Is L.J. Silver a good guy or bad guy?
I'm still not sure. He was killing and robbing people in one scene, and then saving people and making fair deals the next.
shareHe was a Pirate. Pirates don't necessarily have to be good or evil. There are Shades of Grey, and many of them fall into this category.
L.J. Silver's main priority was getting the treasure. But that did not mean he had to kill anyone to get it. However, he was working with other pirates who were more evil than he, and they wanted to hurt L.J. Silver, and anyone L.J. Silver cared for. So L.J. Silver killed them, when he felt threatened. Perhaps one might call that Self Defence.
L.J. Silver clearly liked Jim Hawkins. Maybe Jim Hawkins reminded L.J. Silver of himself at Jim's age. Perhaps he saw Jim as a "Foster" son, or the son he never had. Who knows...
The only time L.J. Silver talked about killing Jim Hawkins was when L.J. Silver was backed into a corner, and needed to take control of the situation, in order to ensure he would get the treasure.
To be honest, I have doubts about if L.J. Silver would have actually "Slit Jim Hawkins Throat". I believe what he said moments later, when he noted he would not have actually hurt him. Especially since later on, he protects Jim from the other pirates, and tries to save his life by calling for the doctor.
However, talking about threatening to kill someone is not a good thing, but compared to many of the other pirates seen in the film, L.J. Silver was a "good" pirate.
I guess it all depends on how you view pirates, and their need to obtain the treasure above all else.
Would I turn my back on L.J. Silver? NO! But as long as I kept in mind, he wanted the treasure, I would rather sail with him, than any other pirate in the film. In fact, He might be a great ally, if he knew I was going to equally share the treasure with him.