Law, Crime, Morals, and Sense of Justice in Treasure Island
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https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-0983Palavras-chave:
Treasure Island, The Persons of the Tale, Stevenson, sense of justice, pirates, Long John Silver, Jim HawkinsResumo
The aim of this article is to examine the legal, ethical and moral complications shown in Robert Louis Stevenson´s masterpiece, Treasure Island and the short story The Persons of the Tale. At first glance the romance is associated with ethical Manichaeism and puerility. Nothing could be further from the truth. The sympathy towards the criminals and the dislike towards the representatives of the order, betrayal and loyalty, rigor of the legal system and personal gain... All of them are characteristic features of the novel. This analysis shows a shifting moral landscape where the characters of the plot make ethical choice out of the moral and social conventions of society. Of particular interest is the reflection about the function of the representatives of the legal order in the novel. There are not legal institutions on the island. But we are reminded of the presence of the rule of law at all times. Stevenson uses this particular scenario to express a special and suggestive moral code where ambiguity, paradox and contradiction are the dominant pattern. Loyal to his legal and moral roots of Scottish Enlightenment as well as to an Aristotelian framework, Stevenson shows the connection between morals and action.
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