Protagonist in "Treasure Island"

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the reasons for which Robert Louis Stevenson chose the child Jim Hawkins to be the protagonist of his novel. It discusses why a child was chosen and what Stevenson hoped to achieve with this choice. It discusses issues such as the character's personality, the reasons the book was written and the book's target audience.

From the Paper:

"The protagonist is the chief player, the primary mover of the action. In most cases it is the protagonist who keeps a story moving by making specific choices which cause the action to move forward. The protagonist usually has a goal which he fights vigorously to achieve. Often the protagonist's attempt to achieve said goal is thwarted by the antagonist. For the purposes of this paper, the antagonist is defined as the person who stands in the way of the protagonist in his quest to achieve his goal. In the genre of melodrama, it is not uncommon for the antagonist to force the protagonist's hand. The protagonist must react to the antagonist's decisions and in many cases the antagonist keeps the action moving forward by doing so. Treasure Island is an excellent example of a melodrama."

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