Robinson Crusoë door Daniel Defoe

Primary data
Title: Robinson Crusoe
Author: Daniel Dafoe
Originally published: 1719
Read edition: 1992 Everyman’s Library

Description
Robinson Crusoe is a well known name. It’s a famous book about adventure. I love adventure so I was very curious about the story. The story tells the adventures of a man living in the 17th century. He gets shipwrecked and manages to survive on a deserted island.

Deepening
Theme: survival.
Motives: loneliness, adventure, bible and friendship.
Genre: adventure.
Style: the author’s style is informal.

Summary
The name of the protagonist is Robinson Kruetznaer but he calls himself Robinson Crusoe. Robinson is the third son and was born in the city of York in 1632. He is the youngest of three brothers. His German parents want Robinson to study law but Robinson is only interested in the sea. It’s the first of September 1651 when Robinson delivers a package to a captain in the harbour of his hometown Hull. Robinson gets invited by the captain to take a look on his ship. Robinson falls asleep and when he wakes up he realises that he is at sea. The ship has sailed away with Robinson on it. The captain let’s Robinson work on his ship. The ship gets wrecked and the crew gets rescued by another ship. Robinson gets back to shore and decides to go on another trip, he doesn’t want to go home. Again luck turns against him. The ship gets captured by pirates and Robinson is made a slave. He stays being a slave for two years until he finds a way to escape. Robinson and his friend Xury get picked up by a Portuguese trading ship which brings them to Brazil. Robinson starts a tobacco plantation with big success but he keeps longing for the sea so he eventually sails away again. This time he gets shipwrecked because of a storm. Robinson is the only survivor and manages to get to shore. Robinson stays on the deserted island for 28 years. During that time he keeps his journals, builds a shelter and keeps animals. Robinson finds human signs and remains so gets convinced that he is not alone on the island. One day he sees the cannibals in canoes going to shore. They have two prisoners with them. One of the prisoners gets saved by Robinson. Robinson calls the man Friday and spends the last time of his stay on the island with him. In 1687 a mutinied British trading ship comes to shore. Robinson becomes friends with the captain and wins the ship back to his original owner thanks to his large stock of ammunition. The ship takes off to Europe and Robinson goes along. In Spain Robinson realises himself that he doesn’t want to live in the luxury on the plantation anymore and decides to go back to England. Afraid for the dangers at sea Robinson and Friday travel by land this time. They nearly die of a wolves attack but they finally succeed in reaching London. In England Robinson gets married and gets 3 children.

Setting
Most of the story takes place on the island where Robinson is staying.

Perspective
I-narrator with a subjective perspective. The story is described the way the narrator sees and experiences it. The internal retrospective narrator is the protagonist.

Time
The story is written chronological and linear. It starts in 1632 and ends in 1694.

Cultural historical and social context
This book is written in the early 18th century but the story takes place in the 17th century. During that time England was characterized by its exploration and colonisation. These elements are reflected in the story. Coloured people were slaves just like Friday. People were dreaming about sailing the oceans, exploring new lands and seeking for fortune. Robinson impersonated this. England was in the Augustan Age. The Augustan literature was less determined by religion and included more politic-economic and empiricism matters. Authors felt more free to write about these liberal, capitalistic subjects. Still the style was quite formal. Daniel Dafoe was a pioneer. He wrote the first informal novel and it turned out to be a huge success.

Sources
Robinson Crusoe. Defoe, Daniel. 1719. 1992, Everyman’s Library.
Augustan literature. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustan_literature

Evaluation
This book is everything I expected it to be. It’s amusing, fascinating and entertaining. The author tells a complete story. The thing that I didn’t appreciate is that the author used long sentences.

However, as the sun bak’d these two very dry and hard, I lifted them very gently up, and set them down again in two great wicker-baskets which I had made on purpose for them, that they might not break, and as between the pot and the basket there was a little room of spare, I stuff’d it full of rice and barley straw, and these two pots being to stand always dry, I thought would hold my dry corn, and perhaps the meal, when the corn was bruised. (page 101)

The other thing that the author could better have left out of the story to my opinion is religion. Robinson Crusoe is a adventurous story. The theme is not educating but entertaining in purpose. So this moral could better have been left aside, it doesn’t add anything to the story.