SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL AND MATERIAL ENGINEERING (SCME)

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (NUST)

Year 2023 1ST Semester

Assignment No 2
Book review

Program: B.E Material Engineering Subject: English

Section: ME-16

Group Members: Instructor Name: Maa’m Mashal Shahid

Serial no Names Registration no

1 Saqfil Marfua 474739

2 Muhammad Fahad Naveed 470855

Book Review:
Title: Robinson Crusoe
Author: Daniel Defoe
Published date: 1719
Genre: Adventure fiction

Daniel Defoe was an English novelist, merchant, journalist, and poet. Most of his work involves fiction,
political pamphlets, essays, and travel narratives. Robinson Crusoe was his first novel which is also
known as the founder of novel. Robinson Crusoe is adapted from the real-life event of Alexander
Selkirk. This story is about an Englishman Robinson who has a lot of interest in sailing. Unfortunately,
his ship wrecked in a storm and he swam to an isolated island. He was all alone there for 28 years and
incredibly determined for his survival. He took all the responsibility for his survival by building his own
house, growing food, making clothes and guns most importantly protecting himself from threats like wild
animals and cannibals.

If we talk about the genre of book, it falls under the category of adventure fiction. Robinson Crusoe is
one of the earliest novels in the history of literature. The title of the book plays a very crucial role in
creating an initial contact between the reader and the book by making the main character a central
element. It's worth mentioning that the book page of Robin Crusoe portrays an image of the main
character with all the hardship he faced on an isolated island.

The main character of the story is Robinson, who is the protagonist and a resilient individual. The second
character is Friday, a native, who is the companion of Robinson. Some other characters like captives and
enemies are also part of the story. This story is certified as the first narrative story of the time because the
Protagonists of the story narrated his story so nicely. Daniel's writing style in 'Robinson Crusoe ' is very
descriptive which makes it easy for the reader to relate and draw their attention toward his experiences.

Crusoe's journey in the novel shows the strength of human pneuma when facing any hardship in life. He
learns to rely on himself and demonstrate his self-sufficiency. Crusoe's interaction with Friday highlights
the concept of colonialism. The best that I like about the novel is Crusoe's determination to survive on an
isolated island. Regardless of being in a challenging environment, he refuses to give up. His passion for
life through the toughest conditions was stimulating. Even though there is nothing on the island he
survived 28 years there. Living on an island is very difficult, only resilience, willpower, and optimism can
make a person brave in his worst phase of life.

One theme that I think is also central to the plot is protagonist seems to be struggling with deep fear and
delusions. From the very beginning, we saw that Robinson was putting extra effort into making his home
extra safe to protect himself from the unknown threats. This fear is prominent when he discovers the foot
print on the island. Despite having no clear idea of what could have caused this, he immediately jumped
out of his skin. As a reader, I haven't yet come to any conclusions about why Robinson's fear and
paranoia are so prevalent.

In conclusion, it's a very adventurous novel that takes a look at human existence by isolating the main
character on an inhabitant island. I find his journey to salvation very fascinating.