Meaning and summary: "Robinson Crusoe"

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Perhaps, to understand the main idea of the immortal novel by Daniel Defoe and to cover at once the entire summary of the book "Robinson Crusoe" will help the thought of a completely different literary hero, who lives many centuries later - Dr. Ravik from Remarque's "Arc de Triomphe". This refers to the words that no matter what fate is, it still cannot break the “calm courage” that opposes it.

Why does an adventurer and politician, a flamboyant journalist, pamphleteer and covert head of British intelligence, after disgrace and prison at the age of 60, create the immortal "Robinson"? How could it be that a man who, in his secret career, reached a period of influence on the king and government, ended his life in poverty? The author, a contradictory person, constantly and actively interacting with society, creates a surprisingly internally integral literary hero, completely divorced fromany social life. Self-assessment of the days lived by the paradoxical method "from the opposite" by Defoe himself - "Robinson Crusoe" draws its summary from reliable stories.

The basis for writing the book was the real story of the pirate Alexander Selkirk, for disagreeing with the captain landed on the uninhabited island of Mas a Tierra, located in the Pacific Ocean at a distance of 670 kilometers from the coast of Chile. The disgraced corsair lived on the island for 4 years and 4 months.

What does the summary tell us? Robinson Crusoe, a native of York, a Brazilian planter, having gone for black slaves, after a shipwreck, finds himself on an Atlantic island near the mouth of the Orinoco River. By means of a constructed raft, he manages to deliver carpentry tools, weapons, and food to the shore from the destroyed ship. Robinson is undergoing a reassessment of values. For him, an ax, a saw, a knife become the most expensive, and the gold taken from the ship on the island has no value.

He remains one on one with the nature and climate of the island. This is the plot of the plot, as the summary tells. Robinson Crusoe builds his ingenious fortress house, hidden behind a palisade, which can only be reached with the help of a ladder. Further, during the extraction of goat meat, he comes up with the idea to tame these animals. Soon, in addition to meat, he also has milk and cheese. Robinson considers the accidentally sprouted grains of barley and rice to be a real gift from heaven, without any "ulterior motive" simply shaken out by him with some kind of garbage fromreleased bags. Reluctantly becoming a breeder, after a few years he was able to plant the field that feeds him.

The protagonist's pragmatic, "economical" approach to his life led to a logical summary throughout the book. Robinson Crusoe, thanks to consistent reasonable work, turns from an unfortunate wanderer defeated by the elements into the owner of a strong subsistence economy. The melons and grapes found on the island become a real gift for him. Now he has plenty of raisins. His leisure is brightened up by three cats and a dog, miraculously surviving on the downed ship. He begins to plan his day, taking time between work to read the Bible and write. Robinson maintains his own calendar.

All this time the wanderer cherishes the dream of building a ship and sailing on it to civilization. But he can’t even push the pirogue hollowed out of a log to the water. One thing is clear - you need an assistant. On the coast of the island, cannibals begin to periodically appear for their rituals. The threat to the life of the protagonist himself fills the summary with notes of anxiety. Robinson Crusoe, with the help of weapons, beats off Friday, who was intended to be sacrificed, who becomes a faithful servant and friend. Together with Friday with weapons, they free a Spanish prisoner from cannibals with an old man, Friday's father. Together, they expand their economy, build a ship and send the rescued to the continent. Soon, Robinson's compatriots also find themselves on the island. The rebellious crew landed the captain, his assistant and one of the passengers for reprisal. But Robinson, perfectly oriented on the island,frees the doomed English and together they deal with the troublemakers. The two most notorious villains had to be hung up on a yardarm, while the rest were treated humanely - they left their lives and transferred the entire Robinson household to their possession. Further, the ship of the country-ruler of the seas goes to its native shores.

The twenty-eight-year island story of an Englishman whose name has become a household name is over. A pleasant surprise awaits him at home. The Brazilian plantation, managed in his absence by the state, accrued to him the income for all the years of absence. Robinson marries and has children. Life got better. Classic happy ending.