However I feel about silver sending flint to the plantation, I can only logically accept that he 100% planned on locking him up by force for the rest of his life. No happy, relaxed farming, and no chance of escape.
Whether or not his decision was justified, it’s clear that silver’s priority was stopping flint and therefore the war (for selfish reasons, for flint’s own good, because it was unwinnable, whichever) not giving him peace with thomas. If he was aiming purely for the latter, as many people have pointed out, he could’ve freed thomas himself. But even with thomas, he knew flint still would have been a threat, so he locked them both up.
I’ve seen some people argue that silver knew flint would eventually break out (as most of the fandom also expects), or that it’s a progressive place and therefore would have little security, but if silver’s priority was to stop him and the war, why on earth would he risk his escape (and him returning even more pissed off than before)? Therefore he HAD to make sure he would stay in that plantation for good. And he knows what a fight james can put up. So he would have to make sure that the plantation was able to keep him locked up forever – through physical force.
Right or wrong, heartbreaking or heartless, THAT is the choice that silver made.
I feel like this post needs bullet points to make it more clear, so if you don’t mind me adding on, the options are:
Silver believed Thomas alone was enough for Flint to give up the war, because all he wants is Thomas, but he enslaved them anyway (believing they were capable of breaking out, but still forcing them to have to do it, risking their lives and potentially risking Thomas’ injury or death and thus pissing James off 10000000 times more)
Silver believed Thomas alone was enough for Flint to give up the war, because all he wants is Thomas, but he enslaved them anyway (not believing they were capable of breaking out and condemning them to a life of slavery and imprisonment)
Silver believed Thomas alone isn’t enough, so he locked James up in a plantation no one ever leaves so that James doesn’t return to fight the war
I’m sorry, but none of those options do Silver any favors. Two of them are “he enslaved his best friend for the rest of his life” and the third is “he enslaved his best friend and forced him to break out, risking the life of the man he loves most in the world and started this war for in the first place.”
And, to summarize: it really, really doesn’t matter whether James broke out the next day, because we’re talking about Silver’s behavior here.
Meg's Mumbles 