Cloze Text - Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe
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Defoe's initial inspiration for Crusoe was a Scottish sailor named Alexander Selkirk, who was rescued in 1709 after four years on the uninhabited island of Más a Tierra in the Juan Fernández Islands off the Chilean coast. First published when Defoe was almost sixty years old, it is considered by many the first English novel, and was an immediate success. It is written in a simple narrative style and is one of the most widely published books in history.
The novel starts with Crusoe boarding a ship from the Queen's Dock in Hull on a sea voyage in August 1651, against the wishes of his parents, who want him to stay at home and pursue a career in law.
After some adventures at sea, he joins an expedition to bring slaves from Africa but he is shipwrecked in a storm about forty miles out to sea on an island (which he calls the Island of Despair) near the mouth of the Orinoco river on September 30, 1659. His companions all die, save himself, and three animals: the captain's dog and two cats.
He overcomes his despair, fetches arms, tools and other supplies from the ship before it sinks. Then he proceeds to build a hut near a cave and keeps a calendar by making marks in a wooden cross which he has built.
He hunts, grows corn and rice, dries grapes to make raisins for the winter months, learns to make pottery and raises goats, creates tools from stone and wood which he finds on the island. He also adopts a small parrot. He reads the Bible and becomes religious, thanking God for his fate in which nothing is missing but human society.
Years later, he discovers native cannibals who occasionally visit the island to kill and eat prisoners. At first he plans to kill them for committing those horrible actions but then realizes that he has no right to do so, as the cannibals do not knowingly commit a crime. When a prisoner manages to escape, Crusoe helps him, naming his new companion "Friday", because he appears on that week day. He teaches him English and converts him to Christianity.
After another party of natives arrives on the beach for a cannibal feast, Crusoe and Friday manage to kill most of the natives and save two of the prisoners. One is Friday's father and the other is a Spaniard, who informs Crusoe that there are other Spaniards shipwrecked on the mainland.
Finally Crusoe leaves the island on December 19, 1686 and arrives in England on June 11, 1687. He learns that his family believed him dead. His estate in Brazil has granted him a large amount of wealth so he returns to England with Friday as a rich man.
The novel "Robinson Crusoe" can be interpreted in a number of ways.
1. Colonial - Robinson is the prototype of the British colonist, with his independence, the unconscious cruelty, the efficient intelligence, the calculating spirit. He tries to replicate his society on the island through the use of European technology and agriculture.
He calls himself the 'king' of the island, which he considers a 'colony'. The master-servant relationship between Crusoe and Friday can also be seen as imperialism. Crusoe is the 'enlightened' European while Friday is the 'savage'.
2. Religious - Robinson is a wanderer, aimless on a sea he does not understand; in the end he becomes a pilgrim to the promised land. As the story progresses, Robinson becomes closer to God, not going to a church but spending time alone in nature with only a Bible to read.
3. Moral - When confronted with the cannibals, Crusoe faces the problem of cultural relativism. Despite his disgust, he feels the natives are not morally responsible for a practice they learn with their culture. But he is civilized, and regards cannibalism as a crime and forbids Friday from practicing it. However, he accepts the institution of slavery.
4. Educational - In Jean-Jacques Rousseau's treatise on education, Emile: Or, On Education, the only book Emile is allowed to read before the age of twelve is Robinson Crusoe. Rousseau wants Emile to identify himself as Crusoe so he could rely upon himself for all of his needs. In Rousseau's view, Emile needs to imitate Crusoe's experience, allowing necessity to determine what is to be learned and accomplished. This is one of the main themes of Rousseau's educational model.
5. Economic - In economics, Crusoe is regularly used to illustrate the theory of production in the absence of trade, money and prices. Crusoe must allocate effort between production and leisure and must choose between alternative production possibilities to meet his needs. Karl Marx analyzed Crusoe in his classic work "Das Kapital".
In Marxist terms, Crusoe's experiences on the island represents the economic value of labour over capital. Crusoe frequently observes that the money he salvaged from the ship is worthless on the island, especially when compared to his tools. There is also a correlation between Crusoe's spiritual and financial development, which is a clear expression of the Protestant work ethic.
The novel starts with Crusoe boarding a ship from the Queen's Dock in Hull on a sea voyage in August 1651, against the wishes of his parents, who want him to stay at home and pursue a career in law.
After some adventures at sea, he joins an expedition to bring slaves from Africa but he is shipwrecked in a storm about forty miles out to sea on an island (which he calls the Island of Despair) near the mouth of the Orinoco river on September 30, 1659. His companions all die, save himself, and three animals: the captain's dog and two cats.
He overcomes his despair, fetches arms, tools and other supplies from the ship before it sinks. Then he proceeds to build a hut near a cave and keeps a calendar by making marks in a wooden cross which he has built.
He hunts, grows corn and rice, dries grapes to make raisins for the winter months, learns to make pottery and raises goats, creates tools from stone and wood which he finds on the island. He also adopts a small parrot. He reads the Bible and becomes religious, thanking God for his fate in which nothing is missing but human society.
Years later, he discovers native cannibals who occasionally visit the island to kill and eat prisoners. At first he plans to kill them for committing those horrible actions but then realizes that he has no right to do so, as the cannibals do not knowingly commit a crime. When a prisoner manages to escape, Crusoe helps him, naming his new companion "Friday", because he appears on that week day. He teaches him English and converts him to Christianity.
After another party of natives arrives on the beach for a cannibal feast, Crusoe and Friday manage to kill most of the natives and save two of the prisoners. One is Friday's father and the other is a Spaniard, who informs Crusoe that there are other Spaniards shipwrecked on the mainland.
Finally Crusoe leaves the island on December 19, 1686 and arrives in England on June 11, 1687. He learns that his family believed him dead. His estate in Brazil has granted him a large amount of wealth so he returns to England with Friday as a rich man.
The novel "Robinson Crusoe" can be interpreted in a number of ways.
1. Colonial - Robinson is the prototype of the British colonist, with his independence, the unconscious cruelty, the efficient intelligence, the calculating spirit. He tries to replicate his society on the island through the use of European technology and agriculture.
He calls himself the 'king' of the island, which he considers a 'colony'. The master-servant relationship between Crusoe and Friday can also be seen as imperialism. Crusoe is the 'enlightened' European while Friday is the 'savage'.
2. Religious - Robinson is a wanderer, aimless on a sea he does not understand; in the end he becomes a pilgrim to the promised land. As the story progresses, Robinson becomes closer to God, not going to a church but spending time alone in nature with only a Bible to read.
3. Moral - When confronted with the cannibals, Crusoe faces the problem of cultural relativism. Despite his disgust, he feels the natives are not morally responsible for a practice they learn with their culture. But he is civilized, and regards cannibalism as a crime and forbids Friday from practicing it. However, he accepts the institution of slavery.
4. Educational - In Jean-Jacques Rousseau's treatise on education, Emile: Or, On Education, the only book Emile is allowed to read before the age of twelve is Robinson Crusoe. Rousseau wants Emile to identify himself as Crusoe so he could rely upon himself for all of his needs. In Rousseau's view, Emile needs to imitate Crusoe's experience, allowing necessity to determine what is to be learned and accomplished. This is one of the main themes of Rousseau's educational model.
5. Economic - In economics, Crusoe is regularly used to illustrate the theory of production in the absence of trade, money and prices. Crusoe must allocate effort between production and leisure and must choose between alternative production possibilities to meet his needs. Karl Marx analyzed Crusoe in his classic work "Das Kapital".
In Marxist terms, Crusoe's experiences on the island represents the economic value of labour over capital. Crusoe frequently observes that the money he salvaged from the ship is worthless on the island, especially when compared to his tools. There is also a correlation between Crusoe's spiritual and financial development, which is a clear expression of the Protestant work ethic.