ROBINSON CRUSOE

A PROJECT SUBMITTED TO

RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL UNIVERISTY OF LAW, PUNJAB

FOR THE FIRST SEMESTER OF B.A. LL.B. (HONS.)

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Dr. Tanya Mander Shubham Tanwar

(Asst. Prof. of English) Roll No. 18020

RGNUL, Punjab Group No. 3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my teacher DR TANYA
MANDER AND DR NAVLEEN MULTANI, who gave me the golden opportunity to
do this wonderful project of English on “ROBINSON CURSOE”. I came to know
about so many new things I am really thankful to them. Secondly I would also like to
thank my friends who helped me a lot in finalizing this project within the limited time
of frame.

About the Author

Daniel Defoe was an English trader, writer, journalist, and spy. He was born in 1660
in London. He is famous for his great novel ROBINSON CRUSOE. Robinson
Crusoe is second only to the bible in its number of translation He is one of the founder
of English novels. He was a versatile writer and produced more than three hundred
books, pamphlets, and journals on diverse topics, including politics, crime, religion,
marriage, psychology, and the supernatural. He is also pioneer of business and
economic journalism. Defoe was educated at the Rev. James Fisher boarding school in
Pixham Lane in Dorking, Surrey.

About The Book

Robinson Crusoe is novel by Daniel Defoe(1660-1731),published in the year

1719.The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author,
leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a travelogue of true
incidents.The story is based on life of Robinson Crusoe and his life experiences on
island.This novel has gone on to become one of the most widely published books in
history, spawning so many imitations, not only in literature but also in film, television
and radio, that its name is used to define a genre, the Robinson ade.

CHARACTER SKETCH
ROBINSON CRUSOE-

The novel’s protagonist and narrator. Crusoe begins the radical as a young middle-
elegance guy in York looking for a profession. His father recommends the law, but
Crusoe yearns for lifestyles at sea, and his next rebel and choice to end up a service
provider is the starting point for the entire adventure that follows. His vague however
ordinary feelings of guilt over his disobedience colour the primary part of the first half
of the story and show us how deep Crusoe’s non secular worry is. Crusoe is constant
and plodding in the whole lot he does, and his perseverance guarantees his survival
through storms, enslavement, and twenty eight year isolation on a desert island.

FRIDAY-

A twenty six year vintage Caribbean local and cannibal who converts to
Protestantism underneath Crusoe’s tutelage. Friday will become Crusoe’s servant after
Crusoe saves his life when Friday is about to be eaten by other cannibals. Friday
never seems to withstand or resent his new servitude, and he can also genuinely view
it as appropriate repayment for having his lifestyles stored. But anything Friday’s
reaction may be, his servitude has become a symbol of imperialist oppression
throughout the current international. Friday’s typical air of mystery works towards the
emotional deadness that many readers find in Crusoe.

THE PORTUGUESE CAPTAIN-

The sea captain who selections up Crusoe and the slave boy Xury from their boat after
they break out from their Moorish captors and float down the African coast. The
Portuguese captain takes Crusoe to Brazil and for this reason inaugurates Crusoe’s
new existence as plantation owner. The Portuguese captain is never named—not like
Xury, for instance—and his anonymity indicates a positive boring blandness in his
role inside the novel. He is polite, personable, and extraordinarily beneficent to
Crusoe, shopping for the animal skins and the slave boy from Crusoe at well over
market cost. He is loyal as properly, looking after Crusoe’s Brazilian investments even
after a twenty-eight-year absence. His role in Crusoe’s life is important, on account
that he each arranges for Crusoe’s new career as a plantation proprietor and enables
Crusoe coins in on the income later.

THE SPANIARD-

One of the men from the Spanish deliver that is wrecked off Crusoe’s island, and
whose team is rescued by way of the cannibals and brought to a neighbouring island.
The Spaniard is doomed to be eaten as a ritual victim of the cannibals while Crusoe
saves him. In change, he turns into a new “subject” in Crusoe’s “nation,” as a
minimum according to Crusoe. The Spaniard is by no means fleshed out an awful lot
as an individual in Crusoe’s narrative, an example of the odd impersonal attitude
frequently wonderful in Crusoe.

XURY-

A non-white (Arab or black) slave boy most effective in brief added at some stage in
the period of Crusoe’s enslavement in Sallee. When Crusoe escapes with two different
slaves in a boat, he forces one to swim to shore however continues Xury on board,
showing a positive agree with closer to the boy. Xury never betrays that consider.
Nevertheless, when the Portuguese captain eventually picks them up, Crusoe sells
Xury to the captain. Xury’s sale shows us the racist double standards every so often
apparent in Crusoe’s conduct.

THE WIDOW-
 Appearing briefly, but on two separate occasions in the novel, the widow keeps
Crusoe’s 200 pounds safe in England throughout all his thirty-five years of
journeying. She returns it loyally to Crusoe upon his return to England and, like the
Portuguese captain and Friday, reminds us of the goodwill and trustworthiness of
which humans can be capable, whether European or not.

PLOT OVERVIEW

Robinson Crusoe is an Englishman from the town of York in the seventeenth century,
the youngest son of a service provider of German foundation. Encouraged by his
father to study regulation, Crusoe expresses his desire to go to sea as a substitute. His
own family is in opposition to Crusoe going out to sea, and his father explains that it
is better to seek modest, secure lifestyles for oneself. Initially, Robinson is dedicated
to obeying his father; however he in the end succumbs to temptation and embarks on
a ship certain for London with a pal. When a typhoon reasons the close to deaths of
Crusoe and his pal, the friend is dissuaded from sea journey, but Crusoe nonetheless is
going directly to set himself up as service provider on a ship leaving London. This trip
is financially a hit, and Crusoe plans another, leaving his early profits within the care
of a pleasant widow. The 2d voyage does not prove as lucky: the ship is seized by
Moorish pirates, and Crusoe is enslaved to a potentate within the North African town
of Sallee. While on a fishing excursion, he and slave boy damage free and sail down
the African coast. A kindly Portuguese captain picks them up, buys the slave boy from
Crusoe, and takes Crusoe to Brazil. In Brazil, Crusoe establishes himself as a
plantation owner and shortly will become successful. Eager for slave exertions and its
monetary blessings, he embarks on a slave-gathering expedition to West Africa
however finally ends up shipwrecked off of the coast of Trinidad.Crusoe quickly
learns he's the only survivor of the expedition and seeks safe haven and meals for
himself. He returns to the smash’s stays twelve instances to salvage guns, powder,
food, and other objects. Onshore, he unearths goats he can graze for meat and builds
himself a refuge. He erects a pass that he inscribes with the date of his arrival,
September 1, 1659, and makes a notch each day so as never to lose track of time. He
also continues a journal of his family sports, noting his tries to make candles, his
fortunate discovery of sprouting grain, and his production of a cellar, among different
activities. In June 1660, he falls sick and hallucinates that an angel visits, warning him
to repent. Drinking tobacco-steeped rum, Crusoe reports a religious illumination and
realizes that God has added him from his in advance sins. After recuperating, Crusoe
makes a survey of the location and discovers he's on an island. He reveals a nice
valley abounding in grapes, where he builds a shady retreat. Crusoe starts to
experience greater constructive about being at the island, describing himself as its
“king.” He trains a pet parrot, takes a goat as a pet, and develops abilities in basket
weaving, bread making, and pottery. He cuts down a considerable cedar tree and
builds a big canoe from its trunk; however he discovers that he cannot move it to the
sea. After building a smaller boat, he rows around the island however nearly perishes
while swept away via a powerful modern-day. Reaching shore, he hears his parrot
calling his name and is thankful for being saved once more. He spends several years
in peace.

One day Crusoe is stunned to discover a person’s footprint on the beach. He first
assumes the footprint is the devil’s, then decides it have to belong to one of the
cannibals stated to stay inside the location. Terrified, he fingers himself and stays
looking for cannibals. He additionally builds an underground cellar wherein to herd
his goats at night and devises a way to cook dinner underground. One night-time he
hears gunshots, and the following day he is able to see a ship wrecked on his coast. It
is empty whilst he arrives on the scene to analyse. Crusoe once again thank you
Providence for having been saved. Soon afterward, Crusoe discovers that the shore
has been strewn with human carnage, seemingly the remains of a cannibal dinner
party. He is alarmed and remains vigilant. Later Crusoe catches sight of thirty
cannibals heading for shore with their sufferers. One of the sufferers is killed. Another
one, ready to be slaughtered, breaks unfastened and runs in the direction of Crusoe’s
dwelling. Crusoe protects him, killing one of the pursuers and injuring the other,
whom the victim finally kills. Well-armed, Crusoe defeats maximum of the cannibals
onshore. The sufferer vows general submission to Crusoe in gratitude for his
liberation. Crusoe names him Friday, to commemorate the day on which his lifestyles
changed into stored, and takes him as his servant.
THEME

THE IMPORTANCE OF SELF AWARENESS-

Crusoe’s arrival at the island does now not make him revert to a brute life controlled
with the aid of animal instincts, and, in contrast to animals, he remains conscious of
him at all times. Indeed, his island existence genuinely deepens his self-awareness as
he withdraws from the external social global and turns inward. The idea that the
person must maintain a cautious reckoning of the state of his personal soul is a key
point within the Presbyterian doctrine that Defoe took critically all his lifestyles. We
see that in his regular daily sports, Crusoe keeps money owed of him enthusiastically
and in diverse approaches. For example, it's far big that Crusoe’s makeshift calendar
does no longer honestly mark the passing of days, however instead extra
egocentrically marks the days he has spent at the island: it is approximately him, a
form of self-conscious or autobiographical calendar with him at its middle. Similarly,
Crusoe obsessively keeps a magazine to file his day by day activities, even if they
quantity to nothing more than locating a few pieces of wood at the beach or waiting
inner whilst it rains. Crusoe feels the importance of staying aware of his scenario at all
times. We also can feel Crusoe’s impulse in the direction of self-attention within the
reality that he teaches his parrot to mention the words, “Poor Robin Crusoe. . . .
Where have you ever been?” This kind of self-analyzing thought is natural for all and
sundry by myself on a wasteland island, however it's miles given an extraordinary
depth while we don't forget that Crusoe has spent months teaching the chook to say it
back to him. Crusoe teaches nature itself to voice his personal self-focus.

THE NECESSITY OF REPETANCE-

Crusoe’s experiences represent not certainly a journey tale wherein exciting things
appear, however also an ethical story illustrating the proper and incorrect methods to
stay one’s life. This moral and religious dimension of the tale is indicated within the
Preface, which states that Crusoe’s story is being published to train others in God’s
information, and one vital a part of this awareness is the significance of repenting
one’s sins. While it's far vital to be grateful for God’s miracles, as Crusoe is when his
grain sprouts, it isn't always enough definitely to express gratitude or maybe to hope
to God, as Crusoe does numerous instances with few consequences. Crusoe needs
repentance maximum, as he learns from the fiery angelic determine that involves him
all through a feverish hallucination and says, “Seeing all these items have not
introduced thee to repentance, now thou shalt die.” Crusoe believes that his main sin
is his rebellious behaviour towards his father, which he refers to as his “original sin,”
similar to Adam and Eve’s first disobedience of God. This biblical reference
additionally indicates that Crusoe’s exile from civilization represents Adam and Eve’s
expulsion from Eden.

MOTIFS

ORDEALS AT SEA-

Crusoe’s encounters with water in the novel are frequently related now not virtually
with trouble, however with a kind of symbolic ordeal, or take a look at of character.
First, the storm off the coast of Yarmouth frightens Crusoe’s friend far from a life at
sea, however does not deter Crusoe. Then, in his first trading voyage, he proves
himself a successful merchant, and in his second one, he indicates he's able to survive
enslavement. His break out from his Moorish grasp and his success encounter with the
Africans both arise at sea. Most substantially, Crusoe survives his shipwreck after a
prolonged immersion in water. But the ocean remains a supply of chance and worry
even later, whilst the cannibals arrive in canoes. The Spanish shipwreck reminds
Crusoe of the destructive power of water and of his personal exact fortune in
surviving it. All the lifestyles-checking out water imagery in the novel has diffused
associations with the rite of baptism, through which Christians prove their religion
and input a new lifestyles saved through Christ.

COUNTING AND MEASURING-

Crusoe is a careful note-taker whenever numbers and quantities are involved. He does
not simply tell us that his hedge encloses a large space, but informs us with a
surveyor’s precision that the space is “150 yards in length, and 100 yards in breadth.”
He tells us not simply that he spends a long time making his canoe in Chapter XVI,
but that it takes precisely twenty days to fell the tree and fourteen to remove the
branches. It is not just an immense 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.”
Furthermore, time is measured with similar exactitude, as Crusoe’s journal shows. We
may often wonder why Crusoe feels it useful to record that it did not rain on
December 26, but for him the necessity of counting out each day is never questioned.
All these examples of counting and measuring underscore Crusoe’s practical,
businesslike character and his hands-on approach to life. But Defoe sometimes hints
at the futility of Crusoe’s measuring—as when the carefully measured canoe cannot
reach water or when his obsessively kept calendar is thrown off by a day of
oversleeping. Defoe may be subtly poking fun at the urge to quantify, showing us that,
in the end; everything Crusoe counts never really adds up to much and does not save
him from isolation.

SYMBOLS
CRUSOE’BOWER-

On a scouting tour around the island, Crusoe discovers a delightful valley in which he
decides to build a country retreat or “bower” in Chapter XII. This bower contrasts
sharply with Crusoe’s first residence, since it is built not for the practical purpose of
shelter or storage, but simply for pleasure: “because I was so enamoured of the place.”
Crusoe is no longer focused solely on survival, which by this point in the novel is
more or less secure. Now, for the first time since his arrival, he thinks in terms of
“pleasantness.” Thus, the bower symbolizes a radical improvement in Crusoe’s
attitude toward his time on the island. Island life is no longer necessarily a disaster to
suffer through, but may be an opportunity for enjoyment—just as, for the
Presbyterian, life may be enjoyed only after hard work has been finished and
repentance achieved.

LANGUAGE

Daniel Defoe has a prominent style of writing. Defoe uses the language which gives
novel a realistic touch. He used simple language which seems too real, not fiction.
Defoe used nautical language.It a first person narration written in British English.
Novel is composed thirty one chapters. Overall it is not a form of complex language;
the sentence structure is very simple; vocabulary used is not so flowery.

He used realistic language that reader thinks whatever happen is true. Defoe uses
many details to make his novel realistic not imagination. From the starting of novel he
uses dates and places that makes an good impression on reader.Defoe also uses form
of autobiography in his novel.He describes all the events in detail.Crusoe is the hero
of the novel, and the reader knows only what the narrator knows and describes. The
reader is forced to take one point of view which is the vision of the narrator. This
creates a lack of honesty in the novel, but it provides the reader with the psychological
depth of the hero like the religious transformation of Robinson. The protagonist
narrates his dream of the angel and his faith in God.
EXPOSITION

Law plays an important role in Robinson Crusoe. Slavery plays a major part in this
novel. After living in island for two years as a slave Robinson Crusoe left island with
his friend, Xuryand because of prevalence of slavery at that time, he has to carry on
the journey alone as his friend became a slave on the Portuguese ship. Slavery was
banned after the civil war in united states in 1865, but even after so many years of ban
this evil practice is still in our society with different forms like: Child labour, over
exploitation of labourers, human trafficking etc.In today’s world this problem is not
visible but the existence is still there because of inequality spread around us and this
problem has only one solution and that is education. If people are aware of there
rights and duties the crime rate would definitely reduce.

CRITICISM

Critical reaction to Robinson Crusoe is generally negative or patronizing. Many early

commentators derided the novel as commercial and unrefined. Yet many
commentators celebrated the adventurous hero, Robinson Crusoe. Charles Gildon
most interesting criticism, however, charges Defoe with slander in regards to English
shipping practices. He contends that there is "no Man so ignorant as not to know that
our Navigation produces both Safety and our Riches and that whoever therefore shall
endeavour to discourage this, is so far a protest Enemy of his Country's Prosperity and
Safety." Little did Gildon, or anyone else at the time, realize that Robinson
Crusoe was to inspire many colonial and pioneering dreams.Decades later, Theophilus
Cibber, a playwright and Shakespeare reviser, signalled a change in critical attitudes
toward Robinson Crusoe. In his 1753 essay, he praises Defoe for his "moral conduct"
and "invincible integrity." Robinson Crusoe, he says, "was written in so natural a
manner, and with so many probable incidents.

CONCLUSION
The novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe talks about the life of Robinson Crusoe,
his life adventures, his crave for journeys, his love and affection towards his fellow
mate and his kind heart. He was a very patient man and never losses hope which we
can see as he spent twenty years on an island. Robinson Crusoe faced many atrocities
in life and was kidnap without any reason. Despite such hardships, he never gave up
his goodness and was ever ready to help his friends. He had a bad faith but his
hardwork and patience paid him in the future and the novel has a happy ending. It is
the kind of novel that tells you everything is possible as long as you are confident and
keep continuous effort. We have to face the consequences of our deeds at a later stage
of life and a person with clean heart will be blessed with success.