Robinson Crusoe: A Synopsis

Robinson Crusoe, written by Daniel Defoe, was published in 1719 and is widely considered to be the first modern novel in the English language. The book is a fictional autobiography of a castaway (the title character) partially inspired by the real life Alexander Selkirk. Crusoe spends 28 years on a remote tropical island off the coast of Venezuela in the Caribbean before being rescued. One can assume that the island Crusoe is stranded on is Tobago as he explicitly states that he believes he can see the island of Trinidad. This is also consistently reinforced through Crusoe's descriptions of the landscape, vegetation, and animals that he encounters. For example, he mentions the presence of wild cocoa trees; a plant species located on the island of Tobago.

"...the mighty river Orinoco in the mouth of which river, as I thought afterwords, our island lay; and that this land which I perceived to the west and north-west, was the great island Trinidad, on the north point of the mouth of the river."

"I saw here an abundance of cocoa trees, orange, and lemon trees and citron trees..."

With only leftover remnants of his previous civilization courtesy of a shipwreck, Crusoe must come face to face with nature against a man accustomed to civilization. Crusoe almost instantly feels basic survival instincts manifest themselves as he climbs into a tree to prevent attack from wild animals. It isn't long before Crusoe becomes anxious to start building and begins to re-establish the so called "order" and civilization he is accustomed to as he forces his way on nature and begins to manufacture actual dwellings like a hut and a tent.

Island Survival Kit

“…more intent upon getting at the ship, where I hoped to find something for my present subsistence.”

Robinson Crusoe’s story essentially shows how a man can survive on an island with the only supplies salvaged from his ship. These items collectively create Crusoe’s Island Survival Kit which enables him to live quite comfortably for 28 years.

“Then it occurred to me again, how well I was furnished for my subsistence, and what would have been my case if it had not happened, which was a hundred thousand to one, that the ship floated from the place where she first struck, and was driven so near the shore that I had time to get all things out of her. What would have been my case, if I had been obliged to have lived in the condition in which I at first came on shore, without necessaries of life, or necessaries to supply and procure them?”

The following images list the items and resources that Crusoe obtained from the shipwrecks and from the island itself:







The following list is compilation of the items that Crusoe fabricates from the materials he has salvaged from the shipwrecks and gathered from the island: