Reviews of the book "Robinson Crusoe" allow you to get a complete picture of this work. This is the famous novel by the Englishman Daniel Defoe, which was first published in 1719. His main topic- the moral revival of man in communion with nature. The book is based on real events. The Scottish boatswain Alexander Selkirk found himself in a similar situation.
Making a novel
Reviews of the book "Robinson Crusoe" are collected in this article. They allow you to find out what this novel was about, which today is considered by many to be the first in the literature of the Enlightenment.
By the time this novel was written, Daniel Defoe already had several hundred works under his belt. Many of them were never recognized because the author often used pseudonyms.
The basis of the work
In reviews of the book "Robinson Crusoe" it is often mentioned that the work is based on a real story that Captain Woods Rogers told a British journalist. Defoe most likely read it in the newspapers.
Rogers talked about how the sailors threw on desert island in the Atlantic Ocean, his assistant Selkirk, who was distinguished by an extremely violent and unbalanced character. He quarreled with the captain and crew, for which he was dropped off, provided with a gun, a supply of gunpowder and tobacco, and a Bible. He spent almost four and a half years alone. When they found him, he was dressed in goatskins and looked extremely wild.
From for long years alone, he completely forgot how to talk, and all the way to the house he hid crackers in different places on the ship. It took a long time, but they still managed to return him to the state of a civilized person.
Main character Defoe is very different from his prototype. The author, of course, greatly embellished the situation by sending Robinson to a desert island for 28 years. Moreover, during this time he did not at all lose his human appearance, but was able to adapt to life alone. Therefore, in reviews of Defoe's book "Robinson Crusoe" it is often noted that this novel is a vivid example of an optimistic work that gives the reader strength and enthusiasm. The main thing is that this book remains timeless; for many generations, the novel has become a favorite work.
At what age do you read a novel?
Today it is worth recognizing that this novel is mainly read in adolescence. For young people, this is primarily a fascinating adventure story. But do not forget that the book raises important literary and cultural problems.
In the book, the hero has to solve many moral issues. Therefore, it is useful that it is teenagers who read the novel. At the very beginning of their lives, they receive a high-quality "vaccination" against meanness and cynicism, they learn from the hero Defoe that money is not the main thing in this life. After all, one of the key roles in the work is played by the transformation of the protagonist. From an avid traveler who saw enrichment as the main thing in his life, he turns into a person who strongly doubted the need for money.
Significant in this regard is the episode at the beginning of the novel, when the hero is just thrown onto a desert island. The ship on which he sailed crashed nearby, it can be reached without much difficulty. The main character stocks up on everything he might need on the island. Supplies, weapons, gunpowder, tools. On one of his trips to the ship, Robinson discovers a keg full of gold, and argues that he would easily trade it for matches or other useful things.
Characteristics of the hero
Describing the main character, it is worth noting that at the very beginning Robinson appears before us as an exemplary English entrepreneur. He is the embodiment of a typical representative of the bourgeois ideology. By the end of the novel, he turns into a person who considers creative and creative abilities to be the main thing in his life.
Talking about the youth of the protagonist, the author notes that from his youth Robinson dreamed of the sea, like many boys of his generation. The fact is that England at that time was one of the leading maritime powers in the world. Therefore, the profession of a sailor was honorable, popular and, importantly, highly paid. It is worth recognizing that in his wanderings Robinson is driven solely by the desire to enrich himself. He does not seek to enter the ship as a sailor and learn all the intricacies of maritime affairs. Instead, he travels as a passenger, striving to become a successful merchant at the first opportunity.
Analysis of the novel
Analyzing this novel, it is worth noting that it became the first educational novel in literature. This is how he entered the history of art. At that time, work was perceived by many as a punishment and an undesirable necessity. The roots of this lie in a perverted interpretation of the Bible. At that time, it was believed that God punished the descendants of Adam and Eve with labor for disobeying his orders.
Daniel Defoe is the first author in whom labor becomes the basis of human activity, and not just a means of obtaining (earning) the most necessary things. This corresponded at that time with the mood that existed among the Puritan moralists. They argued that labor is a worthy occupation that should not be ashamed or shunned. This is exactly what the novel "Robinson Crusoe" teaches.
Progression of the main character
The reader can follow the progress in the development of the protagonist. Once on a desert island, he is faced with the fact that he knows practically nothing. Only over time, overcoming many failures, masters how to grow bread, take care of pets, weave baskets and build a secure home. He does all this by trial and error.
For Robinson, work becomes a salvation that helps him not only survive, but also grow spiritually.
Character Features
First of all, Robinson Crusoe differs from other literary characters of that time by the absence of extremes. He is a hero who belongs entirely to the real world.
He can by no means be called a dreamer or dreamer, like Don Quixote Cervantes. This is a prudent person who knows the value of money and labor. He is like a fish in water in practical management. However, he is quite selfish. But this feature is clear to most readers, it is aimed at the bourgeois ideal - personal enrichment.
Why have readers liked this character so much for several centuries? This is the main secret of the educational experiment that Defoe put on the pages of his novel. For the author's contemporaries, the interest of the described situation, first of all, consisted in the exclusivity of the position in which the protagonist found himself.
The main features of this novel are plausibility and its maximum persuasiveness. Daniel Defoe manages to achieve the illusion of authenticity with the help of a large number small details that, as it seems, simply cannot be invented.
When the almost sixty-year-old well-known journalist and publicist Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) wrote Robinson Crusoe in 1719, he least of all thought that an innovative work was coming out from under his pen, the first novel in the literature of the Enlightenment. He did not expect that it was this text that descendants would prefer out of 375 works already published under his signature and earned him the honorary name of "the father of English journalism."
Literary historians believe that in fact he wrote much more, only to identify his works, published under various pseudonyms, in a wide stream of the English press at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries is not easy.
Behind Defoe at the time of the creation of the novel was a huge life experience: he comes from a lower class, in his youth he was a participant in the rebellion of the Duke of Monmouth, escaped execution, traveled around Europe and spoke six languages, knew the smiles and betrayals of Fortune. His values - wealth, prosperity, the personal responsibility of a person before God and himself - are typically puritanical, bourgeois values, and Defoe's biography is a colorful, eventful biography of the bourgeois of the era of primitive accumulation.
He started various enterprises all his life and said about himself: "Thirteen times I became rich and again poor." Political and literary activity led him to a civil execution at the pillory. For one of the magazines, Defoe wrote a fake autobiography of Robinson Crusoe, the authenticity of which his readers should have believed (and believed).
The plot of the novel is based on a true story, told by Captain Woods Rogers in an account of his journey, which Defoe could read in the press. Captain Rogers told how his sailors removed from a desert island in the Atlantic Ocean a man who had spent four years and five months alone there.
Alexander Selkirk, a violent mate on an English ship, quarreled with his captain and was put on the island with a gun, gunpowder, a supply of tobacco, and a Bible. When Rogers' sailors found him, he was dressed in goatskins and "looked wilder than the horned original owners of this attire."
He forgot how to speak, on the way to England he hid crackers in the secluded places of the ship, and it took time for him to return to a civilized state.
A) History of creation (translations of the novel)
During his long life, D. Defoe wrote many books. But none of them was as successful as The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. D. Defoe was prompted to write the novel by a meeting with Alexander Selkirn, the navigator of the Five Ports ship. He told Defoe his amazing story. Selkirk quarreled with the captain on the ship, and he landed him on a desert island off the coast of Chile. There he lived for four years and four months, eating goat and turtle meat, fruit and fish. At first it was hard for him, but later he learned to understand nature, mastered and remembered many crafts. One day, the Bristol ship "Duke" under the command of Woods Rogers landed on this island, which took Alexander Selkirk on board. Rogers wrote down all the stories of Selkirk to the ship's log. When these records were made public, Selkirk was spoken of in London as a miracle.
D. Defoe used stories about the adventures of a navigator and wrote his own novel about Robinson Crusoe. Seven times the author changed the details of the hero's life on the island. He moved the island from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and pushed back the time of action by about fifty years. The writer also increased the length of his hero's stay on the island by seven times. And in addition, he gave him a meeting with a true friend and assistant - with the native Friday.
Later, D. Defoe wrote a continuation of the first book - "The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe." In this book, the writer talks about how his hero got to Russia. Robinson Crusoe began to get acquainted with Russia in Siberia. There he visited the Amur. And to this, Robinson traveled all over the world, visited the Philippines, China, swam across the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian oceans. The novel by D. Defoe "The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe" had a significant impact on the development of world literature. He started a new genre - "Robinsonade". That's what they call any description of adventures in the uninhabited land. D. Defoe's book was reprinted many times. Robinson has many doppelgangers. He had different names, was both Dutch, Greek, and Scots. Readers from different countries expected works from writers no less exciting than D. Defoe's book. So one book spawned a whole series of other literary works.
B) The educational value of the novel
Daniel Defoe is best known for his novel Robinson Crusoe. According to researchers of the writer's work, the immediate impetus for writing the novel was an episode from the ship's diary of Captain Woods
Rogers, published under the title "Journey Around the World from XVII08 to 1808". Subsequently, based on the materials of this diary, the well-known journalist Style published an article about the adventures of a Scottish sailor, who, it is believed, was to a certain extent the prototype of Robinson Crusoe.
There is an assumption that D. Defoe met with Alexander Selkirk, the navigator of the Five Ports ship, which, for disobedience to the captain, was landed on the uninhabited island of Juan Fernandez off the coast of Chile at the Landoger Trau Hotel. There he lived for 4 years.
D. Defoe moved the location of his hero to the basin of the Atlantic Ocean, and attributed the time of action to about 50 years in the past, thereby increasing the period of his hero's stay on a desert island by 7 times.
Paying tribute to the then literature, the writer gave such a title to the work, it was consonant with his plot: "Life and extraordinary and amazing Adventures Robinson Crusoe, a sailor from York, who lived for 28 years all alone on an uninhabited island off the American coast, not far from the mouth of the great Orinoco River, finding himself on the shore after a shipwreck, during which all the crew died, except for him, with the addition of stories about no less amazing the way the pirates finally freed him. Written by themselves. ".
Character traits educational novel "Robinson Crusoe"
* affirmation of the idea that mind and labor are the main driving forces the progress of mankind.
* The plausibility of the work was provided by a real story underlying the plot.
* The authenticity of the narration was facilitated by the form of the diary.
* the introduction of a first-person narrative, on behalf of the hero himself, allowed the author to show the world through the eyes of an ordinary person and at the same time reveal her character, feelings, moral qualities.
* the image of Robinson Crusoe is presented in development.
* the focus is not only on the exotics of a deserted island and exciting adventures, but also on the person, his experiences, feelings when she was left alone with nature.
* Robinson is an efficient and active person, a real son of his time, he is looking for various means of discovering his own abilities and practicality.
* Robinson - new hero. This is not an outstanding or exceptional person, not historical figure, not a mythical image, but a common person endowed with soul and mind. The author sings of activity common man in the transformation of the surrounding reality.
* The image of the main character is of great educational value;
* An extreme situation becomes a criterion for determining not only physical strength, but first of all the human qualities of a hero.
* The artistic achievement of the novel is the writer's decision to force his hero to analyze not only what he sees around, but also what is happening in his soul.
* Nature for Robinson is a wise teacher and guide in his activities. She is a wonderful object for transformation, for revealing the possibilities and abilities of a person. In the English spiritual culture of the 18th century, a significant role was played by the teachings of J. Locke, who proclaimed the priority of experience in mental activity. Experience checks the correctness of mental assumptions, contributes to the knowledge of the truth. A person gains experience with the help of his feelings. These thoughts of the philosopher found artistic expression in Defoe's novel.
* Nature gave impetus to development moral qualities hero. Thanks to her constant influence, Robinson seems to go through social problems, intrigues and conflicts. He does not need to be hypocritical, greedy, deceitful. Staying in the bosom of nature and in harmony with it brought to life only the best features of nature - sincerity, diligence and the ability to be natural.
* The peculiarity of the novel is the combination of specifics with broad social and moral generalizations (Robinson and cannibals; Robinson and Friday - this, in the understanding of the Enlighteners, would be modeled in miniature of the social history of mankind).
* main idea works - the glorification of activity, labor energy, intelligence and high moral qualities of a person that help her master the world, as well as the statement great importance nature for the spiritual development of mankind.
* "Robinson Crusoe" - an example of a realistic novel of the Enlightenment. The plot of "Robinson Crusoe" was due primarily to the interest of English society in geographical discoveries and travel.
This topic was not new in the literature of that time. Even before D. Defoe, works appeared that told about the fate of unfortunate travelers abandoned in an uncivilized world. 1674 in England published a translation of a book by the Arab writer of the 15th century, Ibn Tufayl, about the adventures of Haji Ben Yokdan, who achieved great wisdom while living on an island all alone.
After the appearance of Defoe's novel, literary science was enriched with a new concept - "robinsonade", which means a traditional plot in literature, built on the image of the life and trials of a character who fell into extreme conditions, for certain reasons was deprived of human society.
The novel Robinsonade is a distinctive feature of literature not only in the 18th century, but in the next stages in the development of world literature. Examples of novels - robinsonade are the following works: "Felsenburg Island" by I. Schnabel (XVII 51), "New Robinson" by I. Campe (XVII79), "Swiss Robinson" by Wyss (Julio 12-XVIII 27), "The Hermit of the Pacific Ocean" Psi layer (ХУШ 24), "Mowgli" Kipling (XVIII94-XVIII 95), "Russian Robinson" S. Turbin (XVIII 79).
Modern writers also create Robinsonades. Thus, the Russian writer L. Petrushevskaya in her essay "The New Robinsons" depicts the feeling of modern man, who is forced to flee from the absurd and monstrous world to the bosom of nature in order to save herself morally and physically.
C) The image of the main character "Robinson Crusoe"
Robinson Crusoe image by no means fictional, and is based on real stories of sailors. During Defoe's time, the main and only form of transportation on long distance was sailing. It is not surprising that from time to time ships were wrecked, and often the survivors were thrown onto a desert island. Few people managed to return and tell their stories, but there were such people, and their biographies formed the basis of the work of Daniel Defoe.
The description of Robinson Crusoe comes from the first person and, while reading the book, you are imbued with respect and sympathy for the main character. Rejoicing and empathizing, we go with him all the way, starting from birth and ending with returning home. A person with enviable perseverance and diligence, who, by the will of fate, finds himself alone in an unknown area, immediately sets goals for himself and soberly assesses his chances of survival. Gradually equipping housing and household, he does not lose hope for salvation and makes every effort to achieve his goals. In fact, he went all the way from a primitive man to a prosperous peasant, and alone, without education and special knowledge.
In various translations and adaptations, this was the main idea of the work, survival and salvation. However, Daniel Defoe was smart enough not to limit the image of Robinson Crusoe to only everyday problems. The work is wide open spiritual world and psychology of the protagonist. His growing up and maturation, later aging cannot go unnoticed by an experienced reader. Starting with enviable enthusiasm, Robinson gradually gets used to his fate, although the hope of salvation does not leave him. Thinking a lot about his existence, he understands that with all the abundance of wealth, a person gets pleasure only from what he really needs.
In order not to forget human speech, Robinson begins to talk with pets, constantly reading the Bible. Only in the 24th year of his life on the island did he manage to talk to a man from a tribe of savages, whom he saved from death. The long-awaited interlocutor Friday, as Robinson called him, faithfully and devotedly helped him in the household and became his only friend. In addition to his assistant, Friday became a student for him, who needed to learn how to speak, instill faith in God, and wean him from the habits of savages.
However, Robinson was only glad, the occupation was not easy and at least somehow helped him to distract himself from sad thoughts. These were the most joyful years of life on the island, if they can be called that.
Robinson's rescue is as exciting and extraordinary as his life on the island. Thanks to his friend Friday, he managed to put down a riot on a ship that accidentally entered the island. Thus, Robinson Crusoe saves part of the team and returns to the mainland with them. He leaves the rebels on the island in his former possessions, providing them with everything necessary, and safely returns home.
The story of Robinson Crusoe is instructive and exciting. Happy happy ending and return, but it becomes a little sad that the adventure is over, and you have to part with the main character.
Subsequently, many authors tried to imitate Daniel Defoe, and he himself wrote the continuation of the adventures of Robinson Crusoe, but not a single book surpassed his masterpiece in popularity.
Written in the genre of an adventure novel, the most famous work talented English journalist Daniel Defoe was a resounding success and served as an impetus for the development of such a direction in literature as traveler's notes. The plausibility of the plot and the authenticity of the presentation - this is the effect the author tried to achieve, setting out the events in a mean, everyday language, in style more reminiscent of journalism.
History of creation
The real prototype of the protagonist, a Scottish sailor, as a result of a serious quarrel, was landed by a team on a desert island, where he spent over four years. By changing the time and place of action, the writer created an amazing biography of a young Englishman who found himself in extreme circumstances.
Published in 1719, the book made a splash and demanded a sequel. Four months later, the second part of the epic saw the light, and later the third. In Russia, an abbreviated translation of the edition appeared almost half a century later.
Description of the work. Main characters
Young Robinson, drawn by the dream of the sea, against the will of his parents, leaves his father's house. After a series of adventures, having suffered a catastrophe, the young man finds himself on an uninhabited island, located far from sea trade routes. His experiences, steps to find a way out of the current situation, description of the actions taken to create a comfortable and safe environment on a lost piece of land, moral maturation, rethinking of values - all this formed the basis of a fascinating story that combines the features of memoir literature and philosophical parable.
The protagonist of the story is a young man in the street, a bourgeois with traditional views and mercantile goals. The reader observes the change in his character, the transformation of consciousness in the course of the story.
Another striking character is the savage Friday, who was saved by Crusoe from the massacre of cannibals. The fidelity, courage, sincerity and common sense of the Indian conquer Robinson, Friday becomes a good helper and friend.
Analysis of the work
The story is told in the first person, in a simple, precise language that allows you to reveal inner world hero, his moral qualities, assessment of current events. Lack of specific artistic techniques and pathos in the presentation, conciseness and specificity add credibility to the work. Events are sent to chronological order but sometimes the narrator turns to the past.
The storyline divides the text into two components: the life of the central character at home and the period of survival in the wild.
Placing Robinson in critical conditions for 28 long years, Defoe shows how, thanks to energy, spiritual strength, hard work, observation, ingenuity, optimism, a person finds ways to solve pressing problems: he gets food, equips a home, makes clothes. Isolation from society and habitual stereotypes reveal the best qualities of his personality in the traveler. Analyzing not only environment, but also the changes taking place in his own soul, the author, through the mouth of Robinson, with the help of simple words, makes it clear what, in his opinion, is actually important and paramount, and what can be easily dispensed with. Remaining a man in difficult conditions, Crusoe confirms by his example that simple things are enough for happiness and harmony.
Also, one of the central themes of the story is the description of the exotica of a deserted island and the influence of nature on the human mind.
Created on a wave of interest in geographical discoveries, the novel "Robinson Crusoe" was intended for an adult audience, but today it has become an entertaining and instructive masterpiece of children's prose.
One of the most famous English novels was first published in April 1719. Its full title is “The Life, Extraordinary and Amazing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, a sailor from York, who lived for 28 years all alone on a desert island off the coast of America near the mouth of the Orinoco River, where he was thrown out by a shipwreck, during which the entire crew of the ship, except for him, perished, outlining his unexpected release by pirates; written by himself" was eventually shortened to the name of the protagonist.
IN basis The work was based on a real story that happened to the Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk, who served as a boatswain on the Sank Por ship and landed in 1704 at his personal request on the uninhabited island of Mas-a-Tierra ( Pacific Ocean, 640 km. off the coast of Chile). The reason for the misfortune of the real Robinson Crusoe was his quarrelsome character, literary - disobedience to parents, choosing the wrong life path(a sailor instead of an official in the royal court) and heavenly punishment, expressed in a natural misfortune for any traveler - a shipwreck. Alexander Selkirk lived on his island for a little over four years, Robinson Crusoe - twenty-eight years, two months and nineteen days.
The duration of the novel is September 1, 1651 - December 19, 1686 + the period that the character needs to return home and tell about his unusual adventure. motive exit from parental prohibition (a parallel with the biblical prodigal son) reveals itself in the novel twice: at the very beginning of the work, Robinson Crusoe, who got into a pitching, repents of what he did, but the shame of showing his relatives (including neighbors) in front of him again returns him to the wrong way, which ends with a long isolation on a desert island. The hero leaves the parental home on September 1, 1651; Brazil, where he lives comfortably for the next years - September 1, 1659. A symbolic warning in the form of a recurring sea storm and the time of the beginning of adventures turns out to be a meaningless fact for Robinson Crusoe.
Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe was first published in April 1719. The work gave rise to the development of the classic English novel, made popular the pseudo-documentary direction of fiction.
The plot of "The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe" is based on the true story of boatswain Alexander Selkir, who lived on a desert island for four years. Defoe rewrote the book many times, giving its final version a philosophical meaning - the story of Robinson became an allegorical image human life as such.
Main characters
Robinson Crusoe- the main character of the work, raving about sea adventures. Spent 28 years on a desert island.
Friday- a savage who was rescued by Robinson. Crusoe taught him English and took him with him.
Other characters
Captain of the ship- Robinson saved him from captivity and helped return the ship, for which the captain took Crusoe home.
Xuri- a boy, a prisoner of Turkish robbers, with whom Robinson fled from pirates.
Chapter 1
From early childhood, Robinson loved the sea more than anything in the world, dreamed of distant voyages. The boy's parents did not like this very much, as they wanted a more peaceful happy life for his son. His father wanted him to become an important official.
However, the craving for adventure was stronger, so on September 1, 1651, Robinson, who at that time was eighteen years old, without asking permission from his parents, and a friend boarded a ship from Hull to London.
Chapter 2
On the first day, the ship was caught in a severe storm. Robinson was ill and scared from the strong pitching. He swore a thousand times that if everything worked out, he would return to his father and never again swim in the sea. However, the ensuing calm and a glass of punch helped Robinson quickly forget about all "good intentions".
The sailors were confident in the reliability of their ship, so they spent all their days in entertainment. On the ninth day of the voyage, a terrible storm broke out in the morning, the ship began to leak. A passing ship threw a boat to them and by evening they managed to escape. Robinson was ashamed to return home, so he decided to set sail again.
Chapter 3
In London, Robinson met the venerable old captain. A new acquaintance invited Crusoe to go with him to Guinea. During the journey, the captain taught Robinson shipbuilding, which was very useful to the hero in the future. In Guinea, Crusoe managed to profitably exchange the brought trinkets for gold dust.
After the death of the captain, Robinson again went to Africa. This time the journey was less successful, on the way their ship was attacked by pirates - Turks from Saleh. Robinson was captured by the captain of a robber ship, where he stayed for almost three years. Finally, he had a chance to escape - the robber sent Crusoe, the boy Xuri and the Moor to fish in the sea. Robinson took with him everything necessary for a long voyage and on the way threw the Moor into the sea.
Robinson was on his way to Cape Zeleny, hoping to meet a European ship.
Chapter 4
After many days of sailing, Robinson had to go ashore and ask the savages for food. The man thanked them by killing a leopard with a gun. The savages gave him the skin of the animal.
Soon the travelers met a Portuguese ship. On it, Robinson got to Brazil.
Chapter 5
The captain of the Portuguese ship kept Xuri with him, promising to make him a sailor. Robinson lived in Brazil for four years, growing sugarcane and producing sugar. Somehow familiar merchants offered Robinson to make a trip to Guinea again.
"In an unkind hour" - September 1, 1659, he stepped on the deck of the ship. "It was the same day on which eight years ago I ran away from my father's house and so madly ruined my youth."
On the twelfth day, a strong squall hit the ship. The bad weather lasted twelve days, their ship sailed wherever the waves drove it. When the ship ran aground, the sailors had to transfer to the boat. However, after four miles, the "furious shaft" overturned their ship.
Robinson was washed ashore by the wave. He was the only one from the crew left alive. The hero spent the night on a tall tree.
Chapter 6
In the morning, Robinson saw that their ship was washed closer to the shore. Using spare masts, topmasts and yardarms, the hero made a raft, on which he transported boards, chests, food supplies, a box of carpentry tools, weapons, gunpowder and other necessary things to the shore.
Returning to land, Robinson realized that he was on a desert island. He built himself a tent of sail and poles, surrounding it with empty boxes and chests to protect against wild animals. Every day Robinson sailed to the ship, taking things he might need. Crusoe first wanted to throw away the money he found, but then, after thinking, he left it. After Robinson visited the ship for the twelfth time, a storm swept the ship out to sea.
Crusoe soon found a comfortable place to live - in a small smooth clearing on the slope of a high hill. Here the hero set up a tent, surrounding it with a fence of high stakes, which could only be overcome with the help of a ladder.
Chapter 7
Behind the tent, Robinson dug a cave in the hill that served as his cellar. Once, during a severe thunderstorm, the hero was afraid that one lightning strike could destroy all his gunpowder and after that he spread it into different bags and stored it separately. Robinson discovers that there are goats on the island and began to hunt them.
Chapter 8
In order not to lose track of time, Crusoe created an imitated calendar - he drove a large log into the sand, on which he marked the days with notches. Together with things, the hero from the ship transported two cats and a dog that lived with him.
Among other things, Robinson found ink and paper and took notes for a while. “Sometimes despair attacked me, I experienced mortal anguish, in order to overcome these bitter feelings, I took up a pen and tried to prove to myself that there was still a lot of good in my distress.”
Over time, Crusoe dug a back door in the hill, made furniture for himself.
Chapter 9
From September 30, 1659, Robinson kept a diary, describing everything that happened to him on the island after the shipwreck, his fears and experiences.
For digging the cellar, the hero made a shovel out of "iron" wood. One day in his "cellar" there was a collapse, and Robinson began to firmly strengthen the walls and ceiling of the recess.
Crusoe soon managed to tame the goat. While wandering around the island, the hero discovered wild pigeons. He tried to tame them, but as soon as the wings got stronger, the chicks flew away. From goat fat, Robinson made a lamp, which, unfortunately, burned very dimly.
After the rains, Crusoe found seedlings of barley and rice (when shaking bird food on the ground, he thought that all the grains had been eaten by rats). The hero carefully harvested the crop, deciding to leave it for sowing. It wasn't until his fourth year that he could afford to separate some of the grain for food.
After strong earthquake Robinson realizes that he needs to find another place to live, away from the cliff.
Chapter 10
The wreckage of the ship washed up on the island in waves, Robinson gained access to its hold. On the shore, the hero found a large turtle, whose meat replenished his diet.
With the onset of rains, Crusoe fell ill and developed a severe fever. Managed to recover tobacco tincture with rum.
While exploring the island, the hero finds sugar cane, melons, wild lemons, and grapes. He dried the latter in the sun in order to harvest raisins for future use. In a blooming green valley, Robinson arranges for himself a second home - a "cottage in the forest". Soon one of the cats brought three kittens.
Robinson learned to accurately divide the seasons into rainy and dry. During rainy periods, he tried to stay at home.
Chapter 11
In one of the rainy periods, Robinson learned to weave baskets, which he really lacked. Crusoe decided to explore the entire island and found a strip of land on the horizon. He realized that this is part South America, where wild cannibals probably live and was glad that he ended up on a desert island. Along the way, Crusoe caught a young parrot, which he later taught to say some words. There were many turtles and birds on the island, even penguins were found here.
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Robinson obtained good pottery clay, from which he made dishes and dried them in the sun. Once the hero discovered that pots can be burned in fire - this was a pleasant discovery for him, since now he could store water in the dishes and cook food in it.
To bake bread, Robinson made a wooden mortar and an impromptu oven from clay tablets. Thus passed his third year on the island.
Chapter 14
All this time, Robinson did not leave the thought of the land, which he saw from the shore. The hero decides to fix the boat, which was thrown ashore during the shipwreck. The updated boat sank to the bottom, but he could not launch it into the water. Then Robinson began to make pies from the trunk of a cedar tree. He managed to make an excellent boat, however, like a boat, he could not lower it to the water.
The fourth year of Crusoe's stay on the island has ended. He ran out of ink, his clothes were worn out. Robinson sewed three jackets from sailor pea coats, a hat, jacket and trousers from the skins of dead animals, made an umbrella from the sun and rain.
Chapter 15
Robinson built a small boat to go around the island by sea. Going around the underwater rocks, Crusoe sailed far from the coast and fell into the jet of the sea current, which carried him farther and farther. However, the current soon weakened and Robinson managed to return to the island, for which he was infinitely glad.
Chapter 16
In the eleventh year of Robinson's stay on the island, his supplies of gunpowder began to run low. Not wanting to give up meat, the hero decided to come up with a way to catch wild goats alive. With the help of "wolf pits" Crusoe managed to catch an old goat and three kids. From then on, he began to raise goats.
“I lived like a real king, needing nothing; beside me there was always a whole staff of courtiers [tamed animals] devoted to me - there were not only people.
Chapter 17
Once Robinson found a trace of a human foot on the shore. “In terrible anxiety, not feeling the ground under my feet, I hastened home to my fortress.” Crusoe hid at home and spent the whole night thinking about how a man ended up on the island. Reassuring himself, Robinson even began to think that it was his own footprint. However, when he returned to the same place, he saw that the footprint was much larger than his foot.
In fear, Crusoe wanted to dissolve all the cattle and dig up both fields, but then he calmed down and changed his mind. Robinson realized that savages came to the island only occasionally, so it was important for him to simply not catch their eye. For added security, Crusoe drove stakes into the gaps between the previously densely planted trees, thus creating a second wall around his dwelling. He planted the entire area behind the outer wall with trees that looked like willows. Two years later, a grove turned green around his house.
Chapter 18
Two years later, on the western part of the island, Robinson discovered that savages regularly sail here and arrange cruel feasts, eating people. Fearing that he might be discovered, Crusoe tried not to shoot, began to make fire with care, acquired charcoal, which almost does not produce smoke when burned.
Looking for coal, Robinson found a vast grotto, which he made his new pantry. "It was already the twenty-third year of my stay on the island."
Chapter 19
One day in December, leaving the house at dawn, Robinson noticed a fire on the shore - the savages staged a bloody feast. Watching the cannibals from the telescope, he saw that with the tide they sailed from the island.
Fifteen months later, a ship sailed near the island. Robinson burned a fire all night, but in the morning he discovered that the ship was wrecked.
Chapter 20
Robinson went by boat to the wrecked ship, where he found a dog, gunpowder and some necessary things.
Crusoe lived for two more years "in complete contentment, not knowing hardship." “But all these two years I have only thought about how I could leave my island.” Robinson decided to save one of those whom the cannibals brought to the island as a victim in order to escape together to freedom. However, the savages reappeared only after a year and a half.
Chapter 21
Six Indian pirogues landed on the island. The savages brought with them two captives. While they were engaged in the first, the second rushed to run away. Three people were chasing the fugitive, Robinson shot two with a gun, the third was killed by the escaping himself with a saber. Crusoe beckoned the frightened fugitive to him with signs.
Robinson took the savage to the grotto and fed him. “He was a good-looking young man, tall, well-built, his arms and legs were muscular, strong and at the same time extremely graceful; He looked to be about twenty-six years old. The savage showed Robinson with all possible signs that from that day on he would serve him all his life.
Crusoe began to gradually teach him the right words. First of all, he said that he would call him Friday (in memory of the day on which he saved his life), taught him the words "yes" and "no". The savage offered to eat the dead enemies, but Crusoe showed that he was terribly angry with this desire of his.
Friday became a real comrade for Robinson - "never a single person had such a loving, such a faithful and devoted friend."
Chapter 22
Robinson took Friday with him to hunt as an assistant, taught the savage to eat animal meat. Friday started helping Crusoe with the housework. When the savage learned the basics in English, he told Robinson about his tribe. The Indians, from whom he managed to escape, defeated Friday's native tribe.
Crusoe asked his friend about the surrounding lands and their inhabitants - the peoples who live on neighboring islands. As it turned out, the neighboring land is the island of Trinidad, where wild Carib tribes live. The savage explained that the "white people" could be reached on a large boat, which gave Crusoe hope.
Chapter 23
Robinson taught Friday how to shoot a gun. When the savage mastered English well, Crusoe shared his story with him.
Friday said that once a ship with "white people" crashed near their island. They were rescued by the natives and stayed on the island, becoming "brothers" for the savages.
Crusoe begins to suspect Friday of wanting to escape the island, but the native proves his loyalty to Robinson. The Savage himself offers to help Crusoe return home. The men made a pirogue from a tree trunk in a month. Crusoe set up a mast with a sail in the boat.
"The twenty-seventh year of my imprisonment in this prison has come."
Chapter 24
Having waited out the rainy season, Robinson and Friday began to prepare for the upcoming voyage. One day, savages moored to the shore with regular captives. Robinson and Friday dealt with the cannibals. The rescued captives were a Spaniard and Friday's father.
Especially for the weakened European and the savage father, the men built a canvas tent.
Chapter 25
The Spaniard said that the savages sheltered seventeen Spaniards, whose ship was wrecked off a neighboring island, but those who were rescued were in dire need. Robinson agrees with the Spaniard that his comrades will help him with the construction of the ship.
The men prepared all the necessary supplies for the "white people", and the Spaniard and Friday's father went after the Europeans. While Crusoe and Friday were waiting for the guests, an English ship approached the island. The British moored ashore on a boat, Crusoe counted eleven people, three of whom were prisoners.
Chapter 26
The boat of the robbers ran aground at low tide, so the sailors went for a walk around the island. At this time, Robinson was preparing guns. At night, when the sailors fell asleep, Crusoe approached their captives. One of them, the captain of the ship, said that his crew rebelled and went over to the side of the “gang of villains”. He and two of his comrades barely convinced the robbers not to kill them, but to land them on a deserted shore. Crusoe and Friday helped kill the instigators of the riot, and the rest of the sailors were tied up.
Chapter 27
To capture the ship, the men broke through the bottom of the longboat and prepared to meet the next boat with the robbers. The pirates, seeing the hole in the ship and the fact that their comrades were gone, were frightened and were about to return to the ship. Then Robinson came up with a trick - Friday and the assistant captain lured eight pirates deep into the island. The two robbers who remained waiting for their comrades surrendered unconditionally. At night, the captain kills the boatswain who understands the rebellion. Five robbers surrender.
Chapter 28
Robinson orders to put the rebels in the dungeon and take the ship with the help of the sailors who sided with the captain. At night, the crew swam to the ship, and the sailors defeated the robbers who were on it. In the morning, the captain sincerely thanked Robinson for helping to return the ship.
By order of Crusoe, the rebels were untied and sent inland. Robinson promised that they would be left with everything they needed to live on the island.
“As I subsequently established from the ship's log, my departure took place on December 19, 1686. Thus, I lived on the island for twenty-eight years, two months and nineteen days.
Soon Robinson returned to his homeland. By the time his parents had died, he was met at home by his sisters with children and other relatives. Everyone listened with great enthusiasm to the incredible story of Robinson, which he told from morning until evening.
Conclusion
The novel by D. Defoe "The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe" had a huge impact on world literature, laying the foundation for a whole literary genre- "Robinsonade" (adventure works that describe the life of people on uninhabited lands). The novel was a real discovery in the culture of the Enlightenment. Defoe's book has been translated into many languages and filmed more than twenty times. Proposed brief retelling"Robinson Crusoe" chapter by chapter will be useful to schoolchildren, as well as to anyone who wants to get acquainted with the plot of a famous work.
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