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Israel Hands is the Hispaniola’s coxswain—that is, the sailor who steers the ship. As the novel progresses, we learn that he is actually a pirate and used to be the gunner on Captain Flint’s ship, the Walrus. With his affinity for alcohol, crude manners, and bursts of violence, Hands symbolizes the reckless and uncivilized behavior of pirates.
Hands plays a key role in Jim’s coming-of-age arc. Treasure Island is an adventure story, but it is also a bildungsroman. Jim makes a series of errors throughout the novel from which he subsequently learns various life lessons. These are crucial moments in the text because they highlight Jim’s path to maturity. When Jim first meets Hands, he describes him as a “careful, wily, old, experienced seaman who could be trusted at a pinch with almost anything.” Jim’s incorrect characterization highlights his naivety; it’s clear his romanization of the seafaring life has blinded him to Hands’ true character. However, in Chapter 11, Jim learns that he was too quick to trust Hands. Hands and many of the other sailors on board are secretly pirates planning to take control of the ship and steal the treasure. Jim applies his newfound critical thinking skills to the situation at hand a few chapters later, as he decides whether or not he can trust Ben Gunn.
Stevenson uses Hands as a tool to further Jim’s development one final time towards the end of the novel, when Jim encounters Hands on his quest to set the Hispaniola adrift. Jim displays a confidence and a competence in these two chapters that the reader has not seen from him before. He successfully manipulates Hands into helping him land the ship at another part of the island, keeps a level head once Hands attacks him, and even manages to kill Hands in battle. Jim’s ability to overpower Hands confirms that Jim has matured into a clever and capable young man as opposed to the frightened and naive boy who opens the novel.
