Concetti Chiave
- The novel is realistic with detailed descriptions to prove the truth of reality, using a first-person narrative for verisimilitude.
- Robinson Crusoe, a middle-class businessman, defies his father's warnings and seeks fortune, finding success in Brazil before being shipwrecked on a deserted island.
- Crusoe survives 28 years on the island, where he saves a cannibal named Friday, who becomes his servant, reflecting a master-servant dynamic.
- After returning to Europe and realizing his wealth from a Brazilian plantation, Crusoe resumes traveling following his wife's death.
- Crusoe's pragmatic approach defines him as a flat character, symbolizing European colonizers through his economic view and dominance over Friday.
It is a realistic novel: he wants to prove the truth of reality so the description are very detailed.
As a matter of fact the author feels the need of giving everything the right features such as colors, length, width and also many coordinated about place and time. Moreover in order to satisfy the idea of verisimilitude the narration is completely in first person.
It is divided into three sections:
The Life of Robinson Crusoe
1) The main character is introduced: Robinson Crusoe is a business man, belonging to the middle class. Despite his father's warnings about all the dangers, he decides to leave his family and goes travelling to make a fortune, which finds when he lands in Brazil where he becomes a successful planter.
However, during an expedition to Africa to buy slaves for his plantation, he is shipwrecked on a desert island.
How did Survival on the Deserted Island unfold?
2) The second sections rotates around the Robinson's life on the desert island, where he stays for 28 years, during which he keeps a diary, until he is saved by an english ship. After some years he realizes that he isn't completely alone and on Friday he saves a cannibal from a group of indigens. So for gratitude, the cannibal becames his slave and Robinson gives him a name, Friday, like the day he was saved.
Return to Europe and Travels
3) The third part describes Robinson's return to Europe, where he learns that his plantation in Brazil, has made him rich, and when his wife dies, he starts travelling again.
Robinson Crusoe is a pragmatic hero: when he first lands on the island there is very little despair, because he immediately reacts, he never gives up; he arranges everything, building his small empire on the island, re-creating the world he has left behind him. At first he builds a raft because he realizes that some food is on the wrecked ship so he tries to recover them, then he builds a refuge and he even arranges his leisure time.
What helps him to never give up is the Bible, which he reads everyday to gain the right energy to go home.
Relationship with Friday
The way he approaches reality is if it's useful to him or not: it's an economic point of view. As a matter of fact he became the symbol of European of colonizers. He establishes with Friday a master-servant relationship. He never tries to learn Friday's language and never asks him if he has a name, because he is only interested in Friday's usefulness. He wants to dominate everything and he imposes to Friday his language, customs, religions, food, clothes.
Robinson Crusoe is a flat character, because he never undergoes a transformation, his attitude towards reality is always the same.
Domande da interrogazione
- What motivates Robinson Crusoe to leave his family and travel?
Robinson Crusoe, a middle-class businessman, is driven by the desire to make a fortune, despite his father's warnings about the dangers of travel. He initially finds success in Brazil as a planter before being shipwrecked on a deserted island.
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