Analysis
The humor by Ben Gunn provides comic relief in the middle of the novel, a much needed break from the stressful situation of the young Jim Hawkins dealing with the pirates, and the many deaths and cunning behavior that has been witnessed by the narrator. By using spellings that are incorrect (for example, cemetery for cemetery or chapling for chaplin), Stevenson has Gunn mispronounce words, which makes him a less-serious aspect of the novel. Another example is having the strange man fall down at the sight of Jim, or making comments (when talking about his Christian background), that he could recite his catechism so fast that you "couldn't tell one word from another," making fun of some priests who would do the same thing.