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Character and Characteristic ( Robinson Crusoe )

Character List

Robinson Crusoe

the main character of the story, he is a rebellious youth with an inexplicable need to travel. Because of this need, he brings misfortune on himself and is left to fend for himself in a primitive land. The novel essentially chronicles his mental and spiritual development as a result of his isolation. He is a contradictory character; at the same time he is practical ingenuity and immature decisiveness.

Xury

a friend/servant of Crusoe's, he also escapes from the Moors. A simple youth who is dedicated to Crusoe, he is admirable for his willingness to stand by the narrator. However, he does not think for himself.

Friday

another friend/servant of Crusoe's, he spends a number of years on the island with the main character, who saves him from cannibalistic death. Friday is basically Crusoe's protege, a living example of religious justification of the slavery relationship between the two men. His eagerness to be redone in the European image is supposed to convey that this image is indeed the right one.

Crusoe's father

although he appears only briefly in the beginning, he embodies the theme of the merits of Protestant, middle-class living. It is his teachings from which Crusoe is running, with poor success.

Crusoe's mother

one of the few female figures, she fully supports her husband and will not let Crusoe go on a voyage.

Moorish patron

Crusoe's slave master, he allows for a role reversal of white men as slaves. He apparently is not too swift, however, in that he basically hands Crusoe an escape opportunity.

Portuguese sea captain

one of the kindest figures in the book, he is an honest man who embodies all the Christian ideals. Everyone is supposed to admire him for his extreme generosity to the narrator. He almost takes the place of Crusoe's father.

Spaniard

one of the prisoners saved by Crusoe, it is interesting to note that he is treated with much more respect in Crusoe's mind than any of the colored peoples with whom Crusoe is in contact.

Captured sea captain

he is an ideal soldier, the intersection between civilized European and savage white man. Crusoe's support of his fight reveals that the narrator no longer has purely religious motivations.

Widow

she is goodness personified, and keeps Crusoe's money safe for him. She is in some way a foil to his mother, who does not support him at all.

Savages

the cannibals from across the way, they represent the threat to Crusoe's religious and moral convictions, as well as his safety. He must conquer them before returning to his own world.

Negroes

they help Xury and Crusoe when they land on their island, and exist in stark contrast to the savages.

Traitorous crew members

they are an example of white men who do not heed God; they are white savages.

Robinson Crusoe's Synopsis

Robinson Crusoe is about an English young man who goes to sea without his parent’s blessing. He has many adventures on both land and sea, and learns many new things like trading, navigation, mathematics and farming. A storm at sea leaves him shipwrecked and alone on a deserted island. For the next 28 years, he learns survival skill and by sheer ingenuity and common sense, creates a fairly comfortable and secure life for himself. In the process, he learn carpentry, pottery, hunting, boat- building, butter and cheese production and how to make his own clothes from animal hide. One day, he saves Friday, the victim of a cannibal assault and thereafter wins him as a friend for live. They rescue a Spaniard and Friday’s father from cannibal and save and English captain from mutineers. After 28 long and desolate years, Robinson Crusoe returns to England. He marries, has three children and after his wife’s death, goes sea-faring again, visiting the island now inhabited by the Spanish and English. He also sail to Brazil.