The Bottle Imp

Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson) was born in Edinburgh in 1850 to a family of lighthouse engineers. He was an only child and was often sickly, so he was primarily educated by private tutors. From an early age, he wrote stories, poems, and essays. His parents were supportive of his writing ambitions, though his father expressed some disappointment when Stevenson decided not to follow in his footsteps and pursue engineering. Despite his frequent bouts of ill health, travel was one of Stevenson’s great passions, and he took trips by land and water throughout his life. His love of adventure inspired many of his works, including Treasure Island.

In 1888, Stevenson chartered a yacht and traveled with his family throughout the Pacific region, visiting Hawaii, Tahiti, New Zealand, and the Samoan Islands, among other places. He was inspired by the people and the landscapes, and these travels influenced much of his later work, including “The Bottle Imp.” He also collected stories from local storytellers and “The Bottle Imp” was eventually translated into Samoan, marking a storytelling exchange between cultures.

He and his family settled in Samoa. He spent the last years of his life there, becoming involved in Samoan politics as a journalist and worrying about the influence of European powers in the islands and the danger they posed to Indigenous sovereignty. Previously conservative-leaning in his views but largely removed from politics, Stevenson took a strong political stance in his distaste for imperialism. Having immersed himself in Samoan culture, the intrusion of European powers caused him to take action by publishing information about the state of imperialism in Samoa, at the risk of his own deportation. He died in Samoa in 1894 and is buried there. “The Bottle Imp” and his other stories set in this region explore his admiration for the culture and the people as well as caution against the dangers posed by imperialism.