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”Robinson Crusoe” 
The first quarter of the 18th century witnessed a rise of interest in books about voyages and 
new discoveries. A true story that was described in one of Steele’s magazines, “The Englishman”, 
attracted Defoe’s attention. It was about Alexander Selkirk a Scottish sailor, who had quarrelled 

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with his captain and was put ashore on a desert island near South America where he lived quite 
alone for four years and four months. In 1709 a passing vessel picked him up. Selkirk’s story 
interested Defoe so much that he decided to use it for a book. However, he made his hero, Robinson 
Crusoe, spend twenty-eight years on a desert island. Defoe regards the novel not as a work of the 
imagination, but as a “true relation”, and even when the element of fact decreases, he maintains the 
close realism of pseudo-fact. He writes with a knowledge of his audience, mainly the Puritan 
middle classes, and selects themes which will have an immediate appeal to them. Superficially, 
these two conditions would appear to detract from his originality, but there exists in him a talent for 
organizing his material into a well-conducted narrative, with an effective eye for detail, in a style 
ever simple and welcoming, but never obtrusive. The combination of these qualities has given 
“Robinson Crusoe” its specific attractiveness and continuous interest in the book.
At the beginning of the story the main character of the novel, Robinson Crusoe, is an 
unexperienced youth, a rather light- minded boy. Then he develops into a strong-willed man, able 
to fight against all the calamities of his unusual destiny. Being cast ashore on a desert island after 
the shipwreck, alone and defenseless, Crusoe tried to be reasonable in order to master his 
despondency . He knew that he should not give way to self-pity or fear, or spend time in mourning 
for his lost companions. 
Robinson Crusoe’s most outstanding feature is his optimism. Some-times, especially during 
earthquakes or when he was ill, panic and anxiety overtook him, but never for long. He had 
confidence in himself and in man, and believed it was within the power of man to overcome all 
difficulties and hardships. Speaking of Crusoe’s other good qualities, which helped him overcome 
despair, was his ability to put his whole heart into everything he did. He was an enthusiastic toiler 
always hoping for the best. He began to keep a journal of his life on the island. It is another 
evidence of Crusoe’s courageous optimism.