My daughter and I were reading Treasure Island last night. I'm certain that I read it when I was young, but I don't seem to remember it much at all anymore. It's obviously a great book, and I really enjoy the prose.
After she went to bed, I started thinking about what a modern-day equivalent story to Treasure Island might be like. How would it begin?
I got stuck, though, because I can think of several contemporary analogues to pirates, but I can't think of a situation in which a 13-year-old boy finds himself in charge of running any kind of inn. But that is such a minor detail of the story that most people don't think twice about it. The author, along with the majority of the book's readership over the span of more than a century, took it for granted that a "tween" boy could and should be running an inn while his sick father is on his deathbed upstairs.
Today, most people afford young teenagers so little independence that placing a children's story in the present day results in a literally incredible plot point. And how you do get Treasure Island started without Jim Hawkins running an inn?
"13-year-olds shouldn't be working late!" "Young boys shouldn't serving alcohol!" "Teenagers hanging around with rowdy, alcoholic louses is a problematic environment!" Okay, okay, but how do you get Treasure Island started without Jim Hawkins running an inn?
