Plot of Robinson Crusoe

As Defoe's masterpiece, Robinson Crusoe is one of the few books in English literature that have been enjoying an undiminished popularity for centuries. The novel consists of three parts, but only the first part has been widely read. The plot of the novel is based upon the real experience of Alexander Seilkirk, a Scottish sailor, who was ever deserted on an uninhabitedisland after he had quarreled with the captain. He had lived there in solitude for five years before he was rescued by a passing ship. On his return to England in 1709, his experience became widely known after it was reported in many periodicals.

Inspired by the adventurous experience of this Scottish sailor, Defoe successfully characterizes Robinson Crusoe as the protagonist of the novel. The whole story of Robinson Crusoe covers three parts. In the first part, Crusoe, a slave trader meets with his most unfortunate shipwreck. He is cast by the cold waves upon the shore of an uninhabited island, where he manages to live for 28 years because there is no possible opportunity for him to escape. In order to live in the wilderness, he swim back to the ship to search and bring back the remaining food,clothing, household tools and guns, and then builds a simple cottage to shelter himself against the possible attacks of wild animals. He grows barley and rice in spring and harvests when the autumn comes. He rescues a savage, whom he names Friday and makes his servant. Crusoe tries his best to teach Friday to speak and read English, while Friday serves his teacher and master in every possible way. After having lived on the island for 28 years, they are rescued by a passing ship, which carries them back to England. The first part of story ends with Crusoe sending women and supplies to the island to establish a regular colony there.

The second part is a series of adventures of Crusoe on his 11 year business trip to different parts of the world, especially his return to the island where he lived for 28 years to set up a colony and simultaneously spread English views of religion and morality. Because of its less unified and more monotonous plot, the second part has been considered as inferior to the first part, and together with the third part, another dull narration of Crusoe's adventures have few readers.

Comments on Robinson Crusoe

The novel can be read in different ways. Most simple, it is a story of sea adventures. Its thrilling incidents:the shipwreck, the earthquake, the meeting with Friday, the clash with the savage naives-have attracted millions of readers, including young children. To read it politically, we may interpret the story as a process of colonial expansion. Crusoe, supported by advanced technology represented by gun, conquers a less civilized people represented by Man Friday. Though they become good friends, Friday has remained a servant to his master-Crusoe since the first day they met.

To read it socially, we find that Crusoe's adventures imply different Western Cultural values. The novel sings a song of“the dignity of labor”, a slogan as a disguise to justify the bourgeoisie's bloody accumulation of wealth. Robinson is a self-made man. He succeeds in creating a new life all through his own efforts.

The novel also explores the theme of“back to nature.”Industrialization brought England material wealth, but it also ended the peaceful life in the countryside and created poverty and disturbance in the city. The novel expresses a desire to go back to a more economic and humble life style. After four years on the island, Robinson starts to like its idyllic life:“I looked now upon the (civilized) world as a thing remote, which I had nothing to do with, no expectation from, andindeed no desire about…”

There is also the theme of“religious devotion”. Completely separated from civilization, Crusoe reflects upon man's frailty and God's mercy. He has a fuller understanding of the power of religion.Crusoe find the need, after being thrown into the deserted island, for prayer and repentance, and finds that inner peace does not come from material possessions in civilized world but from communication with God.

Robinson Crusoe is written in almost colloquial language. Though it is a novel of 18th century, we have no difficulties in understanding its story. It is narrated in the first person singular. The narration of this novel is true and realistic to life, like a person telling his own experience to his friends. Simple language, realistic narration and real background of the story, for it is based on a sailor's real experience, all these elements make Robinson Crusoe's adventures more believable, convincing and exciting.

Symbolism pervades in this novel. In general, the whole story symbolizes the whole process of human development: from the primitive stage, to feudal period to the capital society. The tools fetched by Crusoe and offering him great help symbolize the civilization, which is necessary to the survival of a person on a desolate island. The island itself has symbolic significance becauseit is the physical conditions, which changed Crusoe to stop wandering (Crusoe is a merchant, loving sailing adventures). The confinement on the island is mostly responsible for the physical and mental growth, which took place within Crusoe. In the case of Robinson Crusoe, it was this solitude that essentially changed him and made him less of a wanderer, both spiritually and physically, for he found faith in God and no longer was able to aimlessly wander due to the confinement on the island.

In Robinson Crusoe, the narrator develops to form an optimistic outlook towards an unfortunate situation, however, that a man isolated himself from society and lived on an uninhabited island for 28 years is still a myth, as Aristotle said such as man, if he exists, is either a beast or a God.

In 1905, Chinese translator Lin Shu translated Robinson Crusoe with simple language, concise description and well-knit plot construction. In the Chinese version, it is narrated in the first singular person with realistic psychological description. Therefore, the Chinese readers have a chance to read it and think about it.