Name: Carmela Surname: Filetti Class: 3CL

ANALYSIS OF THE BOOK

AUTHOR: DANIEL DEFOE

TITLE: ROBINSON CRUSOE

1. THE WRITER (Write shortly about his/her life and works)

Daniel Defoe was one of the most important English writers and politicians, born in London in
1660, surrounded by a pre-industrial world where there were no rapid means of communication.
Interesting fact of his life is that his parents took part of the Dissenters, religious people that
thought The English Church was too near to the Roman one. When he was young he received a
fine education in the dissenters’ college, which influenced a lot his literary production. After
leaving studies, in 1680 he became a merchant because trade had always attracted him, while in
1684 he married Mary Tufley and then had 8 children. Defoe’s affairs weren’t successful, so he
began to be interested in literature. In fact, he wrote lots of popular novels, as his successful one,
Robinson Crusoe (1719). The author died alone in 1731, hiding himself from one creditor.

2. THE PLOT (Short narration of the events).

Robinson Crusoe is a youth of about eighteen years old who resides in York, England. Although his
father wishes him to become a lawyer, Crusoe dreams of going on sea voyages. He disregards the
fact that his two older brothers are dead because of their need for adventure. His father cautions
that a middle-class existence is the most stable. Robinson ignores him and Misfortune begins
immediately, in the form of rough weather. He thinks briefly about going home, but cannot stand to
be humiliated. He manages to find another voyage headed to Guiana. Once there, he wants to
become a trader. On the way, the ship is attacked by Turkish pirates, who bring the crew and
passengers into the Moorish port of Sallee. Robinson is made a slave. After two years he escaped
with another Negro slave, Xury. At one point, the two see a Portuguese ship in the distance and get
on it.. The captain is kind and says he will take them aboard for free and bring them to Brazil.
Robinson goes to Brazil and leaves Xury with the captain. There he became a planter and three
planters convinced him to go to Africa buying slaves .But the ship shipwrecked and he was the only
alive. He began living on the near island for years,and not to lose time,he decided write all his
memories in a diary. Passed a lot of time and adventures he will find a savage escaping from his
killers, that will become his friend. Finally after 28 years there, he and Friday wanted to go back to
England, where Robinson married and had three children, not leaving his adventures.

3. When and where does the story take place?

The story starts with an adult Robinson which tells since 1632, the date of his birth in York, where
he stayed until he was 19 years old and ran off the sea. However, if I can give my personal opinion,
I think the events starts in 1651 at the port of Hull, when sea adventures begin. After there is a
succession of places: African coast, Brazil, and then to an isolated island which we can consider the
main place where he stayed from 1659 to 1686. In conclusion, he returned with his man Friday to
England to start a quieter life.

4. THE CHARACTERS (List the main characters of the play; describe their physical appearance
and personality, if possible)
In the first place we can talk about our heroe, Robinson Crusoe, for which physical description
doesn’t appear. Whereas we can understand his personality reading chapters: thanks not only to the
physical strength, but especially for his will that he survived, nearly creating his “own island”
which he knew very well. He has been wise in all his actions, in particular when he had to protect
himself against the islands ‘native who often went to that place. Finally, he has been patience to
attend for a company and caring when the company needed it.
Apart Friday, the other ones are just short appearances, like Crusoe’s couple, Xury, a slave who
helped him to escape from Africa, and Brazilian planters.

At the end there is our Friday, the only Crusoe’s friend on the island.As we said he was a savage,
probably 26 years old, but strangely he seemed to have an European face and smile. He had his own
religion, that wasn’t Protestant or Catholic, and his savage way of thinking and acting, that will
change during the story.

NOW GIVE PERSONAL ANSWERS:

1. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CHARACTER AND WHY DO YOU LIKE HIM/HER?

My favorite character in the tale is the protagonist Robinson Crusoe. While reading, I liked him and
his story a lot, firstly because I’m keen on the world of travels and adventures, this referred to the
first part of the book, and then I can say also for his behavior in all the situations. He had the
bravery to overcome any problems, despite he was alone there. In the tale’s final chapters, he
demonstrated that he wasn’t only clever, but also a kind man, thanks to the love he had to save one
island prisoner, Friday, beginning to educate and teach him about a better existence.

2. DID YOU LIKE THE STORY? WHY OR WHY NOT?

I didn’t like the first part of the writing, because too many times I’ve listened about the theme of
voyages and travelers, especially during last year of school studying the History of the XIV century,
but also represented in some old American films or sometimes in theatres. The same for the second
part of the book, because I appreciated a lot his bravery, however not the description of Robinson’s
loneliness. On the contrary I preferred the third part, when Friday appears, in fact in these lines they
expressed their feelings to each other , helping him to become a civilized person according to the
mentality of the epoch.