Publisher's Synopsis
Robinson Crusoe is a very long book, but the novel can, more or less, be divided into three main movements.
Part I: Before the island
Before landing on the island, Crusoe's father wants him to be a good middle-class boy. Crusoe, who wants nothing more than to travel on a boat, definitely disagrees with this idea. He fights against the authority of both his father and God and decides to mock both of them by going on adventures at sea.
After sailing for a while, he makes a little money in trade but is later captured and enslaved off the coast of Africa. Here he befriends a young man named Xury, with whom he escapes from captivity.
Crusoe is picked up by a Portuguese sailing captain and arrives in Brazil, where he buys a sugar plantation. He is doing quite well financially, but he soon becomes involved in a business to procure slaves from Africa. On the trip there he is shipwrecked and remains the only survivor on a desert island.
Part II: Life on the island
This part of the novel is dedicated to the time when Crusoe was alone on the island. Build three main structures: your initial shelter, your cottage on the opposite side of the island, and your weapons and ammunition in the forest. He spends his time planting corn, barley, and rice. Learn to make bread. Build furniture, weave baskets and make pots. Crusoe also raises goats and tends to his small animal family of cats, dogs, and a parrot. Most important, however, Crusoe grows stronger in his religious faith and ultimately submits to God's authority. He engages in much religious reflection and prayer.
Part III: Escape from the island
In the final section of the book, Crusoe sees a footprint on the shore one day and discovers that he is not actually alone on the island. There are also (gasp!) Cannibals. Crusoe struggles with the question of whether or not he should take revenge on them. Finally, he meets Friday, a native whom he can rescue from the cannibals. Crusoe teaches English on Fridays and converts him to Christianity. The two become like father and son (more or less). Friday and Crusoe also rescue a Spaniard and Friday's father from a different group of cannibals.
Finally, an English motorboat full of sailors lands on the island. Crusoe learns that the men have mutinied against his captain. After Crusoe helps restore order to the ship, the men and the captain swear allegiance to Crusoe and agree to take him home. Crusoe then returns to Europe with Friday, where he makes a large amount of money from his sugar plantations. Crusoe marries and finally revisits the island in his later years. The novel ends with the promise of more adventure for him in the sequel.
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