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Academic Research Projects
“Through the Eyes of a Pirate: An Author’s Perception of Society”
From Vikings to Hackers: A Pirate’s World History (Peter Shapinsky, Fall 2012)
I read four pirate novels, spanning the years 1724 to 1992, to argue that through the lens of pirates, in addition to incorporating characters and themes from previous works of fiction, each author presents his ideological outlook on how materialism, selfishness, greed, and the desire to always have more than one already owns will destroy relationships and civilization, as a whole. The four novels were:
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A General History of the Pyrates by Captain Charles Johnson, published in 1724
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Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, published in 1883
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Captain Blood by Raphael Sabatini, published in 1922
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Where is Joe Merchant? by Jimmy Buffett, published in 1992
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