Robinson Crusoe

Robinson Crusoe is French writer Daniel Defoe’s debut novel, first published in 1719. Structured as a journal, the travelogue chronicles Crusoe’s experiences as a seaman and his twenty-eight years cast away on an uninhabited island near Trinidad, where Caribbean cannibals kill and eat prisoners. The novel takes a plan-spoken, confessional tone. Crusoe’s inner explorations, religious doubt, and yet strong faith in God’s providence, create a character who seems to undergo many changes.

Against the wishes, and wisdom, of his parents, Crusoe sets out on his first voyage at age 18. Six days into the first journey, a violent storm wrecks the boat, leaving Crusoe stranded not far from home. Crusoe options to continue on to London, where he befriends the captain of a ship headed for Guinea. Crusoe returns from his first African journey with small stocks of gold. On his second journey, Crusoe’s ship is taken by pirates. Crusoe spends two years a slave at Sallee, in Morocco. He escapes with Xury, a fellow slave boy, and is rescued days later by a ship en route to Brazil, manned by a Portuguese captain. The captain helps Crusoe procure a plantation in Brazil.