adding a coming-of-age element to this adventure classic.

Jim Hawkins is the protagonist of Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. During the story, he is an adolescent boy, enduring many hardships before he even starts on his adventure. The first struggle he faces is when the mysterious stranger, the seaman Bones, arrives at his father's inn, bringing menace and violence into his life. Next, Jim must cope with the death of his father, and the resulting economic uncertainty of his future.

After the discovery of the treasure map, Jim must make the difficult decision of whether to endure a dangerous and uncertain voyage or stay home, where he also may be threatened by pirates because of his knowledge of the treasure map. 

Once the voyage begins, his next struggle is dealing with the crew whom he discovers are an unsavory lot planning mutiny. Once they reach the island, Jim is caught up in struggles with the mutineers, and uses cunning to avoid being captured by them. He struggles to control and survive in the homemade boat, and then struggles against the pirates, even having to endure a knife wound. His final struggle is to return safely to England with a part of the treasure.

In the novel, “Treasure Island”, by Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson, one adventurous thing that the principal narrator of the story, Jim (James) Hawkins, does is head to shore from the ship the Hispaniola. Jim Hawkins is the type of person who welcomes adventure. He looks out at Treasure Island from the ship as the ship approaches the island. He knows he must take action and go onto Treasure Island.

The crux of the matter here is that Jim wants to stop the plans of Long John Silver.Long John Silver is part of the Hispaniola crew. One evening, Jim Hawkins overhears Long John Silver’s plan to take over the Hispaniola. Long John Silver is ready to stir up a mutinous act to gain control of the ship to satisfy his desire to gain the treasure on the island. He knows he must take over the ship as a means to further his plans to get treasure off of the island once it is secured.

Jim Hawkins takes adventurous action by hopping onto one of the small boats of the Hispaniola that will be used to land on the beach of the island. His goal is to get to Spy-glass Hill eventually. This hill is where the majority of Captain Flint's treasure is, and this is what Long John Silver is after as well.

This is a brave, adventurous move by Jim Hawkins who realizes he must take immediate action to stop Long John Silver’s strategies. He knows he cannot sit back and wait. Ultimately, when the small boat reaches the shore, Jim is even more adventurous, as he heads full-tilt intoa thicket to hide and advance his plan, as Long John Silver yells after him, knowing that Jim could be an impediment to his plans.

After having learned of a secret treasure on an island, the district squire named Trelawney makes the proposition of taking Livesey as ship's doctor and Jim as the cabin boy, after the ship's departure and just before the island is sighted, Jim, who hides in an apple barrel, overhears Long John Silver talking with the other pirates as they plan a mutiny. Of course, he alerts the captain and others; so, knowing that they will be outnumbered, the men decide that they must feign ignorance of this nefarious plot and not do anything until after the treasure is located, at which time they may have the element of surprise on their sides to fight the pirates. 

In Part III, "How I Began My Shore Adventure," Jim feels queasy as the anchored ship rocks violently because of the waves; he considers going ashore, but he senses something ominous,  

perhaps it was the look of the island, with its gray, melancholy woods, and wild stone spires, and the surf that we could both see and hear foaming and thundering on the steep beach

Because the men are complaining and recalcitrant about obeying orders, Long John Silver tries to bolster their morale. The captain decides that shore leave may help their attitude, allowing Silver to shape them up on shore while he arms the men he can trust; six stay on board while thirteen disembark. At the last minute Jim decides to go ashore, but regrets it when Silver barks out, "Is that Jim." So, he quickly hides in a thicket of trees once they land. From there he hears voices and moves closer to hear.

Long John Silver argues with Alan, an honest man, who argues against mutiny, but he is shot. Then, another sailor named Tom tells Silver that what he is doing is wrong, and he will not be a part of it. When he walks away, Long John Silver hurls his crutch into the man's back, then quickly hops to the man, driving his knife into poor Tom. Witnessing this cruelty, Jim nearly faints; when he comes to his senses, he starts to flee.

As I did so, I could hear hails coming and going between the old buccaneer and his comrades, and this sound of danger lent me wings. As soon as I was clear of the thicket, I ran as I never ran before....

As he flees, Jim runs upon a strange man who leaps and bounds around him, hiding then appearing, until finally he approaches Jim, saying his name is Benjamin Gunn, who has been marooned for three years. He has fashioned a small boat and says he will aid Jim if he can be promised safe passage back to his home. Gunn asks Jim who the other men on the island are, and tells Jim he knows Silver. He was left by other sailors when they could not find Flint's treasure after returning for it; during his three years, however, he has found the treasure and will share it if the captain will help him.

Jim Hawkins experiences a profound transformation over the course of Treasure Island. He starts the book as a boy but ends it as a man, having experienced enough adventure to last several lifetimes. But the growing-up process for Jim starts before he even sets foot on board ship. After the sudden death of his father, huge responsibilities are placed on his young shoulders. He has to not only arrange his father's funeral but also take over the running of the Admiral Benbow.

No sooner has Jim been plunged headlong into the adult world than he's faced with an even bigger challenge—escaping Bones's enemies and making off with a chest full of loot and a treasure map. Whether he likes it or not, Jim is now responsible for his own destiny in a way that no child should ever have to be. His father is dead, and now he has had to hide his mother for her own protection. And that's before his escapades on the high seas have even started.

Once on board ship, Jim continues to grow up fast. He senses that appearances can be deceptive and that Long John Silver's back-slapping bonhomie hides a deeply manipulative personality. Yet even though Jim has figured out Silver pretty quickly, even though he knows just how dangerous Silver can be, he still doesn't hesitate in spying on him for Smollett and Trelawney. Jim also witnesses acts of theft and murder and overhears information that provides him with insight into how adults think and behave.

As the story progresses, Jim starts to take more responsibility for his actions. He finally comes to accept that he is in control of his own fate, even in a harsh, brutal world full of cutthroat pirates and thieves. On his own initiative, he boards the Hispaniola to take it back, fighting off Israel Hands in the process. This is the point in the story when we can say, without a doubt, that Jim Hawkins has achieved full maturity.

What forces Jim to grow up and mature very rapidly is the takeover of the ship that is launched by Long John Silver. In Chapter 10 it is detailed how Jim hides in a barrel, only to find himself being able to over hear Silver as he discusses his plans. Note how Jim refers to this situation:

It was Silver's voice, and before I had heard a dozen words, I would not have shown myself for all the world, but lay there, trembling and listening, in the extreme of fear and curiosity, for from these dozen words I understood that the lives of all the honest men aboard depended upon me alone.

It is the responsibility that Jim suddenly has that catapults him from being a mere cabin boy, the lowliest member of the crew and a child, to being an adult who holds the lives of others in his hands based on what he does and does not do. Jim suddenly finds that he has to mature very quickly, as he has to cope with a very dangerous and risky situation. It is this moment of understanding and this sense of responsibility that results in his coming-of-age, and it is clear from the novel that Jim, after these events, is completely different from the youthful Jim before these events. Jim, at the end of the story, clearly is presented as an adult, who has proven himself as a man and shown his maturity. It is the responsibility that Jim has thrust upon him therefore that triggers his rapid maturity, as he has to face the fact that his actions will determine whether others live or die.

Jim Hawkins experiences a profound transformation over the course of Treasure Island. He starts the book as a boy but ends it as a man, having experienced enough adventure to last several lifetimes. But the growing-up process for Jim starts before he even sets foot on board ship. After the sudden death of his father, huge responsibilities are placed on his young shoulders. Not only does he have to arrange his father's funeral, he also has to take over the running of the Admiral Benbow.

No sooner has Jim been plunged headlong into the adult world than he's faced with an even bigger challenge—escaping Bones's enemies and making off with a chest full of loot and a treasure map. Whether he likes it or not, Jim's now responsible for his own destiny in a way that no child should ever have to be. His father's dead, and now he's had to hide his mother for her own protection. And that's before his escapades on the high seas have even started.

Once on board ship, Jim continues to grow up fast. He senses that appearances can be deceptive and that Long John Silver's back-slapping bonhomie hides a deeply manipulative personality. Yet even though Jim's figured out Silver pretty quickly, even though he knows just how dangerous he can be, he still doesn't hesitate in spying on him for Smollett and Trelawney. Jim also witnesses acts of theft and murder and overhears information that provides him with insight into how adults think and behave.

As the story progresses, Jim starts to take more responsibility for his actions. He finally comes to accept that he is in control of his own fate, even in a harsh, brutal world full of cutthroat pirates and thieves. On his own initiative, he boards the Hispaniola to take it back, fighting off Israel Hands in the process. This is the point in the story when we can say, without a doubt, that Jim Hawkins has achieved full maturity.