Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

1. Describe your impressions of a significant place or character in the book. Why is it or he/she
important to understanding the text?

David Balfour’s uncle, Ebenezer Balfour, is important to understanding Kidnapped. Ebenezer is

a miser who arranges for his nephew to be kidnapped. This act sets the plot in motion and
serves as the beginning of Davie’s journey. Ebenezer plans the kidnapping so he could steal
Davie’s inheritance.

4. Consider the characters’ choices—would you act as s/he does in the given situation?

When David overhears the officers of the ship he’s on plotting to kill a man they brought
onboard, he intervenes. Davie tells the stranger about this plan and agrees to fight the sailors
with him. The man introduces himself as Alan Breck Stewart. David helps Alan fight against
fifteen sailors and even kills some of them. I would have not made the same decisions as David
if I was in his situation. If I found out about the plot to murder Alan, I would muster up the
courage to tell him about it but I wouldn’t assist him in combat. I would avoid the conflict and let
Alan figure out what to do himself. I am not a confrontational person so I would not want to get
involved with such a dangerous situation. Davie helped Alan because he thought it was the right
thing to do. I would have helped Alan, but I would have not risked my life to do so.

7. Is there a character from the book you’d like to meet in real life? Whom and why?

A character from Kidnapped I would like to meet in real life is Ebenezer Balfour. I think it would
be interesting to talk about why he goes to such extreme lengths for the sake of money. He
seems to only care about himself, so I would like to know more about his motivations. I would
like to know what Ebenezer would do with his money because money appears to be the focal
point of his life. I imagine that he would use his cash to pursue a hedonistic lifestyle, but
Ebenezer is a hoarder of cash so it is uncertain as to what he would exactly do.