An apple was a round, edible fruit. Apples had been grown on apple trees for thousands of years in Asia and Europe, and were introduced to North America by European colonists. Apples had religious and mythological significance in many cultures, including Norse, Greek, and Christian tradition.

History[]

The notorious Spanish pirate hunter Armando Salazar was fond of apples. During the final sea battle of his anti-piracy campaign, when he thought the crew of the Silent Mary had destroyed the last traces of piracy in the Caribbean, he refused to give mercy to the few surviving pirates in the water, happily biting an apple and letting his soldiers shoot all the survivors.^[1]

When the young pirate Jack Sparrow searched for Captain Hector Barbossa around Shipwreck City, one of the places he visited was Miss Fanny's brothel where he found the owner eating an apple.^[2] Following the capture of the rogue pirates in Shipwreck City, Barbossa had a short talk with Jack Sparrow and his lady friend Esmeralda in The Drunken Lady tavern before ordering the serving boy to bring him a couple of nice crisp apples.^[3] Around five years later, along with biscuit and salted meat, apples were among the most used food provisions on the merchantman Wicked Wench when she was captained by Jack Sparrow.^[4] After the Wicked Wench became the pirate vessel Black Pearl, apples were still kept on board.^[5][6][7]

Hector Barbossa had a notable appreciation for green apples.^[8] Following his time in Shipwreck City,^[2][3] after falling under the Aztec Curse, Barbossa and his crew suffered a living death, feeling and tasting nothing: "...drink would not satisfy; food turned to ash in our mouths." The pirate captain himself was tormented by flavorless apples. He longed to be mortal so that he can once more taste the flesh of the fruit.^[9][10] As Elizabeth Swann ate dinner in the captain's cabin of the Black Pearl, Barbossa offered her an apple, which made Elizabeth aware of his intense gaze and that he wasn't eating. Suddenly wary of Barbossa's offer, Elizabeth initially thought the food was poisoned. Before performing the blood ritual, Barbossa said the first thing he would do when the curse was lifted, he'd eat a whole bushel of apples. While talking with Jack Sparrow in the captain's cabin, the still-cursed Barbossa grimaced and winced as Jack pulled a green apple from a bowl and jealously watched took a bite out of the apple and chew on it.^[6][7] Barbossa took an apple in the treasure caves of Isla de Muerta, but dropped it after his death in the hands of Jack Sparrow.^[5] When making his surprise entrance at Tia Dalma's shack, Barbossa finally slaked his appetite by lustily chomping on a sweet, juicy apple, as his pet undead monkey "Jack" sat up on his shoulder.^[11] Around the time of the quest for the Fountain of Youth, Privateer Barbossa had adopted sophisticated pretensions, so while the HMS Providence slashed through the waves, he ate slices of apple from a fine silver plate.^[8] Barbossa was only able to eat one crisp slice before Lieutenant Commander Groves approached.^[12] It is unknown if Barbossa still had his sophisticated pretensions when returning to piracy.

Behind the scenes[]

Apples first appeared in the junior novelization for the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.^[6][5] Captain Hector Barbossa had a notable appreciation for green apples in the Pirates films. Actor Geoffrey Rush recalled this while portraying Barbossa as a privateer in On Stranger Tides. He suggested that Barbossa would again eat a green apple, but having adopted sophisticated pretensions, would eat it delicately sliced, from a fine plate, with proper silverware.^[12][8]

In an early version of Jeff Nathanson's screenplay for Dead Men Tell No Tales, Captain Jack Sparrow and the crew of the Black Pearl saved the young British soldier Eric Brand from drowning and imprisoned him aboard the ship, but Sparrow decided to allow Brand to join the crew when the pirate captain saw the young man stealing an apple.^[13] By the final version of the film, apples only appeared with Armando Salazar.^[1]

Appearances[]

• The Price of Freedom
• Legends of the Brethren Court: The Caribbean
• Six Sea Shanties: Strangers Bearing Gifts
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003 junior novelization) (First appearance)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2006 junior novelization)
  • Fluch der Karibik
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (comic)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow
• Pirates of the Caribbean Online
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (junior novelization)
• The Brightest Star in the North: The Adventures of Carina Smyth
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
• LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Non-canonical appearance)

Sources[]

• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide
• Bring Me That Horizon: The Making of Pirates of the Caribbean
• Disney Second Screen: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

External links[]

• Apple on Wikipedia

Notes and references[]