The ways of forming possible worlds of literary text characters: A cognitive linguistic aspect (a study of the novel “Treasure Island” by R.L. Stevenson”)
Abstract
The article aims to expose various ways along which possible worlds of the characters’ images in the novel “Treasure Island” by R.L. Stevenson are formed. The methodological toolset leveraged in the paper combines the contemporary techniques of cognitive linguistics (namely, semantics of lingual networks) with the basic tenets of the possible worlds theory. The characteristics of the central protagonists of the novel Jim Hawkins and John Silver were analyzed with the help of basic propositional schemas. The characters exist in the novel in several possible worlds which are identified on the basis of the evaluation of the protagonists’ features, the change of the main characters’ location, and the dynamics of their axiology. As the analysis manifested, possible worlds of Jim Hawkins are formed according to the sequential model when the character matures with the unraveling of the plot, transforming from a Child into a Teenager and then into an Adult. A timid and dreamy boy gives way to a somewhat reckless and impulsive youth who finally turns into a courageous man. This maturation enables him to help his friends find the treasure and capture without anybody’s assistance the ship which they use to return home. The image of John Silver has a more complicated architecture since he features in two parallel possible worlds simultaneously as the Ringleader of pirates (nicknamed Barbecue) and Ship’s cook. He shuttles between these two epitomes during the development of the narration trying to achieve his goals. John Silver can wear a disguise of an amiable and hard-working member of the ship’s crew and then suddenly change into a cruel and greedy buccaneer who in cold blood murders people, starts a mutiny, and sticks at nothing to get his share of the treasure. When the mutiny fails, Silver feigns loyalty and obedience by betraying his cronies, but once the ship arrives in England his criminal self surfaces again.
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