William Weiner

Robinson Crusoe: Book vs Movie

English 3

What is most important in a person’s life? For most people, the answer has to do with friends or
family. A person would be lost without somebody to talk to, somebody to enjoy life with. In the book by
Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe, the title character, has this is all stripped away when he is shipwrecked
and left alone on a deserted island. This book was very well received and became a classic. Being such,
many movies have been made from the book, including one released in 1977. It was this version, starring
Pierce Brosnan, which I watched in order to compare it to the book. The movie was vastly different from
the book with many parts being left out, and the beginning being changed entirely.
The first difference between the book and the movie is encountered almost immediately. The
movie begins with the story of Robinson Crusoe being presented to Daniel Defoe. He begins to read the
book and becomes immersed in the story. The story of Robinson Crusoe begins during a fight with his
friend Patrick over Mary, whom they both love. Robinson ends up killing Patrick, and must flee the
country to stay safe from the threats of Patrick’s family. He promises Mary he will return after one year,
then goes to sea, believing it to be the safest spot for him to wait to return. During his time at sea, the ship
Robinson Crusoe is sailing on is shipwrecked, leaving him alone on the deserted island. This is very
different from the beginning of the book. The book begins with a brief forward claiming the events of the
book to be fact. The book is then told as an autobiography of Robinson Crusoe’s life. As the book opens,
Robinson Crusoe explains that he is unhappy with his life, and has always longed to be an adventurous
man. His father begs him not to leave, telling him that misfortune will follow him. He ignores his father’s
pleading and heads with a friend to London. From this point on, everything until the shipwreck that leaves
Robinson stranded is absent from the movie. After a storm that forces the crew to abandon the ship at
Yarmouth, Robinson Crusoe travels to London by land. He then embarks on a voyage to Guinea. Along
the way, their boat is attacked by pirates, and Robinson is taken prisoner. After earning enough of his
master’s trust to go fishing on his own, Robinson Crusoe escapes in a boat. He is rescued by a Portuguese
ship and transported to Brazil. Once Robinson arrived in Brazil, he becomes a Brazilian planter and
makes a great fortune. Next, Robinson Crusoe leaves on a voyage to Guinea to acquire slaves for his
plantation. It is on this voyage that his boat is shipwrecked near the island that would become his home.
Once Robinson Crusoe is stranded on the island, the storylines of the book and movie begin to
converge, although many parts are left out or altered. First, many pages of the book are devoted to
Robinson’s enhancement of the island. He plants fields of corn and rice, and tames goats. Much detail is
provided about everything he builds, including: two houses, tools, canoes, furniture, and earthenware.
Robinson Crusoe spends years upon years enhancing the island before he encounters another human.
None of this time was included in the movie. Instead, we see Robinson Crusoe sleeping in a tree, and next
we see him sleeping in a somewhat extravagant wood home. We are told these two events are months
apart, but in screen time, they are only minutes apart. We see nothing of crops or livestock until later in
the story when he has a servant on the island to teach him. We see nothing of the island’s development,
and as a result, the time before Friday arrives feels much shorter in the movie. Next, in the book,
Robinson stumbles upon a footprint in the sand and discovers the bones of humans. From this he realizes
that savages visit his island periodically to eat their prisoners. He sees them a few times, but does nothing
to stop them. He is terrified and tries to keep them from knowing he inhabits the island. One day, the
cannibals come to the island and one of their prisoners escapes. Robinson kills the two men who pursue
the prisoner. The prisoner immediately submits to Robinson Crusoe, and becomes his servant. He treats
his servant, who he names Friday, kindly and teaches him about God, until he becomes a Christian. The
movie has a slightly different perspective of this part of the story. Robinson Crusoe does see the footprint
in the sand, and returns to his home in a state of panic. He is provided no clues about their purpose until
he sees the savages for the first time. He hears them, and goes to investigate. When he arrives he sees
them in the middle of their sacrifice. He immediately opens fire, and in the confusion, one of the prisoners
escapes. It is worth noting that in the book Friday escapes and then Robinson kills pursuers, but in the
movie, Robinson attacks the savages, allowing Friday to escape. After saving the prisoner, he doesn’t
immediately come live with Robinson Crusoe. This is different than the book. Instead, they go their
separate ways and are wary of each other. Robinson gets caught in one of the escaped prisoner’s traps.
Through this encounter, the savage agrees to live with Robinson Crusoe. Robinson treats him much
differently in the movie than he did in the book. In the movie, he treats him poorly and uses harsh words.
In fact, he even shackles him for the first night. When Robinson tries to teach Friday about God, he uses
harsh words that cause a confused Friday to become hurt. Friday leaves to live alone, something that
never happens once in the entire book. When they reunite, Robinson abandons teaching Friday about
God, and lets him to follow his pagan beliefs.
From this point on, the two versions once again part ways. In the book, Friday and Robinson live
together happily. Later, they see another group of cannibals and he and Friday attack them. They rescue a
Spaniard and another savage, who turns out to be Friday’s father. Next, Robinson sends them back to the
mainland with orders to bring back some other white men that are living with Friday’s people. While they
are gone, an English ship arrives on the island. It turns out to be a crew that has mutinied against their
captain. Friday and Robinson Crusoe rescue the captain, the captain’s mate, and a passenger of the ship.
They defeat the mutinied crew. Many of the crew surrendered, but others were taken prisoner. After
regaining the mutinied ship, they leave the prisoners on the island with some provisions and knowledge of
providing for themselves, then leave for England. When he returns, he goes to see the old Portugal captain
in Lisbon to reclaim possession of his Brazilian plantation, leaving him a very wealthy man. He travels to
England by land and encounters difficulties as he crosses the mountains. He gets married and has a
family, but following his son’s career, he returns to sea. He goes and visits the island and sees that it is
still populated. The movie has a very different perspective. In the movie, Robinson and Friday live in
slight discord, with Friday leaving him twice. When they see another group of cannibals, they blow them
up with gunpowder, killing the prisoners and most of the cannibals. Later, the cannibals’ people return to
kill Friday and Robinson. In the ensuing fight, Robinson Crusoe gets shot with an arrow. This convinces
Friday to risk their lives in an attempt to save Robinson. He plans to return to his home, hoping that they
will heal Robinson. He knows this is dangerous for both of them. His tribe may not accept him since they
offered him as a sacrifice to the cannibals, and may not accept Robinson since he is white. When they go
to Friday’s people they are met with danger. After nursing Robinson to health, they force Friday and
Robinson to fight to the death. During the fight, slave traders raid the island and kill Friday. They take
many captives from the savages and also transport Robinson Crusoe to safety. He returns to his love
Mary, and they settle down to lead a happy life. This ending is very different because in the book, Friday
never dies and returns to England with Robinson. Unlike in the movie, Robinson returns to sea to visit his
island. With many of the early events of the book being left out, the movie seems to take place over a
much shorter time period. In the book, Robinson Crusoe is stranded on the island for nearly 30 years, but
the entire movie seems to take much less time than that single event.
There is also a distinct thematic difference. One of the major themes of the book is religion. As a
sailor, Robinson leads a very ungodly life and loses his faith. But, while on the island, he returns to his
faith as he looks and sees how God has provided for him. He realizes that he could be in much worse
shape. He often talks about Providence directing things for his benefit. The longer he stays on the island,
the stronger his faith grows. His faith even impacts the way he interacts with the savages. He is hesitant to
attack the cannibals that come to the island, because he believes it is not right for him to judge them. He
believes that this task should be left to God, and since they aren’t hurting him, he leaves them alone until
one prisoner escapes and needs his help. In the book, he is very intent upon showing love and kindness to
Friday, as his faith dictates. He even goes to great lengths to convert Friday to Christianity, eventually
succeeding. The movie leaves this theme out. In fact, it almost presents the opposite. We do see that
Robinson Crusoe is a Christian, but only briefly. We see him try to convince Friday to convert, but he
tries only once and is unsuccessful. The only other mention of his religion occurs right before one of the
battles with the savages. He prays and touches a Bible. As previously mentioned, Robinson does try to
convert Friday in the movie, but he fails to do so. Consequently, he leaves Friday to his pagan beliefs, and
allows him to pray to his pagan god. Unlike in the book, it seems that Robinson’s faith wavers while on
the island. At one point, Friday is praying to his pagan god, and Robinson Crusoe makes a comment
about the possibility of gods other than the one he learned about in England. He seems to question
whether his god is the only god. This is directly opposite the book, where his faith is strengthened while
on the island.
There are also character differences between the book and the movie. Because many parts of the
book are left out or altered, many characters never appear. In fact, some characters are included in the
movie that never appear in the book. Examples of such added characters include: Mary McGregor,
Robinson Crusoe’s lover; Robert, Daniel Defoe’s publisher; Patrick Conner, the friend who Robinson
kills; and James, Patrick’s brother. Many characters are included in the book, but are left out of the movie.
For example, the Portuguese captain that rescues Robinson Crusoe after he escapes from the pirates is
nowhere to be found in the movie. Other characters absent from the movie include: Friday’s father, the
Spanish captive, and the English mutineers and captain. Most of the minor characters are not included in
the movie. These include: the pirates; Xury, Robinson Crusoe’s temporary slave boy; and the widow who
watches Robinson Crusoe’s money, to name a few.
Overall, these differences hurt the story’s effectiveness. I enjoyed the book much more than the
movie. The plot of the movie seemed thin and dry. The beginning didn’t make a lot of sense. It started
with Robinson Crusoe killing his best friend, Patrick, because they both love Mary. This seemed a little
too trivial a reason to kill your best friend. Then, Mary told Robinson to go abroad for a year. She
promised to make Patrick’s family understand. When he returned, everything would be okay, and he
would be able to marry Mary. This didn’t seem logical. It would take much more than a year for Patrick’s
family to understand. In reality, they may never have stopped looking for revenge. Therefore, Mary’s
promise seemed hollow and unrealistic. Things also seemed very rushed while Robinson was on the
island. The time was much shorter. Robinson Crusoe seemed to find Friday, and seemed to leave the
island much quicker than in the book. This takes away from the theme of loneliness and isolation created
by the lack of social interactions.
 Much of the plot is left out or altered to save time. In the movie, the beginning is changed because
Robinson Crusoe plans to spend a year on the seas, not a lifetime. As a result many of the events that
occur before getting stranded on the island can be left out because they would take more than the
promised year. Although the removal of these events is understandable, they keep the viewer from getting
the sense that misfortune is always lurking right behind Robinson Crusoe. The director also shortened the
time Robinson is on the island, leaving many aspects of the stay out entirely. This was probably done to
keep this section of the movie from bogging down and becoming boring, but it also takes away from the
impact the isolation on the island has on the viewer. The middle of the story is supposed to be less
exciting. It is meant to highlight the loneliness and isolation of being stranded. The end is also altered, for
two reasons. Firstly, they must tie the end back to the beginning. Secondly, the movie ending is much
shorter than the book ending. The movie must contain Robinson returning to Mary. Also, since he is not
the traveling type, but was instead forced to sea, it is more logical for Robinson to settle down at home
instead of continuing to travel, as in the book. Although many of the changes were meant to shorten the
story, they also weaken it.
Although the book and movie are very different, at times almost having separate plots, there are
still two main similarities. First, the basic plot is the same. In both the movie and the book, Robinson
Crusoe leaves his home for the life of a sailor. After some time, he is shipwrecked on a deserted island.
He makes a living on the island, going so far as to build a home. Eventually, he notices that cannibals
frequent the island. During one of their trips to the island, a prisoner escapes and lives with Robinson
Crusoe. Robinson Crusoe later returns home to England after escaping the captivity of the island. The
other similarity is the way the stories are presented. In each of them, Daniel Defoe presents them as a
factual account of a real person’s life. In the book, he includes a forward that declares the events
contained in the book to fact, however astounding they may seem. The movie presents it in a slightly
different way, but it has a similar effect. In the movie, the book of Robinson Crusoe’s adventures is
presented to Daniel Defoe. At first, he is hesitant to believe, but eventually he is convinced by his
publisher of the account’s factual nature. He begins to read and becomes engrossed in the tale.
Although the book and the movie share the same basic plot, the similarities don’t go much
further. The plot contains many differences, with the beginning and end of the movie being very different
from the book. Also, much of the book is left out entirely. Lastly, many of the themes are removed as
well. Even though these changes were made for a reason, they still take away from the story created by
Daniel Defoe.