Robinson Crusoe is an Englishman from the town of
York in the seventeenth century, the youngest son of a merchant of German
origin. Encouraged by his father to study law, Crusoe expresses his wish to go
to sea instead. His family is against Crusoe going out to sea, and his father
explains that it is better to seek a modest, secure life for oneself.
Initially, Robinson is committed to obeying his father, but he eventually
succumbs to temptation and embarks on a ship bound for London with a friend.
When a storm causes the near deaths of Crusoe and his friend, the friend is
dissuaded from sea travel, but Crusoe still goes on to set himself up as
merchant on a ship leaving London. This trip is financially successful, and
Crusoe plans another, leaving his early profits in the care of a friendly
widow. The second voyage does not prove as fortunate: the ship is seized by
Moorish pirates, and Crusoe is enslaved to a potentate in the North African
town of Sallee. While on a fishing expedition, he and a slave boy break free
and sail down the African coast. A kindly Portuguese captain picks them up,
buys the slave boy from Crusoe, and takes Crusoe to Brazil. In Brazil, Crusoe
establishes himself as a plantation owner and soon becomes successful. Eager
for slave labor and its economic advantages, he embarks on a slave-gathering
expedition to West Africa but ends up shipwrecked off of the coast of Trinidad.
Crusoe soon learns he
is the sole survivor of the expedition and seeks shelter and food for himself.
He returns to the wreck’s remains twelve times to salvage guns, powder, food,
and other items. Onshore, he finds goats he can graze for meat and builds
himself a shelter. He erects a cross that he inscribes with the date of his
arrival, September 1, 1659, and makes a notch
every day in order never to lose track of time. He also keeps a journal of his
household activities, noting his attempts to make candles, his lucky discovery
of sprouting grain, and his construction of a cellar, among other events. In
June 1660, he falls ill and hallucinates that an angel visits,
warning him to repent. Drinking tobacco-steeped rum, Crusoe experiences a
religious illumination and realizes that God has delivered him from his earlier
sins. After recovering, Crusoe makes a survey of the area and discovers he is
on an island. He finds a pleasant valley abounding in grapes, where he builds a
shady retreat.
Crusoe begins to feel
more optimistic about being on the island, describing himself as its “king.” He
trains a pet parrot, takes a goat as a pet, and develops skills in basket
weaving, bread making, and pottery. He cuts down an enormous cedar tree and
builds a huge canoe from its trunk, but he discovers that he cannot move it to
the sea. After building a smaller boat, he rows around the island but nearly perishes
when swept away by a powerful current. Reaching shore, he hears his parrot
calling his name and is thankful for being saved once again. He spends several
years in peace.
One day Crusoe is
shocked to discover a man’s footprint on the beach. He first assumes the
footprint is the devil’s, then decides it must belong to one of the cannibals
said to live in the region. Terrified, he arms himself and remains on the
lookout for cannibals. He also builds an underground cellar in which to herd
his goats at night and devises a way to cook underground. One evening he hears
gunshots, and the next day he is able to see a ship wrecked on his coast. It is
empty when he arrives on the scene to investigate. Crusoe once again thanks
Providence for having been saved. Soon afterward, Crusoe discovers that the
shore has been strewn with human carnage, apparently the remains of a cannibal
feast. He is alarmed and continues to be vigilant. Later Crusoe catches sight
of thirty cannibals heading for shore with their victims. One of the victims is
killed. Another one, waiting to be slaughtered, suddenly breaks free and runs
toward Crusoe’s dwelling. Crusoe protects him, killing one of the pursuers and
injuring the other, whom the victim finally kills. Well-armed, Crusoe defeats most
of the cannibals onshore. The victim vows total submission to Crusoe in
gratitude for his liberation. Crusoe names him Friday, to commemorate the day on which his
life was saved, and takes him as his servant.
Finding Friday cheerful and
intelligent, Crusoe teaches him some English words and some elementary
Christian concepts. Friday, in turn, explains that the cannibals are divided
into distinct nations and that they only eat their enemies. Friday also informs
Crusoe that the cannibals saved the men from the shipwreck Crusoe witnessed
earlier, and that those men, Spaniards, are living nearby. Friday expresses a
longing to return to his people, and Crusoe is upset at the prospect of losing
Friday.
Crusoe then entertains the idea of
making contact with the Spaniards, and Friday admits that he would rather die
than lose Crusoe. The two build a boat to visit the cannibals’ land together.
Before they have a chance to leave, they are surprised by the arrival of
twenty-one cannibals in canoes. The cannibals are holding three victims, one of
whom is in European dress. Friday and Crusoe kill most of the cannibals and
release the European, a Spaniard. Friday is overjoyed to discover that another of
the rescued victims is his father. The four men return to Crusoe’s dwelling for
food and rest. Crusoe prepares to welcome them into his community permanently.
He sends Friday’s father and the Spaniard out in a canoe to explore the nearby
land.
Eight days later, the sight of an
approaching English ship alarms Friday. Crusoe is suspicious. Friday and Crusoe
watch as eleven men take three captives onshore in a boat. Nine of the men
explore the land, leaving two to guard the captives. Friday and Crusoe overpower
these men and release the captives, one of whom is the captain of the ship,
which has been taken in a mutiny. Shouting to the remaining mutineers from
different points, Friday and Crusoe confuse and tire the men by making them run
from place to place. Eventually they confront the mutineers, telling them that
all may escape with their lives except the ringleader. The men surrender.
Crusoe and the captain pretend that the island is an imperial territory and
that the governor has spared their lives in order to send them all to England
to face justice. Keeping five men as hostages, Crusoe sends the other men out
to seize the ship. When the ship is brought in, Crusoe nearly faints.
On December 19, 1686, Crusoe boards the
ship to return to England. There, he finds his family is deceased except for
two sisters. His widow friend has kept Crusoe’s money safe, and after traveling
to Lisbon, Crusoe learns from the Portuguese captain that his plantations in
Brazil have been highly profitable. He arranges to sell his Brazilian lands.
Wary of sea travel, Crusoe attempts to return to England by land but is
threatened by bad weather and wild animals in northern Spain. Finally arriving
back in England, Crusoe receives word that the sale of his plantations has been
completed and that he has made a considerable fortune. After donating a portion
to the widow and his sisters, Crusoe is restless and considers returning to
Brazil, but he is dissuaded by the thought that he would have to become
Catholic. He marries, and his wife dies. Crusoe finally departs for the East
Indies as a trader in 1694. He revisits his
island, finding that the Spaniards are governing it well and that it has become
a prosperous colony.
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