Robinson Crusoe

Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published in 1719 and sometimes regarded as the first novel in English.

The story

Crusoe leaves England on a sea voyage in 1652 against the wishes of his parents. The ship is taken over by Salè pirates and Crusoe becomes the slave of a Moor. He manages to escape with a boat and is befriended by the Captain of a Portuguese ship off the western coast of Africa. The ship is en route to Brazil. There with the help of the Captain, Crusoe becomes owner of a plantation.

Related Topics:
England - 1652 - Salè - Pirates - Moor - Boat - Portuguese - Ship - Africa - Brazil - Plantation

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He joins an expedition to bring slaves from Africa, but he is shipwrecked in a storm on an island about 40 miles out to sea near the mouth of the Orinoco river. His companions all die; he manages to fetch arms, tools and other supplies from the ship before it breaks apart and sinks. He proceeds to build a fenced-in habitation and cave, keeps a calendar by making marks in a piece of wood. He hunts, grows corn, learns to make pottery, raises goats etc. He reads the Bible and slowly becomes religious, thanking God for his fate in which nothing is missing but society.

Related Topics:
Slave - Shipwreck - Orinoco - Calendar - Corn - Pottery - Goat - Bible

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He discovers native cannibals occasionally visit the island to kill and eat prisoners. At first he plans to kill the savages for their abomination, but then he realizes that he has no right to do so as the cannibals have not attacked him and do not knowingly commit a crime. He dreams of capturing one or two servants by freeing some prisoners, and indeed, when a prisoner manages to attempt escape, Crusoe helps him, naming his new companion "Friday" after the day of the week he appeared, and teaches him English and converts him to Christianity.

Related Topics:
Cannibal - Island - Prison - Crime - Dream - Servant - Escape - English

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After another party of natives arrive to partake in a grisly feast, Crusoe and Friday manage to kill all 21 of the natives and save two of the prisoners. One is Friday's father and the other is a Spaniard. The Spaniard informs Crusoe that there are other Spaniards shipwrecked on the mainland. A plan is devised where the Spaniard would return with Friday's father to the mainland and bring back the others, build a ship, and sail to a Spanish port and salvation for all.

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Before the Spaniards return, an English ship appears; it turns out that a mutiny had broken out on the ship and the mutineers intend to maroon their captain on the island. The captain and Crusoe manage to retake the ship. They leave for England but leave behind 3 of the mutineers on the island to fend for themselves and inform the Spaniards when they arrive what happened. Crusoe had spent 28 years on the island.

Related Topics:
Mutiny - Maroon - Captain

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After returning to Europe with Friday in 1686, he travels to Portugal to find his old Captain friend who informs him his plantation in Brazil was well cared for and he has become wealthy. From Portugal he travels overland to England, to avoid mishaps at sea, via Spain and France; in a mountainous region in winter, he and his companions have to fend off an attack of vicious wolves. Back in England, he decides to sell his plantation, as returning to Brazil would entail converting to Catholicism. Later in life after marrying and having two children and becoming widowed, he returns to his island for a last time. The book ends with a hint about a sequel that would detail his return to the island.

Related Topics:
Europe - 1686 - Spain - France - A mountainous region - Wolves - Catholic

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