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Captain Flint was a renowned pirate and the captain of the Walrus. He is characterized as a fearsome and bloodthirsty man who would do anything, even murder his own crew, to protect his treasure. Although he is dead by the time the events of the book take place, his influence on the novel is significant. To begin with, Flint incidentally provides the catalyst that sets both the plot and Jim’s bildungsroman in motion. Jim finds Flint’s old treasure map among Billy Bones’ things, inspiring Jim, Doctor Livesey, and Squire Trelawney to set sail for Treasure Island in the first place.
Captain Flint is also important because he represents the dark and sinister side of piracy. We learn early on that Flint died from an excess of rum—a symbol that Stevenson turns to throughout the novel to represent the pirates’ recklessness, violence, and uncontrolled behavior. Flint also haunts the narrative as characters (such as Squire Trelawney, Long John Silver, and Ben Gunn) share stories of his ruthless and bloodthirsty ways. For example, Long John Silver claims that “the devil himself would have been feared to go to sea with [Flint’s crew]” and describes the Walrus as always being “amuck with the red blood and fit to sink with gold.” His depiction of the Walrus is particularly significant because, once again, Flint is associated with excess. Flint’s habitual overindulgence of rum, violence, and gold highlights his moral depravity and casts a shadow on the romanticized view of piracy that characters such as Jim and Squire Trelawney buy into at the start of the novel.
