At the introduction of Long John Silver's character, he is a very intimidating figure. However, he takes a liking to Jim early on. While he is an imposing force, he becomes somewhat fatherly towards Jim, mentoring him and showing him the way of sea life. Jim, being a rather shy child initially, begins to come out of his shell more due to Silver's influence.
However, when they arrive on the island, Jim and his compatriots are betrayed by Silver and the other pirates. Because of the relationship between the two of them, though, Silver and Jim join forces and eventually reconcile, finding the treasure and abandoning the remaining pirate crew on the island. Upon arriving at home, Silver escapes, allowing him to live a free and wealthy life, and he and Jim part on good terms.
Throughout the novel, Jim's relationship with Silver changes and evolves. When the novel starts off, Jim looks up to Silver. He is fascinated with him and idolizes him. Silver feels the same way and sees Jim both as a son and as a younger version of himself. But as the story unfolds and Silver's true nature is revealed, the two drift apart, and Jim goes from idolizing Silver to needing him but no longer viewing him as a role model or father figure. Jim is not a pirate, nor is he cut out for a life of villainy and evil. Silver, on the other hand, is a pirate through and through and does not want to change his ways. Thus, Jim's relationship with Silver devolves into one of survival rather than admiration.
To some extent, the relationship between Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver resembles that of father and son. Jim loses his real father early on in the story, and Silver rapidly fills the void, becoming a kind of father figure to the young lad. Silver sees himself in young Jim:
I’ve always liked you, I have, for a lad of spirit, and the picture of my own self when I was young and handsome.
The devious pirate captain is prone to shameless flattery to get his own way, but it seems churlish to doubt the sincerity of this statement. For better or worse, Jim and Silver are bound together; it is almost as if they were destined for this. Like any father-son relationship, it has more than its fair share of ups and downs. Despite this, there remains an enduring bond between them, one based on a mutual understanding that sets them apart from the other characters in the story:
I’ll save your life, if so be as I can—from them. But, see here, Jim—tit for tat—you save long John from swinging.
On a ship full of greedy, double-crossing murderers and thieves, it pays to have someone around you can trust. While this trust is based largely on self-interest, it is still there, nonetheless. Jim needs to be protected from Silver's despicable crew; Silver needs to be protected from the gallows. Either way, they need each other if they are to survive. It says something about the strength of the bond between them that when Jim tells Silver about his single-handed hiding of the ship and his killing of Israel Hands, Silver does not doubt him in the slightest. This is exactly the kind of thing that Silver himself would have done at his age.
But the father-son relationship is ultimately a dysfunctional one, not least because Jim and Silver, despite sharing certain character traits, are fundamentally different people. Jim is a conventionally good character, whereas Long John Silver is much more ambiguous, acting according to the dictates of his own system of values. Silver may not be a father in the Pap Finn mold, but there is no doubt that for him, number one comes first every time. Father figure or not, he is still a pirate, and that will always influence his relationship with Jim Hawkins.
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