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| Daniel Defoe - {{PD-US}} UnknownUnknown , style of Sir Godfrey Kneller, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons |
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good day to you all.
This evening, I invite you to sail with me across the boundless seas of imagination, into a story that has weathered the tempests of three centuries and yet stands as fresh and stirring as the day it was first written.
It is the tale of solitude and survival, of faith and fortitude — Daniel Defoe’s immortal classic, Robinson Crusoe.
Published in the year 1719, Robinson Crusoe is often hailed as the first true English novel, a cornerstone of realistic fiction, and one of the most widely read adventure stories ever penned. It is not merely a story of a man shipwrecked upon an island — it is the chronicle of civilization reborn in isolation, a study of man’s resourcefulness when stripped of all society, and an allegory of spiritual rebirth through suffering and self-reliance.
I. The Beginning of the Adventure
Our hero, Robinson Crusoe, is born in the city of York, to a comfortable, middle-class family. His father, a man of good sense and gentle nature, urges him to lead a quiet, moderate life — what he calls “the middle station.”
But Crusoe’s heart burns for the sea. He tells us, “My inclination to go to sea was so strong that neither my father’s entreaties nor my mother’s tears could restrain me.”
And so, in defiance of parental wisdom, he sets forth on a voyage that will alter his destiny.
From the very beginning, the sea punishes his rebellion. His first voyage ends in a storm, his ship almost lost, his life barely spared. Yet, instead of learning caution, he becomes more adventurous. He sails again, and again — each voyage leading him farther from home and deeper into the unpredictable world.
In his travels, Crusoe experiences both fortune and misfortune. He gains wealth through trading voyages, only to be later captured by pirates and enslaved in Morocco. Escaping by daring and ingenuity, he eventually reaches Brazil, where he becomes a successful plantation owner.
But even prosperity cannot quench his thirst for adventure. When an opportunity arises to sail to Africa on a slave-trading expedition, he accepts — and thus sets sail upon the voyage that will cast him into the heart of solitude.
Glasgow Bridge as Defoe might have seen
it in the 18th century
See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
II. The Shipwreck and Isolation
it in the 18th century
See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
A violent storm at sea destroys Crusoe’s ship. He alone survives, washed ashore upon an uninhabited island.
He awakens to find himself utterly alone, surrounded by the vast ocean, the wreck of his ship visible offshore. He is seized by terror and despair, crying out, “I was left entirely destitute of all comfort, hope, or relief... I had not the least notion where I was, or what I was to do.”
Yet soon, his innate courage asserts itself. Crusoe builds a raft and salvages provisions, tools, and weapons from the wreck. He constructs a dwelling — part tent, part fortress — which he calls his “castle.” From the wreckage and from nature itself, he begins to recreate the essentials of life.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the essence of Robinson Crusoe: man’s triumph over nature through patience, labor, and reason.
III. The Long Years of Solitude
The island becomes both his prison and his kingdom. Crusoe learns to farm, to bake bread, to hunt, and to make pottery. He domesticates goats, sows barley, and fashions furniture from raw wood.
His journal, which he keeps diligently, becomes his companion — a mirror of his evolving mind. He divides his time between work, prayer, and reflection.
Yet, despite his industry, he endures profound loneliness. The silence of the island weighs heavily upon him. “I lived quite alone,” he writes, “banished from human society. I was like a man cast away upon another planet.”
At first, his thoughts are filled with regret — regret for his disobedience, for his ambition, for his disregard of his father’s counsel. Gradually, however, his solitude becomes a crucible of faith. He turns to the Bible, rescued from the ship, and finds comfort in its pages. “I learned to look more upon the bright side of my condition,” he confides, “and less upon the dark side.”
This spiritual awakening is central to the novel. Defoe, a deeply religious man, presents Crusoe’s journey as one from sin to redemption. The island becomes not just a place of survival, but of salvation.
IV. The Discovery of a Footprint
After many years — twenty-four years, in fact — Crusoe’s solitude is suddenly shattered. Walking along the beach one day, he sees, imprinted in the sand, the unmistakable shape of a human foot.
He freezes. In his own words: “I stood like one thunderstruck, or as if I had seen an apparition.”
The sight terrifies him — for it means he is not alone. He suspects the presence of cannibals, and for months he lives in fear, fortifying his dwelling and preparing his weapons.
Eventually, he discovers that a group of native people occasionally visit the island to perform ritual killings. During one such event, Crusoe saves a prisoner intended for sacrifice. The rescued man, out of gratitude, becomes his devoted servant. Crusoe names him Friday, after the day of his rescue.
V. Crusoe and Friday: The Meeting of Worlds
The relationship between Crusoe and Friday is one of the most remarkable elements of the novel. Crusoe teaches Friday English, Christianity, and the ways of European civilization. Friday, in return, offers loyalty, companionship, and service.
Their friendship transforms the island from a place of isolation into one of human connection. Crusoe writes, “I began to feel that I was not so perfectly abandoned in the world as I had hitherto imagined.”
Modern readers may view this relationship through the lens of colonialism, noting that Crusoe assumes the role of master and civilizer. Yet, within the moral framework of the 18th century, Defoe presents it as an ideal of enlightenment — the meeting of the “civilized” and the “savage” under the light of faith and reason.
VI. The Rescue and Return
Years later, an English ship appears near the island — but all is not well aboard. A mutiny has taken place. The ship’s captain and his loyal men are held prisoner by the mutineers.
Crusoe, now seasoned in the art of survival and strategy, assists the rightful captain in retaking the vessel. After years of exile, he finally leaves the island, taking Friday with him.
He returns to England after twenty-eight years, two months, and nineteen days — a man transformed. His plantation in Brazil has prospered, and he is now a wealthy man. Yet, he remains haunted by the island, often dreaming of it with mingled fear and fondness.
Glasgow Bridge as Defoe might have seen
it in the 18th century
See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
it in the 18th century
See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
VII. The Novel’s Themes and Meanings
What makes Robinson Crusoe such a special book — one that continues to captivate minds and hearts across centuries and cultures?
Let us reflect upon its central themes.
He represents the Enlightenment ideal of man as a rational being — capable of mastering nature through intellect and labor. His island becomes a miniature world, ordered and productive, a triumph of reason over chaos.
Through solitude, he learns humility and gratitude. His isolation strips away worldly pride, leaving him face to face with his own soul.
Yet, there is also a genuine curiosity and humanity in Defoe’s portrayal of cultural encounter. Crusoe and Friday’s friendship hints at a yearning for understanding between different worlds.
VIII. Defoe’s Art and Legacy
Daniel Defoe was nearly sixty years old when he wrote Robinson Crusoe. A journalist, pamphleteer, and social observer, he brought to fiction a realism that was revolutionary.
Unlike the romances of earlier centuries, Defoe’s narrative feels authentic — filled with precise details, practical observations, and a diary-like intimacy. Readers believed, for generations, that Robinson Crusoe was a real man, and that his adventures were true.
The novel’s influence is immense. It inspired countless adaptations, from children’s editions to philosophical studies. Jean-Jacques Rousseau called it the ideal book for education. Writers from Coleridge to James Joyce have echoed its themes. Even modern survival stories, from The Martian to Cast Away, bear its unmistakable imprint.
IX. Why It Endures
Why, then, should Robinson Crusoe still be read today?
Because it reminds us of something essential — the strength that lies within us when all else is lost.
Crusoe begins as a restless youth, seeking fortune. He ends as a man who has found faith, discipline, and self-knowledge. His story tells us that solitude need not destroy us — it can refine us. That loss can become renewal.
When Crusoe looks back upon his life, he writes: “How strange a chequer-work of Providence is the life of man!” He recognizes that every hardship was part of a greater design — a truth that gives meaning to suffering.
In a world where we are constantly surrounded by noise, Crusoe’s silence teaches us reflection. In an age of abundance, his simplicity reminds us of gratitude.
X. Conclusion: The Island Within
Ladies and gentlemen,
Robinson Crusoe is more than an adventure story — it is a parable of the human condition. Each of us, in some measure, is a Crusoe — cast upon the island of our circumstances, forced to build, to endure, to believe.
It speaks to that timeless question: how do we live when all that is familiar is stripped away?
Crusoe’s answer, written in the labor of his hands and the prayers of his heart, is clear — we live by courage, by faith, and by reason.
Thus, when we read Robinson Crusoe, we do not merely follow the tale of a shipwrecked sailor; we encounter the voyage of the soul — a voyage from fear to understanding, from isolation to communion, from rebellion to grace.
And perhaps, when we close the book, we hear, faintly, the whisper of the waves against the shore of that faraway island — and within it, the echo of our own enduring spirit.
Thank you.
