sister I have been let down by many of my friends. Long John silver and Jim Hawkins have a good friendship; even though their difference in age is big it doesn’t matter to them. Sometimes you don’t get that true friendship until you are forty years old but others find that friendship as young children. It works both ways in this novel. Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver share a friendship that is not common between two people because of their age difference but their interests are the same and I believe that that’s all that matters. Their friendship has many of the qualities I would look for in a friendship. They have trust in each other and loyalty. Long John Silver trusts Jim Hawkins so much because Jim Hawkins saves his life. Often Younger children look up to people that are older then them. I remember when I younger I looked up to my sister very much, she seemed like the coolest person I knew, therefore I wanted do everything she did, like Jim Hawkins looks up to Long John Silver. Long John Silver is an older man who is a pirate, he kills men and steals. Jim Hawkins is an innocent boy before he meets Long John Silver. Time passes as their friendship develops and before you know it Jim Hawkins kills a man!
Long john silver is one the most entertaining characters in the book treasure island; he can be caring and fierce at the same time. While reading the book you seem to get to know long john silver the most, they seem to give the most information about him.
Long John Silver seems like the type of character you see often in movies and books that seem cold-hearted and distant but there’s that one character that makes big heart come out and show. You would never think that an older man would have such a strong friendship with a young boy who is the complete opposite of himself. Jim Hawkins is a young boy who narrates the whole story. He is the son of a woman who owns an inn and does house work. He dreams to go and look for treasure for someday, when he meets Long John Silver I think he is excited of the opportunities that could be brought his way. Jim Hawkins shows courage throughout the novel. Jim Hawkins had to be courageous young boy when he was kidnapped by the other pirates and ties up. I can’t imagine how he felt when he heard the pirates say he wanted to kill him! He must have felt such a relief when Long John Silver said he wanted to keep him alive. "I’ve always liked you, I have, for a lad of spirit and the picter of my own self when i was a young and handsome" (180) I think Jim gains a high level of respect after long john silver saves his life. Later in the novel Jim Hawkins return the favor and saves Long John Silver. After the pirates find the treasure and have it secured on the boat they want to get rid of Long John Silver. They had planned on taking him home where he would go on trial and be hung for being a pirate but Jim Hawkins feels since Long John saved his life he should do the same. These two people have experienced things in their friendship that most people don’t. They have had to deal their lives being in jeopardy and had to trust each other and at times put their lives in their hands and just have to trust that they’d make the right choice.
Throughout our years in being in high school we have read many different books that have displayed a variety of friendships. I believe this friendship has been one of the strongest. It somewhat makes me think back to Of mice and Men and George and Lennies friendship. I feel they relate to each other in the way that they are uncommon. George is a man looking for work in hard times during the great depression and he becomes best friends with a mentally retarded man who causes him trouble and stress. It’s also unlikely for an older pirate to have a strong friendship with a teenage boy who is innocent. Friendship can come at unexpected times but very good things can come from it.