Olga SMOLITSKAYA,
Moscow

About Robinson Crusoe and its author

Defoe created the famous “Robinson Crusoe” already in adulthood in 1719. I had almost sixty years of life behind me. "The Adventures of Robinson is a sketch of a real life - twenty-eight years spent in the most wandering, lonely and sad circumstances that man has ever experienced. During this time I lived a long and wonderful life - in constant storms, in struggles with the worst kind of savages and cannibals<...>I experienced all kinds of violence and oppression, unjust reproaches, human contempt, attacks of devils, heavenly punishments and human enmity; experienced countless vicissitudes of fortune, was in slavery worse than the Turkish: escaped with the help of the same clever plan that is described in the history of Xuri<...>fell into a sea of ​​disasters, was saved again and died again<...>I have often been shipwrecked, although rather on land than at sea. In a word, there is not a single circumstance in imaginary life that would not be a legitimate allusion to the true story,” wrote Defoe in the third and final part of Robinson Crusoe, which was published in 1720. What kind of life did Daniel Defoe live?

He was born into the family of a London candle merchant - an humble man, but quite wealthy. Daniel Defoe was prepared for the priesthood, but he preferred commercial activity. He took on all sorts of businesses: he sold knitwear, tobacco, and vodka, tried to organize an agency that predicted earthquakes and the appearance of ghosts, started his own brick factory and even a cat farm, where he was supposed to get musk from cats - an odorous substance that times used in perfumery. But commerce was not only a means for Defoe to get rich. It was precisely he who did not gain wealth for himself. “Thirteen times I was rich and became poor again” - this is what Daniel Defoe would say about himself later. Commerce and businessmen were for him the real embodiment of human abilities - intelligence, courage, energy and curiosity. He wrote many books on commerce during his life, such as A General History of Trade, Especially in its Relation to British Commerce (1713); "A General History of Discoveries and Improvements in the Useful Arts, especially in the Great Branches of Commerce, Navigation, and Agriculture in all the Known Parts of the World" (1725-1726); “The Complete English Merchant” (1725-1727) and others. In one of his books, he wrote this: “A true merchant is a universal scientist. He is as much superior to a simple connoisseur of Latin and Greek as the latter is superior to an illiterate person who cannot read and write. He knows languages ​​without the help of books, geography without the help cards; his commercial travels have covered the whole world; his foreign transactions, bills and powers of attorney speak different languages; he sits in his office and talks with all nations."

Evil tongues reproached Defoe for selling his political convictions just like everyone else. And indeed, Defoe in the political feuds of the two main English parties - the Whigs and the Tories - acted first on the side of one, then on the side of the other; He was also a secret government agent and used his travels around the country and the world not only for commercial purposes. Let's not try to justify or condemn Daniel Defoe. It is obvious that here, too, the sober and calculating mind of a man of the Enlightenment spoke in him. Many of Defoe's contemporaries, including Jonathan Swift, wrote more than once that the confrontation between the Whigs and Tories was essentially meaningless and members of one or another party most often did not think about how to implement certain methods governing the country, but simply about his own personal gain. And if so, if from the point of view of reason - the merciless judge of the Enlightenment - one party was worth another, then why not choose the one whose adherence to which at the moment brought the greatest benefit? Whether Defoe reasoned this way or not is difficult to say. But if he had not gotten involved in the political confrontation between the Whigs and Tories, the brilliant pamphlets that made the glory of English journalism would not have been written. For one of them, Defoe was sentenced to stand in the pillory. This pamphlet is remarkable in itself: here Defoe supported the official point of view, but brought it to the point of absurdity. The pamphlet was called “The Shortest Method of Dealing with Dissidents” (1702). It came out without the name of the author. All possible and impossible punishments, divine and human, were called upon in it on the heads of dissidents. The author proposed exiling them to hard labor, hanging them and even crucifying them along the highway. The author’s merciless irony did not immediately become obvious, but soon the true intention of the pamphlet was revealed, and the author, Daniel Defoe, was found. Copies of the pamphlet were burned, and Defoe was sentenced to a fine and pillory. But even earlier, Defoe wrote an equally ironic, defiant and bold pamphlet, “Hymn to the Pillory.” It had to happen ("providence would have it" - Robinson Crusoe would say) that the pamphlet went on sale just on the day of the civil execution of its author. Defoe's admirers and supporters bought up the pamphlet, and shame turned into triumph.

But a man who so often changed supporters and allies had many enemies, and his friends remained more and more wary, more and more aloof - and it would be difficult to blame them for this... Defoe ultimately felt very lonely, which he wrote about in his last parts of Robinson.

The novel “The Life, Extraordinary and Amazing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe...” was published in April 1719. The book was an extraordinary success. In the same year, Defoe published the second part - “The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe”, and in 1720 the third part was published - “Serious Reflections on the Life and Amazing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe with His Vision of the Angelic World”. Following “Robinson,” Defoe wrote several more novels, such as “The Life, Adventures and Piracy of the Famous Captain Singleton” (1720), “The Joys and Sorrows of the Famous Moll Flanders” (1722) and others. These novels were also successful and left a significant mark on literature. And yet on Daniel Defoe's tombstone was carved: "Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe."

“The life, extraordinary and amazing adventures of Robinson Crusoe, a sailor from York, who lived twenty-eight years all alone on an uninhabited island off the coast of America, near the mouth of the great Orinoco River, where he was thrown by a shipwreck, during which the entire crew of the ship, except him, died, with an account of his unexpected release by pirates. Written by himself." This is what the title of the first edition of Defoe's novel looked like. His success was a foregone conclusion. A passion for travel and a burning interest in unknown countries gripped all of Europe in the 18th century, and England more than any other country. Every Englishman at least once boarded a ship that separated the island from the rest of Europe, which means he relied on the will of the sea elements. The English were spoken of as a nation of seafarers, and in English literature the sea was one of the most common images, in which each era saw something of its own. For educators, the sea has become the place where a person’s true qualities are tested, where everything depends on his will, determination, and skills.

But it was not only the sea itself that attracted the English of the 18th century. Somewhere out there, in the sea, lay unknown lands, in which, it seemed, countless and unexplored riches were hidden. In the 18th century, Europeans knew much less about the world than they do now. In 1722, the geographer Edward Welles produced a map of the globe that showed neither the northeastern border of Asia nor the western border of North America, and the western border of Australia was only partially marked. Instead of the boundaries of the continents, as well as on some other, in the literal sense of the word, “white spots” there was an inscription: “As yet undiscovered places.” Magazines often published stories about travel and travelers. In 1713, an essay about the Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk appeared in the Englishman magazine. He spent 4 years and 4 months on the uninhabited island of Juan Fernandez in the Pacific Ocean. An English ship picked him up; Selkirk's story became known and was hotly debated. It seemed as if it had been deliberately created for the Age of Enlightenment. Again and again the question arose about what a person is capable of, whether he can survive relying only on his own strength, and what kind of person he will be. Selkirk, by the time he was picked up, had almost lost his human appearance and had forgotten human speech (it returned to him later, and there is evidence that Defoe met Selkirk and talked with him).

And so, in “Robinson Crusoe” the reader, a contemporary of Defoe, could find everything that he wanted to see in books - a story about travel, about shipwrecks, descriptions of unprecedented nature and breathtaking skirmishes with savages. Many imitators and authors of abridged adaptations of Robinson stopped there. But Defoe's plan was deeper. “Robinson Crusoe” is also a parable about the spiritual path of man, about how he comes to comprehend the highest meaning of human existence and the providence of God.

The genre of allegorical parable has long been popular in England. One of the most famous examples of such works can be considered “The Pilgrim’s Progress” (1678–1684) by John Bunyan (1628–1688). This book tells the story of a Christian who, seeking to escape a city doomed to destruction, sets out on a journey, meets the Faithful, avoids the dangers of the Vanity Fair and eventually reaches the City of Heaven - Jerusalem. The book is written in a very bright, rich language and in the end can be read simply as an adventure novel. The popularity of “The Pilgrim’s Progress” was enormous for several centuries, and a tradition was firmly established in English literature, according to which almost any narrative about the life and fate of a person implied not only a literal, but also an allegorical reading.

Fate did not immediately throw Robinson Crusoe onto a desert island. At first, against his parents’ will, he ran away from home, led a wild life, and was captured. The shipwreck became for him something like retribution for sins and even death, and life on the island became a rebirth, a slow atonement for sins and self-knowledge, and then salvation. (It is noteworthy that in English and Scottish folk legends, the world where the souls of the dead live is often depicted as an island.) Robinson Crusoe, having arrived on the island, must understand what the true purpose of man is.

Robinson is one of those people about whom Defoe wrote with admiration. He does not lose his presence of mind, he knows a lot and can do a lot. Defoe describes with taste and thoroughness how Robinson's home and life are arranged. The hero retraces the path that human civilization had taken by the 18th century: he learns to make fire, protect the body from heat and cold; he himself invents a way to burn clay, he sculpts pots himself, etc. But at the same time, he realizes that he is guided (and perhaps even tested) by a higher power - Divine Providence. Gradually, Robinson not only overcomes despair, but also learns to thank fate for what has been given to him, learns to find joy in his situation, and in this the highest grace of God is manifested. But Robinson is not a hermit. He does not strive to mortify the flesh, does not feed on water and roots - on the contrary, he skillfully creates comfort around himself, strives to live like a civilized person. Even at the beginning of his stay on the island, Robinson removes things from the wrecked ship. These things are a symbol of the civilization to which Robinson belongs. They were made by the hands of other people, and for this reason he is not alone on the island.

Defoe is trying to solve a problem that arose in European literature and culture back in the 16th century - how the will of man and God's providence relate. Robinson finds a certain balance between the desire to improve his situation, realizing that he is still deprived of much, and submission to God's will. He does not lose heart, he takes what happened to him for granted, but he is not passive, but active and energetic. When peace reigns in Robinson's soul, Defoe introduces savages into the story - now Robinson can teach others what he himself has comprehended.

Shocked by the bloodthirstiness of the cannibal savages, Robinson, however, gradually realizes that they are not inveterate villains, but simply do not know real (from Robinson’s point of view) moral values. Robinson educates and “enlightens” one of them. The name that Robinson gives to the young savage is symbolic - Friday. On Friday, humanity received atonement for sins, since Christ was crucified, but the Resurrection, the acquisition of new life, occurred later. Both Friday and Robinson, and, perhaps, from Defoe’s point of view, humanity itself are precisely on this segment of the path to the truth: reason, will, and work are capable of eradicating the vices of the old society, but what the new one will be like is not yet clear. There are many reflections of this kind in the third part of Robinson.

The modern reader may be surprised by how persistently Robinson tries to convert the savage to his faith. But let’s not forget that the idea of ​​equality of cultures and, as a consequence, respect for primitive culture appeared only in the twentieth century, when researchers proved: primitive man and those peoples who are now at this stage of development have their own rather complex system of values, their own ideas about morality, good and evil. Neither Robinson nor Defoe could have had such a view of the savage. But Robinson's thoughts that savages are not to blame for their bloodthirstiness are quite remarkable. Robinson recalls how the colonialists behaved before, exterminating savages who did not consider them to be people. He contrasts this view of the savages with his own, new, “enlightened” one; he believes that he should bring to the savages all the best that is in his culture - the culture of a civilized European.

Defoe's novel was subsequently often imitated. The word “Robinsonade” arose as a designation for an entire genre; We still use the word “Robinson” as a common noun. It is interesting that Jules Verne, when creating The Mysterious Island, like Defoe, endowed his hero Cyrus Smith - also a "Robinson" - with the profession that at the end of the 19th century seemed to be the embodiment of the times - the profession of engineer.

Questions and tasks for students of the novel

1. What were Robinson's actions on the desert island? Why do you think they are presented in this particular order?
2. What did Robinson take with him from the wrecked ship? Why does Defoe consider these things to be the most necessary for his hero?
3. What does Robinson Crusoe say about money? What important Enlightenment idea is behind this episode?
4. Read and comment on the list of "Evil and Good" from Robinson's diary.
5. What feature of the worldview of people of the Enlightenment was manifested in detailed descriptions of the process of making a particular item? Find these descriptions. Could you fire a pot yourself following this description?
6. How are savages described in Robinson Crusoe? Why do you think Defoe describes Friday's meeting with his father in such detail?
7. How did Robinson manage the colony on his island? How would you comment on such a social structure?
8. What imitations of “Robinson Crusoe” do you know (in cinema, in literature)? How do they reflect the time and place of their creation?

When the almost sixty-year-old famous journalist and publicist Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) wrote “Robinson Crusoe” in 1719, the last thing he thought about was that an innovative work was coming out of his pen, the first novel in the literature of the Enlightenment. He did not imagine that descendants would prefer this text out of the 375 works already published under his signature and earning him the honorary name of “the father of English journalism.”

Literary historians believe that in fact he wrote much more, but it is not easy to identify his works, published under different pseudonyms, in the wide flow of the English press at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries.

At the time of writing the novel, Defoe had a huge life experience behind him: he came from the lower class, in his youth he was a participant in the rebellion of the Duke of Monmouth, escaped execution, traveled around Europe and spoke six languages, knew the smiles and betrayals of Fortune. His values ​​- wealth, prosperity, personal responsibility of a person before God and himself - are typically Puritan, bourgeois values, and Defoe's biography is a colorful, eventful biography of a bourgeois of the era of primitive accumulation.

All his life he started various enterprises and said about himself: “Thirteen times I became rich and poor again.” Political and literary activity led him to civil execution in the pillory. For one of the magazines, Defoe wrote a fake autobiography of Robinson Crusoe, the authenticity of which his readers were supposed to believe (and did).

The plot of the novel is based on a true story told by Captain Woods Rogers in an account of his voyage that Defoe may have read in the press. Captain Rogers told how his sailors rescued a man from an uninhabited island in the Atlantic Ocean who had spent four years and five months there alone.

Alexander Selkirk, a mate on an English ship with a violent temper, quarreled with his captain and was landed on the island with a gun, gunpowder, a supply of tobacco and a Bible. When Rogers' sailors found him, he was dressed in goatskins and "looked wilder than the horned original wearers of that apparel."

He forgot how to speak, on the way to England he hid crackers in secluded places on the ship, and it took time for him to return to a civilized state.

A) History of creation (translations of the novel)

During his long life, D. Defoe wrote many books. But none of them were as successful as The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. D. Defoe was prompted to write the novel by a meeting with Alexander Selkearn, the navigator of the ship “Five Ports”. He told Defoe his amazing story. Selkirk quarreled with the captain on the ship, and he landed him on an uninhabited island off the coast of Chile. There he lived for four years and four months, eating goat and turtle meat, fruit and fish. At first it was hard for him, but later he learned to understand nature, mastered and remembered many crafts. One day, the Bristol ship "Duke" under the command of Woods Rogers arrived at this island, and he took Alexander Selkirk on board. Rogers wrote down all of Selkirk's stories in the ship's log. When these recordings were made public, Selkirk was talked about in London as a miracle.

D. Defoe used stories about the adventures of the navigator and wrote his novel about Robinson Crusoe. Seven times the author changed the details of the hero's life on the island. He moved the island from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, and pushed the time of action into the past by about fifty years. The writer also increased the length of his hero's stay on the island seven times. And in addition, he gave him a meeting with a faithful friend and assistant - the native Friday.

Later, D. Defoe wrote a sequel to the first book - “The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe.” In this book, the writer talks about how his hero came to Russia. Robinson Crusoe began to get acquainted with Russia in Siberia. There he visited the Amur. And to this Robinson traveled all over the world, visited the Philippines, China, sailed across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. D. Defoe's novel “The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe” had a significant influence on the development of world literature. He started a new genre - “Robinsonade”. This is what they call any description of adventures in an uninhabited land. D. Defoe's book was reprinted many times. Robinson has many doubles. He had different names and was Dutch, Greek, and Scots. Readers from different countries expected works from writers that were no less exciting than D. Defoe’s book. So one book gave rise to a number of other literary works.

B) The educational value of the novel

Daniel Defoe's greatest fame came from the novel Robinson Crusoe. According to researchers of the writer’s work, the immediate impetus for writing the novel was an episode from the ship’s diary of Captain Woods

Rogers, published under the title "A Voyage Around the World from the Years XVII08 to the Years Eighteenth." Subsequently, based on the materials of this diary, the famous journalist Style published an article about the adventures of a Scottish sailor, who is believed to be, to a certain extent, the prototype of Robinson Crusoe.

There is an assumption that at the Landoger Trau hotel a meeting took place between D. Defoe and Alexander Selkirk, the navigator of the ship "Five Ports", who was landed on the uninhabited island of Juan Fernandez off the coast of Chile for disobedience to the captain. He lived there for 4 years.

D. Defoe moved the location of his hero to the Atlantic Ocean, and placed the time of action approximately 50 years in the past, thereby increasing the length of his hero’s stay on the uninhabited island by 7 times.

Paying tribute to the literature of that time, the writer gave the title of the work, which was consonant with its plot: “The life and extraordinary and amazing adventures of Robinson Crusoe, a sailor from York, who lived for 28 years in complete solitude on an uninhabited island near the American coast, not far from the mouth of the great Orinoco River, finding himself ashore after a shipwreck, during which the entire crew died except him, with the appendix of stories about the no less amazing way in which he was finally freed by pirates. Written by himself."

Characteristic features of the educational novel "Robinson Crusoe"

* affirmation of the idea that reason and labor are the main driving forces of human progress.

* the credibility of the work was provided by the real story underlying the plot.

* The authenticity of the narrative was facilitated by the form of the diary.

* the introduction of a first-person narrative, on behalf of the hero himself, allowed the author to show the world through the eyes of an ordinary person and at the same time reveal her character, feelings, and moral qualities.

* the image of Robinson Crusoe is presented in development.

* the focus is not only on the exoticism of a deserted island and exciting adventures, but on how many people, their experiences, feelings when they were left alone with nature.

* Robinson is an effective and active person, a true son of his time, he is looking for various means of discovering his own abilities and practicality.

* Robinson is a new hero. This is not an outstanding or exceptional person, not a historical figure, not a mythical figure, but an ordinary person, endowed with soul and mind. The author glorifies the activity of the common man in transforming the surrounding reality.

* The image of the main character has great educational value;

* An extreme situation becomes a criterion for determining not only physical strength, but primarily the human qualities of the hero.

* The artistic achievement of the novel is the writer’s decision to force his hero to analyze not only what he sees around him, but also what is happening in his soul.

* Nature for Robinson is a wise teacher and guide in his activities. She is a wonderful object for transformation, for identifying human capabilities and abilities. In the English spiritual culture of the 18th century, a significant role was played by the teachings of J. Locke, who proclaimed the priority of experience in mental activity. Experience verifies the correctness of mental assumptions and contributes to the knowledge of truth. And a person gains experience with the help of his feelings. These thoughts of the philosopher found artistic embodiment in Defoe's novel.

* Nature gave impetus to the development of the hero’s moral qualities. Thanks to her constant influence, Robinson seems to be going through social problems, intrigues and conflicts. He doesn't need to be hypocritical, greedy, or deceitful. Being in the lap of nature and in harmony with it brought to life only the best traits of nature - sincerity, hard work and the ability to be natural.

* The peculiarity of the novel is the combination of specifics with broad social and moral generalizations (Robinson and the cannibals; Robinson and Friday - this, in the understanding of the enlighteners, would model the social history of mankind in miniature).

* The main idea of ​​the work is the glorification of activity, labor energy, intelligence and high moral qualities of man, which help her master the world, as well as the affirmation of the great importance of nature for the spiritual development of mankind.

* "Robinson Crusoe" is an example of a realistic novel of the Enlightenment era. The plot of "Robinson Crusoe" was determined primarily by the interest of English society in geographical discoveries and travel.

This topic was not new in the literature of that time. Even before D. Defoe, works appeared that told about the fate of unfortunate travelers abandoned in the uncivilized world. 1674 in England published a translation of the book by the 19th century Arab writer Ibn Tufail about the adventures of Haji Ben Yokdan, who achieved great wisdom while living completely alone on the island.

After the appearance of Defoe’s novel, literary scholarship was enriched with a new concept - “Robinsonade”, which means a traditional plot in literature, built on depicting the life and trials of a character who found himself in extreme conditions, and for certain reasons was deprived of human society.

Robinsonade's novel is a distinctive feature of literature not only of the 18th century, but also of subsequent stages in the development of world literature. Examples of novels - Robinsonades are the following works: "Felsenburg Island" by J. Schnabel (XVII 51), "New Robinson" by I. Kampe (XVII79), "Swiss Robinson" by Wyss (Julio 12-XVIII 27), "The Hermit of the Pacific" by Psi layer (XVIII 24), "Mowgli" by Kipling (XVIII94-XVIII 95), "Russian Robinson" by S. Turbin (XVIII 79).

Modern writers also create Robinsonades. Thus, the Russian writer L. Petrushevskaya in her essay “New Robinsons” depicts the feeling of a modern person who is forced to flee from the absurd and monstrous world to the bosom of nature in order to save herself morally and physically.

B) The image of the main character “Robinson Crusoe”

Robinson Crusoe image is not at all fictional, and is based on real stories of sailors. In Defoe's time, the main and only type of long-distance travel was sailing. It is not surprising that from time to time the ships were wrecked, and often the survivors were washed up on a desert island. Few people managed to return and tell their stories, but there were such people, and their biographies formed the basis of the work of Daniel Defoe.

The description of Robinson Crusoe occurs in the first person and, while reading the book, you are imbued with respect and sympathy for the main character. Rejoicing and empathizing, we go with him all the way, starting from birth and ending with returning home. A man with enviable tenacity and hard work, who, by the will of fate, finds himself alone in an unknown area, immediately sets goals for himself and soberly assesses his chances of survival. Gradually equipping his home and household, he does not lose hope of salvation and makes every effort to achieve his goals. In fact, he went all the way from a primitive man to a wealthy peasant, and alone, without any education or special knowledge.

In various translations and adaptations, this was the main idea of ​​the work, survival and salvation. However, Daniel Defoe was smart enough not to limit the image of Robinson Crusoe only to everyday problems. The work widely reveals the spiritual world and psychology of the main character. His growing up and maturity, and subsequently aging, cannot go unnoticed by an experienced reader. Starting with enviable enthusiasm, Robinson gradually comes to terms with his fate, although the hope of salvation does not leave him. Thinking a lot about his existence, he understands that with all the abundance of wealth, a person receives pleasure only from what he really needs.

In order not to forget human speech, Robinson begins to talk with pets and constantly reads the Bible. Only when he was 24 years old on the island was he lucky enough to talk to a man from a tribe of savages whom he saved from death. The long-awaited interlocutor Friday, as Robinson nicknamed him, faithfully and devotedly helped him on the farm and became his only friend. In addition to his assistant, Friday became a student for him, who needed to learn to speak, instill faith in God, and wean him from the habits of savages.

However, Robinson was only glad; it was not an easy task and at least somehow helped him take his mind off sad thoughts. These were the most joyful years of life on the island, if you can call them that.

Robinson's rescue is as exciting and extraordinary as his life on the island. Thanks to his friend Friday, he managed to suppress a riot on a ship that accidentally landed on the island. Thus, Robinson Crusoe saves part of the team and returns with them to the mainland. He leaves the rebels on the island on his former possessions, providing them with everything they need, and returns home safely.

The story of Robinson Crusoe is instructive and exciting. The happy ending and the return are pleasing, but it becomes a little sad that the adventures are over and you have to part with the main character.

Subsequently, many authors tried to imitate Daniel Defoe, and he himself wrote a continuation of the adventures of Robinson Crusoe, but not a single book surpassed his masterpiece in popularity.

The characterization of Robinson Crusoe tells us that the hero was a courageous and strong man. Despite all the trials, he was able to maintain his human dignity and will. We’ll talk about the famous character in this article.

Why did the author choose such a plot?

First of all, it is worth noting that Robinson had his own prototypes. In those centuries, England actively pursued colonial conquests of new lands. Many ships departed from their native harbors to foreign countries, some of them ended up in shipwrecks in the stormy waters of the World Ocean. It so happened that some of the sailors survived and found themselves in complete isolation on uninhabited islands scattered in the seas.

Thus, the cases described in the novel were not uncommon. However, the author used this plot to tell his readers a very instructive story, in which he devoted a lot of space to such a topic as the characteristics of Robinson Crusoe, his personality and life destiny. What kind of story is this? Let's try to briefly answer this question.

Protestant ethics and Defoe's novel

According to literary scholars, Defoe's novel is thoroughly permeated with motifs associated with the Protestant ethic. According to this religious teaching, a person on earth must go through many tests in order to earn entry into the Kingdom of Heaven through his labor. At the same time, he should not grumble against God. After all, what the Almighty does is useful for him. Let's look at the plot of the novel. At the beginning of the story we see a young man, very extravagant and stubborn. Against the wishes of his parents, he becomes a sailor and goes on a journey.

Moreover, God seems to warn him at first: the characterization of Robinson Crusoe begins with the author describing his first shipwreck and miraculous rescue. But the young man did not heed what fate taught him. He sets sail again. The man gets into a wreck again and is the only one of the entire team who is saved. The hero ends up in a place where he is forced to spend more than 28 years of his life.

Hero Transformation

A brief description of Robinson Crusoe will allow us to see the development of the protagonist’s personality in its dynamics. At first we see a very carefree and wayward young man. However, having found himself in a difficult life situation, he did not give up, but began to do everything in order to survive. The author meticulously describes the daily work of his hero: Robinson saves things from the ship, which help him survive, he takes animals with him, builds a home for himself. In addition, the man hunts wild goats, begins to tame them, and then makes butter and cheese from the resulting milk. Robinson observes the nature around him and begins to keep a kind of diary of the changing rainy season and seasons of relative warmth. The hero accidentally sows a few centimeters of wheat, then fights for the harvest, etc.

The characterization of Robinson Crusoe will be incomplete if we do not pay attention to one more feature. The most important thing in the novel is not just the character’s work, but his internal spiritual transformation. Far from people, the hero begins to think about why fate threw him onto a desert island. He reads the Bible, thinks about Divine providence, and resigns himself to his fate. And he doesn’t complain about being left completely alone. As a result, the hero finds peace of mind. He learns to rely on his own strength and trust in the mercy of the Almighty.

Characteristics of Robinson Crusoe: what kind of person he is before and after the shipwreck

As a result, after 28 years, the character is completely transformed. He changes internally and gains life experience. Robinson believes that everything that happened to him was fair. Now the hero himself can act as a teacher. He begins to make friends with a local Aborigine, whom he calls Friday. And he passes on to him all the knowledge that he himself possesses. And only after all this, Europeans appear in the life of the former sailor, who accidentally stumbled upon the island. They take him to his distant and beloved homeland.

The novel itself is constructed in confessional form. The author tells readers in the first person what the character has experienced over many years of loneliness and work. Robinson Crusoe experienced a lot during his life. The characterization of the hero given by us in the article fully confirms the fact that he returned home as a completely different person.

Written in the genre of an adventure novel, the most famous work of the talented English journalist Daniel Defoe was a resounding success and served as an impetus for the development of such a trend in literature as traveler's notes. The plausibility of the plot and the reliability of the presentation - this is precisely the effect the author tried to achieve, presenting the events in a spare, everyday language, in style more reminiscent of journalism.

History of creation

The real prototype of the main character, a Scottish sailor, as a result of a serious quarrel, was landed by his crew on a desert island, where he spent over four years. By changing the time and place of action, the writer created an amazing biography of a young Englishman who found himself in extreme circumstances.

Published in 1719, the book created a sensation and demanded a sequel. Four months later, the second part of the epic was released, and later the third. In Russia, an abridged translation of the publication appeared almost half a century later.

Description of the work. Main characters

Young Robinson, drawn by a dream of the sea, leaves his father's house against the will of his parents. After a series of adventures, having suffered a disaster, the young man finds himself on an uninhabited island located far from sea trade routes. His experiences, steps to find a way out of the current situation, a description of the actions taken to create a comfortable and safe environment on a lost piece of land, moral maturation, rethinking of values ​​- all this formed the basis of a fascinating story that combines the features of memoir literature and a philosophical parable.

The main character of the story is a young man in the street, a bourgeois with traditional views and mercantile goals. The reader observes the change in his character, the transformation of consciousness as the story progresses.

Another striking character is the savage Friday, who was saved by Crusoe from the massacre of cannibals. The Indian's loyalty, courage, sincerity and common sense conquer Robinson; Friday becomes a good helper and friend.

Analysis of the work

The story is told in the first person, in simple, precise language, allowing one to reveal the hero’s inner world, his moral qualities, and assessment of current events. The absence of specific artistic techniques and pathos in the presentation, laconicism and specificity add authenticity to the work. Events are conveyed in chronological order, but sometimes the narrator turns to the past.

The storyline divides the text into two components: the life of the central character at home and the period of survival in the wild.

Placing Robinson in critical conditions for 28 long years, Defoe shows how, thanks to energy, spiritual strength, hard work, observation, ingenuity, and optimism, a person finds ways to solve pressing problems: gets food, arranges a home, makes clothes. Isolation from society and familiar stereotypes reveals the best qualities of his personality in a traveler. Analyzing not only the environment, but also the changes taking place in his own soul, the author, through the mouth of Robinson, with the help of simple words, makes it clear what, in his opinion, is actually important and paramount, and what can be easily done without. Remaining a man in difficult conditions, Crusoe confirms by his example that simple things are enough for happiness and harmony.

Also, one of the central themes of the story is the description of the exoticism of a deserted island and the influence of nature on the human mind.

Created in the wake of interest in geographical discoveries, Robinson Crusoe was intended for an adult audience, but today it has become an entertaining and instructive masterpiece of children's prose.

Year of publication— 1719

Genre- novel

Subject- the struggle of man with nature.

Full title— “The life, extraordinary and amazing adventures of Robinson Crusoe, a sailor from York, who lived for 28 years in complete solitude on an uninhabited island off the coast of America near the mouth of the Orinoco River, where he was thrown a shipwreck, during which the entire crew of the ship, except him, died, with an account of his unexpected release by pirates; written by himself"

2. Theme of labor. It was labor that helped Robinson survive and remain human.Robinson Crusoe does not lose heart. He always keeps himself busy with something, works, ennobles his life. Realizing his loneliness, the hero begins to look for something, strive for something, do something. Doesn't sit idly by.

3. The theme of love of life, optimism, hope for salvation. Robinson Crusoe had two basic building blocks: Faith and Action. Robinson Crusoe believes and hopes for his salvation, he does not lose optimism, he fights for life.

4. The theme of friendship.

An assistant and friend Friday appears on the island in the life of the main character.With the advent of Friday, his life takes on a new meaning. Robinson Crusoe becomes Friday's friend and mentor. He teaches Friday to communicate in English, to cook food properly, to eat, to work, to improve his home and land, and teaches various skills: reading, writing, shooting a gun. This helps Robinson get distracted, he has no time to be bored. With the appearance of Friday, the main character's chance of salvation increases. They build a boat together.