Robinson Crusoe Summary

Robinson Crusoe summary

In Robinson Crusoe, Crusoe washes up on an uninhabited island on the North American coast. He lives there for twenty-eight years, documenting his physical and spiritual growth in his journal. Then one day a British ship sails by the island, and he's rescued.

  • In the mid 17th century, Robinson Crusoe begins his career as a sailor, against the wishes of his parents, who would prefer him to go into law.
  • Crusoe survives a deadly shipwreck in the Caribbean and manages to set up a camp for himself on an uninhabited island. Much of the story documents the time he spent building his shelter and other things to make his life more comfortable, his gardening, goat raising, and hunting, as well as his religious reflections.

  • Many years after the shipwreck, Crusoe rescues a prisoner from a nearby island. He names this man Friday, converts him to Christianity, and enjoys his company.

  • Later, he sees a British ship sailing by. The crew has recently mutinied, but with the help of the captain he's able to take the ship. He returns to England briefly, where he has been disinherited, because his father had believed Crusoe to be dead upon his own death, but soon sets out on another adventure.






