Who among us was not interested in fascinating stories about formidable pirates in childhood? Most likely, there are very few. Indeed, treasure hunting on the map is a favorite pastime of adults and children to this day, and films shot on a pirate theme invariably enjoy the viewer's love. The genre dedicated to the adventures of the sea robbers owes so much to Robert Lewis Stevenson, who was the first to decide to adapt it for children and teenagers.
To make the plot more reliable, the author studied a lot of materials about the life and laws of pirates. Thanks to this, the reader has the opportunity to get acquainted with certain terms and concepts of sea thugs. Like, for example, the “black mark” that Billy Bones received at the beginning of the novel, thereby ushering in the amazing and dangerous adventures described by Stevenson. What is the story of the creation of the novel “Treasure Island”, and how remarkable is the image of the old pirate Bons?
History of the writing of the novel
The author came up with the idea of creating the Treasure Island novel while playing with his stepson Lloyd Osborne. Noting how the boy was drawing something similar to a map, Stevenson joined him and became so carried away that soon the outlines of the famous island appeared on paper, the secret of which was subsequently kept by Billy Bones. The creation of the storyline was also not long in coming, with Lloyd actively participating in Stevenson's work on the novel. The guy helped to come up with symbols and names of places on the map, endowed certain character traits of characters and insisted that there were no heroines in the adventure story, distracting attention from the main events of the work.
The father of the writer also contributed to the creation of the novel. It was he who advised Stevenson to introduce a chest in the plot, in which Billy Bones kept the treasured card. As a result of such cooperation, a book was created and is still loved by the children to this day. And this is not surprising, because, reading the novel “Treasure Island”, every teenager can imagine himself in the place of the main character - Jim Hawkins and survive with him all the dangerous adventures associated with the search for a pirate treasure.
Billy Bones - fictional pirate or real?
There is reason to believe that this character has the character traits of a very real person - William Thomas Bones, who was a member of the team of the famous pirate captain - Edward Blackbeard Teach. Despite the fact that Bones was not related to treasures, a sad story with the island and the chest was present in his life.
Once part of the crew of the ship "Queen Anne's Revenge" rebelled against the cruel captain Tich. Among the dissatisfied included our hero, who became famous thanks to Stevenson as Billy Bones. Unfortunately, the rebellion was crushed, and the rebels landed on a small rocky islet called "Dead Man's Chest", belonging to the Virgin Islands.
Without water, the pirates were doomed to death, in addition, the treacherous captain gave everyone a bottle of rum, which in the end only increased thirst and brought death closer. It is believed that this story served as the theme for the legendary pirate song "Fifteen people on a dead man's chest."
Meet Billy Bons in Treasure Island
The appearance of an overweight stranger with a scar on his cheek in a hotel owned by the parents of the protagonist - Jim Hawkins was, of course, not accidental. Despite the obvious desire to remain inconspicuous, the old captain ordered him to call him a stranger, constantly got drunk, swore dirty, groaned songs and rowdy. No less strange seemed to Jim the guest's instructions. He paid the boy to look out for a certain sailor, and meanwhile he studied coastal cliffs and peered for a long time at the sea horizon. Everything indicated that the captain was hiding from someone.
Old pirate
The uninvited guest opened the veil of secrecy, the guest called him Black Dog. After a dispute and a fight with a visitor, the captain had a blow. Dr. Livesey came to the rescue by making a bloodletting. During this procedure, he discovered a tattoo with the guest's real name - Billy Bones. The attack was withdrawn, and the patient felt better, but the doctor warned him that it was time to stop drinking, otherwise the next blow would be the last.
After meeting with the Black Dog, the captain’s mood changed, he was depressed and, apparently, not only because of the shock. Continuing to stoke painful thoughts in alcohol, Bones once revealed to Jim some of the truth about himself. It turns out that he was once the first assistant to the famous pirate captain - Flint. Prior to that, on the ship of Captain England, he was called Billy Bones, the navigator. The old pirate, talking with the boy, briefly revealed himself from the positive human side. Jim even felt sorry for this in his own way unhappy and lonely man, who, for some reason, was now forced to hide from his former comrades.
Treasure Island Map
Soon another visitor came to Bons, as it turned out it was his old friend Blind Pugh. There were no long conversations, the blind man simply put something into the hand of a stunned Billy and immediately left. The sight of this item produced a lightning strike effect on Bons. As it turned out, it was a "black mark", which served as a symbol of the sentence of the pirate fraternity. He let out a heart-rending cry and fell. It was the second and this time fatal blow.
The owners decided to pick up the chest of the deceased at the expense of the outstanding debt for accommodation. Among ordinary things, there was a bar of silver and a map of a certain island. Now it became clear to Jim what the pirates were looking for and why Billy was hiding from them. Despite the fact that Bones died almost at the beginning of the novel, his very appearance at the Admiral Benbow Hotel served as the eyeballs of an amazing and dangerous story into which Jim Hawkins and the crew of the ship Hispaniola became involved.
Character B. Bones in literature
The extraordinary and strong personality of Billy Bons, thanks to Stevenson, interested other writers. Delderfield Ronald in his novel "The Adventures of Benn Gann" mentions Bons, as the patron and mentor of the protagonist. Ben Gan considered Billy a good man and a brave warrior who had to join the pirates due to tragic circumstances. Prior to that, Bones served as an honest skipper in the Royal Navy. In the books of Stephen Roberts, the pirate Bones is the main character, who tells his story before the events described in the novel “Treasure Island”. In Roberts' novels “Piastres, Piastres” and “Island of Wrecks”, the reader can find interesting facts from Billy’s youth and the reasons why he became a pirate.
Billy Bones: The Black Sails
The audience saw the old pirate Bons many times on the screens, since the novel Treasure Island was filmed five times, and also served as the basis for creating various animated versions. The audience did not know anything about the life of young Billy until the advent of the American television series Black Sails. Its premiere took place in 2014. The new story about old heroes immediately fell in love with the viewer, so after the first season two more were released, and in 2015 the series was extended for the fourth season.
Billy Bonsa in this TV show is played by Tom Hopper, known for his role as the Knight of Percival in the TV series "Merlin". Of course, in his performance the character received more charm and attractiveness, therefore, he enjoys the love of the viewer. From the plot of the film, the viewer learns about how very young Billy was forcibly taken to serve in the Royal Navy, where he worked like a convict. How the meeting with Captain Flint changed his life, and what difficulties Billy Bones is already overcome as a pirate. On black sails, under which he is now destined to sail, a pirate symbol flaunts. What adventures await him? The following seasons of the television series will tell us about this.