The doctor responsible for taking care of Jim’s father is also one of the first to recognize the significance of the treasure map that Jim has taken from Billy Bones’ possession. He, along with Squire Trelawney, outfits the Hispaniola in order to sail after the fortune. The doctor is an intelligent man, loyal to those loyal to him, and he isn’t exempt from the fascination with wealth and treasure that motivates so many characters in the book. He thinks of pirates as uniformly low, crude, murderous creatures, and has far less sympathy for them than Jim does, for instance.
Doctor Livesey Quotes in Treasure Island
The Treasure Island quotes below are all either spoken by Doctor Livesey or refer to Doctor Livesey. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 3
Quotes
Now, if I can't get away nohow, and they tip me the black spot, mind you, it's my old sea-chest they're after; you get on a horse—you can, can't you? Well, then, you get on a horse, and go to-well, yes, I will!—to that eternal Doctor swab, and tell him to pipe all hands—magistrates and sich—and he'll lay'em aboard at the 'Admiral Benbow'—all old Flint's crew, man and boy, all on 'em that's left. I was first mate, I was, old Flint's first mate, and I'm the on'y one as knows the place. He gave it me at Savannah, when he lay a-dying, like as if I was to now, you see.
Related Characters:
Billy Bones (“the captain”) (speaker), Jim Hawkins, Doctor Livesey, Captain Flint
Related Symbols:
The Black Spot
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6
Quotes
The doctor opened the seals with great care, and there fell out the map of an island, with latitude and longitude, soundings, names of hills, and bays and inlets, and every particular that would be needed to bring a ship to a safe anchorage upon its shores. It was about nine miles long and five across, shaped, you might say, like a fat dragon standing up, and had two fine landlocked harbours, and a hill in the centre part marked "The Spy-glass." There were several additions of a later date; but, above all, three crosses of red ink-two on the north part of the island, one in the south-west, and, beside this last, in the same red ink, and in a small, neat hand, very different from the captain's tottery characters, these words: “Bulk of treasure here.”
Related Characters:
Jim Hawkins (speaker), Doctor Livesey
Related Symbols:
The Map of Treasure
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 30
Quotes
“There is a kind of fate in this,” he observed, when I had done. “Every step, it’s you that saves our lives; and do you suppose by any chance that we are going to let you lose yours? That would be a poor return, my boy. You found out the plot; you found Ben Gunn—the best deed that ever you did, or will do, though you live to ninety.”
Related Characters:
Doctor Livesey (speaker), Jim Hawkins, Ben Gunn
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Treasure Island LitChart as a printable PDF.
Doctor Livesey Character Timeline in Treasure Island
The timeline below shows where the character Doctor Livesey appears in Treasure Island. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1. The Old Sea Dog at the “Admiral Benbow”
...narrator, Jim Hawkins, has been asked by a few men, including Squire Trelawney and Dr. Livesey, to write down all the details of their adventure to Treasure Island, beginning sometime in...
(full context)
One day Dr. Livesey stays for a drink after checking on Jim’s father, and grows annoyed at the captain’s...
(full context)
Chapter 2. Black Dog Appears and Disappears
...face ashen. Jim’s mother races downstairs and they try to treat him, but soon Dr. Livesey arrives to treat Jim’s father, and says the captain has had a stroke just like...
(full context)
Finally the captain opens his eyes and cries out asking where Black Dog is. The doctor begins to lecture him about the dangers of drinking rum, and once they get the...
(full context)
Chapter 3. The Black Spot
...the boy’s loyalty, and asks him for just a bit of rum, despite what the doctor said. He claims he’s lived on rum and one glass won’t hurt. Seeing how agitated...
(full context)
...chest. The captain says that if he ever gets the “black spot,” Jim should tell Livesey to find a crew and follow the instructions in the chest: the captain then says...
(full context)
Chapter 5. The Last of the Blind Man
...believes the men were after the very packet he has. Together they ride to Dr. Livesey’s house to discuss the contents of the bag.
(full context)
Chapter 6. The Captain’s Papers
Mr. Dance and Jim arrive to Dr. Livesey’s house, where Squire Trelawney, a tall, rough-faced man, is also sitting by the fire. Mr....
(full context)
...squire talks about Captain Flint, the most violent and bloodthirsty pirate of all time. Dr. Livesey asks if Flint had money: the squire exclaims that his treasure is well-known. The three...
(full context)
The final page is folded and sealed. When Dr. Livesey pries open the seal, a detailed map of an island falls out. There’s a hill...
(full context)
Jim isn’t sure what all the fuss is about, but the squire and doctor are thrilled. Squire Trelawney cries that they’ll draw up a crew, bring Jim on as...
(full context)
Chapter 7. I Go to Bristol
Jim stays at the doctor’s residence under the charge of the gamekeeper, Redruth, while preparations are taking place, and spends...
(full context)
...once they realized that the crew is in search of treasure. Jim realizes that the doctor won’t like this news. The rest of the letter recounts how the squire met a...
(full context)
Chapter 9. Powder and Arms
...that he doesn’t like the trip, the men, or the officer. In response to Dr. Livesey’s questions, he says that everyone seems to know more than he does about where they’re...
(full context)
...yet in this case still believes him. In any case, it remains a mystery. The doctor declares that Smollett and Silver are, at least, two honest men that the squire found...
(full context)
Chapter 12. Council of War
...even though he recognizes that Silver didn’t know he overheard him. Jim goes to the doctor and asks him for a private conference with the squire and Smollett. Dr. Livesey agrees,...
(full context)
Soon Jim is sent for and finds the squire, captain, and doctor in the cabin. He relates what he heard. The squire admits to the captain that...
(full context)
Chapter 13. How My Shore Adventure Began
...They row to shore, where there is no breeze and a strange smell of rotting—Dr. Livesey sniffs and declares that fever is certainly present.
(full context)
...cheerful one, as if he’s masking the others’ discontent. Jim, Smollett, the squire, and the doctor reconvene in the cabin that evening. Smollett proposes they allow the men to go ashore...
(full context)
Chapter 16. Narrative Continued by the Doctor: How the ship Was Abandoned
This section is narrated by Dr. Livesey, who describes how he, Smollett, and the squire wondered if they could conquer the six...
(full context)
Dr. Livesey begins to explore the island and soon, atop a knoll, he comes across a log-house:...
(full context)
...he’ll be killed. Hands sees that Redruth is armed, and sneaks back down below-deck. Dr. Livesey and Joyce, this time, paddle back to shore and begin to stock the log-house with...
(full context)
Chapter 17. Narrative Continued by the Doctor: The Jolly-boat’s Last Trip
...overloaded, and begins to list to and fro. Terrified, they all keep still, but Dr. Livesey can’t manage to keep the boat going straight towards the stockade (the log-house). Smollett tells...
(full context)
Chapter 18. Narrative Continued by the Doctor: End of the First Day’s Fighting
...onto the shore and through the trees, in the opposite direction from the pirates. Dr. Livesey hands Gray his knife, and Gray hurls it behind him. Soon they reach the stockade,...
(full context)
Dr. Livesey says to himself that it’s this loyal, stoic servant, the oldest of the men aboard...
(full context)
...the boat and taken the provisions. The captain begins to log the day’s events. Dr. Livesey wonders what may have happened to Jim Hawkins: suddenly, they hear a cry, and he...
(full context)
Chapter 19. Narrative Resumed by Jim Hawkins: The Garrison in the Stockade
...task: to dig a grave, to fetch firewood, and so on. At one point, Dr. Livesey confides in Jim that Smollett is a better man than he is.
(full context)
Dr. Livesey asks Jim more about Gunn. Jim isn’t sure whether he’s sane, but the doctor says...
(full context)
Chapter 21. The Attack
...Jim grabs a knife, receives a cut across the knuckles, and races outside, seeing the doctor pursuing a pirate down the hill and managing to stab him.
(full context)
...too. Only one remains alive, and he clambers up and flees, managing to escape. The doctor, Gray, and Jim race back inside.
(full context)
Chapter 22. How My Sea Adventure Began
...is also wounded: his wounds are serious but not fatal, requiring weeks of rest. Dr. Livesey patches up Jim’s cut across the knuckles.
(full context)
After dinner Dr. Livesey slips out and sets off through the trees. Gray is shocked and tells Jim he...
(full context)
Chapter 28. In the Enemy’s Camp
...in the face. He’s always liked Jim, Silver says, as he tells him that the doctor has cursed Jim as a traitor, so he can’t go back to his friends—he’ll have...
(full context)
...how they’ve seized the house and where his friends are. Silver tells Jim that Dr. Livesey had met him the day before with a flag of truce, pointing out that the...
(full context)
The men are staring at Jim as he asks Silver to let the doctor know how he died, should it come to that. Silver agrees in a strange tone....
(full context)
...and he’s always known when a game is up. Finally, he asks Jim why the doctor gave him (Silver) the map. Jim is flabbergasted, but Silver insists that he did.
(full context)
Chapter 29. The Black Spot Again
...to kill Jim, a hostage, who might be their last chance, or to kill the doctor, who has been taking care of the wounded. Finally, he throws the treasure map onto...
(full context)
Chapter 30. On Parole
All are awakened the next morning by the doctor’s voice. Jim is glad to hear it but also feels ashamed. Silver greets the doctor...
(full context)
Jim and Silver advance across the sand to where the doctor is waiting. Silver tells the doctor that Jim will tell him how Silver saved his...
(full context)
The doctor greets Jim sadly, saying he can’t truly blame him, but it was cowardly for him...
(full context)
When Jim tells the doctor of his adventures, the doctor marvels that at every turn it’s been Jim who has...
(full context)
Chapter 31. The Treasure Hunt—Flint’s Pointer
Silver tells Jim that he guessed Dr. Livesey told him to run for it, and he’s grateful that Jim kept his word. Now...
(full context)
...pirates. He’s also still confused by his friends’ abandonment of the stockade, and by the doctor’s last warning about the “squalls.”
(full context)
Chapter 33. The Fall of a Chieftain
Instantly, the doctor, Gray, and Ben Gunn emerge from behind the trees. The doctor cries that they must...
(full context)
...on the north-east part of the island for safekeeping. The afternoon of the attack, the doctor had gotten this information from Gunn, so the next morning, seeing the Hispaniola gone, the...
(full context)
That morning, when the doctor found out that Jim would be part of the pirates’ surprise (and might be in...
(full context)
Chapter 34. And Last
...kinds of coins, from different countries and in different sizes. On the third night, the doctor and Jim are walking along the hill, when they hear shrieking and singing: the doctor...
(full context)
The doctor wonders if the mutineers are insane, rather than drunk, in which case he should go...
(full context)
...a port where Mexican Indians and black people are selling sweet-smelling fruits and vegetables. The doctor, squire, and Jim meet an English man-of-war and spend some time aboard his ship. When...
(full context)
