Daniel Dafoe’s ‘Robinson Crusoe’: The Book I Turn To in Moment of Distress

Title: Robinson Crusoe

Author: Daniel Dafoe

First Published: 1719

Version: Paperback, Abridged, 80 pages, published on January 22nd, 1996 by Dover Children’s Thrift Classics

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Robinson Crusoe tells the story of the sole survivor of a shipwreck, stranded on a Caribbean island, who prevails against all odds, enduring almost three decades of solitude while mastering both himself and his strange new world. First published in 1719, the novel has long been one of the English language’s great adventure stories.

My December reading list continues to make sure I read more classic literature, following the legendary J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in The Rye I read last week. You can read my review of the book here.

Up on my reading list, this week was Daniel Dafoe’s Robinson Crusoe. If my memory serves me correctly, I bought this book second-handedly from a thrift store in Kuningan, South Jakarta, a few years ago. I recalled at that time that I should read more classics, though I might not stand the old English generally used in renowned novels or poems. I majored in English Literature back when I was in university, but still, I can’t stand the old English. :)

When I found this abridged, paperback version of Robinson Crusoe, I was instantly interested to buy the book. It wasn’t thick, so I thought it would be an easy read. My initial prediction of the book was that it would carry a similar theme to another great adventure novel, Moby Dick.

Published by Dover Children’s Thrift Classics, this version of Robinson Crusoe marked the very first time I read an abridged English novel. After reading the first few pages, I regretted having picked this 80-pages, easy-to-read version. I realized right then and there that I should have read the full version instead.

In fact, it’s not so much an easy-to-read type. The language used for this paperback sounded strange. I didn’t know if the language represented the original narration of the story, but I found it very odd and therefore, made this book an uneasy one to read.

The story used a linear plot with first person POV. It felt like Robinson was telling the story of himself through some kind of a journal, or a diary, where he cherrypicked what he wanted to share with the readers, instead of telling the whole truth.

Many times, I had to re-read the paragraph twice, or even thrice, to fully grasp what was going on. Phew! Not an easy read at all. It did take me some time to devour this small book.

The most memorable part of the story, for me, was when Robinson had to adjust to the new life all by himself on a desolate island, without any tool to live by, or even anyone to speak to, and probably for the rest of his life. It was so inspirational.

Imagine that you were stranded all alone on a horrid island and didn’t have any table to put your belongings on, what would you gonna do? Robinson had to chop down a big large tree, set it on an edge, hew it flat on either side with an axe until it was thin as a plank, and smooth it with adze. It took him months to build a single table.

Now imagine that you have to build your own house (which was called “a fortress”) with no one and nothing to help you but a few simple tools you found on a wrecked ship. It would take years to do so.

But instead of weeping endlessly, which was what I might end up doing if I were ever in his position, Robinson kept doing what he needed to do to survive. He hunted animals to feed himself, made clothes out of animals’ skins, raised livestock, and even grew plantations. All of those things he did out of his strong will to survive, to live.

And in the moment of distress, Robinson even had this brilliant point of view, that even though life was difficult, he was, after all, the king of the island. No one to serve, no one to work for. Ode to Freedom!

“I went down a little on the side of that beautiful valley, looking it over with a secret kind of pleasure, to think that this country was all my own, that I was king and lord of all this country.” — Robinson Crusoe, page 30.

Daniel Dafoe’s Robinson Crusoe was, after all, a great adventure story. It would take you wandering back in time, when people had to survive life using the simplest tools available. Modern spoiled humans like us are so used to modern living and technology, that we probably wouldn’t survive on a deserted island all by ourselves.

Now every time I find myself in distress, that I think I am all alone, and I won’t make it through, and I won’t survive, I will think of Robinson Crusoe and his journey, and the bad luck that molds him to be a very strong person, who opts nothing other than to keep going and just live.

Until one fine day that life will, after all, make sense again.