The Book of Robinson Crusoe

Robinson Crusoe was based on the true story of a shipwrecked seaman named Alexander Selkirk and was passed off as history. Sometimes I think the experience of the heroine of Robinson Crusoe reflects the author Daniel Defoe' s personal life. Daniel Defoe has experienced many ups and downs. Just like Crusoe has experienced many storms on the sea， and he gains and losses.

Robinson Crusoe is an Englishman from the town of York in the seventeenth century. Encouraged by his father to study law， Crusoe expresses his wish to go to sea instead. At first， he listens to his father' s arrangement， but he does not resist the temptation， and eventually Crusoe and his friend board the ship to London. But they are caught in a storm. His friend is persuaded to withdraw from the travel， Crusoe continues to his trip， and becomes a merchant. Several times after the trip， Crusoe leave his profits in the care of a friendly widow. He is enslaved to a potentate in the North African town of Sallee. While on a fishing expedition， he and a slave boy break free and sail down the African coast. In the trip， a kindly Portuguese captain picks them up， buys the slave boy from Crusoe， and takes Crusoe to Brazil. Crusoe becomes a great garden in Brazil. After sailing to West Africa， Crusoe decides to convene slaves， but he meets shipwreck. So he ends up that trip. Crusoe soon learns he is the sole survivor of the expedition and seeks shelter and food for himself. He finds that he can feed himself to eat meat by raising sheep， and he has built a house for himself. Next to his house， he put up a cross on which he had reached the date： September 1， 1659. And the number of days that led to the cross.by using tools salvaged from the ship， and ones he makes himself， he hunts， grows barley and rice， dries grapes to make raisins， learns to make pottery， and rises goats. He also adopts a small parrot. He reads the Bible and becomes religious， thanking God for his fate in which nothing is missing. More years passes， Crusoe finds cannibals locally， they kill and eat prisoners. At first， he is going to kill them， but then he realizes that he has no right to do so. He dreams of getting one or two servants through the release of some prisoners. When a prisoner escapes， Robinson helps him， and names his new partner \" Friday\" . Crusoe teaches him English and sends him to christianity. Friday expresses the desire to return to the same people， they make a boat together to savage. Just before they leave， they meet 21 men， one of which was a Friday's father. Then they surrender some suspicious people who are from a British ship. On December 19， 1686， Crusoe boards the ship to return to England. His widow friend has kept Crusoe’ s money safe. Crusoe learns from the Portuguese captain that his plantations in Brazil have been highly profitable. In 1694， he revisits his island， finding that the Spaniards are governing it well and that it has become a prosperous colony.

I think there are six main roles in this book. Their are Robinson Crusoe， Friday， The Portuguese Captain， The Spaniard， Xury and The Widow. Everyone has its own unique character. Some scenes give me a deep impression. First of all， I think the relationship between Crusoe and Xury is wonderful. When Caruso meets the little boy， he appears genuinely fond of him. The little boy's loyalty also touches Crusoe. But when Crusoe mercilessly takes Xury to the Portuguese Captain， Crusoe does not feel a trace of anxiety. When Crusoe thinks about Xury later， he does not miss their living days， but instead missing the lost of a labor. As it is told in the novel： he and his planter neighbor “both wanted help， and now I found， more than before， I had done wrong in parting with my boy Xury.” we might feel what is “wrong” is not his business decision， but the sale of his supposed friend as a slave for profit. This little slave boy only introduced during the period of Crusoe’s enslavement in Sallee. Although only a little bit of description， the social reality is reproduced deeply. My view is that the little boy is the representative of black slavery society at the times and Crusoe is the representative of British colonial expansion. Both reflect the social status of that time.

Then， I am very interested in the number and amount of precision which is recorded by Caruso. He does not use the \"huge\" word to describe the tree， but is “five foot ten inches in diameter at the lower part... And four foot eleven inches diameter at the end of twenty-two foot.” This point can also be seen from the accurate date which is recorded by Crusoe. However， I think the exact number is of no use to him. It implies that sometimes Crusoe does some calculation in vain. It reflects that Crusoe is a hard work， good at business person and he has faiths in life. But sometimes， Crusoe is vague with the numbers. For example， when he indulges in a diary， he misses one day because of oversleep. For contradiction of the number， I think there is a bit of irony. It also shows that it does not take any effects to ease Crusoe’s loneliness when he records every things. There is no denying that Crusoe loves writing diary to record the happiness and suffering on the island.

Another point which I am interested is the change of life attitude. At the beginning， he introduces himself as “poor， miserable Robinson Crusoe.” Crusoe also feels guilty for his lack of filial piety. But later， he never regards himself as a poor victims and puts himself as the owner of this island. I can learn something about the importance of the attitude. He begins to call the island as his \"home\" and \"Castle\"， and the construction of the inland residence called \"bower\" or \"country seat\". All these terms suggest that his relationship to the island is becoming more proprietary. Then he takes himself as the owner of the island. He laments his misfortune， and he regards the island as a prison. After that， he changes the attitude of life， he begins to feel satisfied with the life on island. Until finally， he is accustomed to the life on the island. The past and present life fuse as a whole， it makes him feel happy.