Study notes: Kidnapped
David Balfour goes to claim an inheritance and is sold onto a ship by his uncle. After a wreck he travels across the Highlands with Alan Breck Stewart, a Jacobite who is quick with a sword and with an argument. Stevenson based pieces of the plot on real Scottish history and then wrote a chase story. David is trying to be lawful. Alan is trying to stay alive and proud. The friendship is the engine, and it is not smooth.
Themes
Loyalty versus law. Coming of age on the road. History sitting under an adventure.
People to follow
David Balfour, Alan Breck, and Uncle Ebenezer.
Talk about
- Why does David keep walking with Alan when they disagree?
- What does Ebenezer want, in one sentence?
- Which part is adventure, and which part is politics?
Public-domain text.