November 25, 2025 • 19 mins
Detailing the protagonist's life and philosophical reflections following a shipwreck. The narrative establishes Crusoe’s background, mentioning his birth in York and his father’s advice regarding the superior happiness of the "middle station" in life, which Crusoe ultimately rejects through his wandering inclinations. The excerpts cover his initial struggles on a desolate island, including salvaging supplies from the wreck, building a habitation, and slowly developing methods for sustenance, such as growing barley and making crude tools due to necessity. Later, the account shifts to Crusoe’s spiritual awakening during an illness and his eventual encounter with and rescue of the native man he names Friday, which leads to a dramatic confrontation with cannibals and the subsequent recovery of an English ship. The sources conclude with Crusoe's return to Europe, where he discovers he is wealthy from his Brazilian plantation, and his final reflection on Providence before embarking on new voyages.
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https://linktr.ee/book_shelter
Produced by:
https://www.podcaistudio.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Okay, let's really get into it today. We're unpacking the
definitive survival story, the one that basically, you know, launched
an entire genre. Absolutely, this is the deep dive into
Robinson Crusoe, his early life, the choices, the long, long captivity.
We want the story, all the details, straight from the source.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
It's quite a tale. And you really have to start
right at the beginning. Not the island, not yet, but.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Back in York, York, right sixteen thirty two.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yeah, he was born Robinson Koitzner. His father was actually
a merchant from Bremen, Germany. But you know how names
get changed.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Became Crusoe, Churtz snarda Crusoe. Okay, And the first big
turning point isn't a storm. It's a conversation, isn't it
with his father exactly.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
It's this crucial warning. His father pleads with him to
accept the middle state of life.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Middle state, or, as.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
He beautifully puts it, the upper station of low life.
He saw it as the best place to be. You
avoid the hardships and miseries of the poor, but also
the ambition, the pride, the luxury, and frankly, the envy
that comes with being you know, greater rich.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
It sounds safe, maybe a bit boring, like a guaranteed
path to just being Okay.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Well, yes, from Cruso's perspective maybe, but think about the
time seventeenth century England, this rising middle class. Ah right,
So this idea of stability temperance just sort of sliding
quietly through life. It was actually quite a powerful ideal
for many. Not for Crusoe, not at all. He had
this undeniable inclination to wander. He completely rejects this wholesome council,
(01:33):
as Dafoe calls it. And the consequences are well immediate.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Almost biblical, you said, the first voyage disaster.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Straightaway, a terrifying storm hits. He's never been seasick like this,
never faced whether like it. The fear is physical but
also spiritual. He instantly feels this pang of conscience, like
its divine judgment.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Yeah, he thinks he's being justly overtaken by the judgment
of Heaven.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
And the storm just gets worse. They have to cut
down the foremast than the main mast is trying to
ride it out.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
And then the leak that must have been terrifying.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Oh, absolutely, four feet of water in the hold. Everyone's
called to the pumps and Crusoe says, his heart just
died within me. He actually faints, falls backwards.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
And nobody even notices him in the chaos.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
No, someone literally shoves him aside with their foot. It's brutal.
Shows how insignificant he'd become in that moment of crisis.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
You'd think that would cure him of wanting to go
to sea.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
He would, yeah, but no, he recovers, brushes it off,
and keeps chasing that restlessness, which of course leads him
into even worse trouble.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Right, the next phase involves actual slavery.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Yeah. After some other failed ventures, he gets captured by
Moorish pirates. Off Celly spends two years as a slave.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
How does he get out of that?
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Pure determination?
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Really?
Speaker 2 (02:48):
He eventually escapes with a young fellow slave. sureI. They
sail down the coast of Africa in a small boat.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Isn't there a story about him shooting some large animal?
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yes? A fascinating detail. They see these two huge creatures,
one chasing the other, running from the mountains to the
sea to protect themselves or maybe their supplies. Crusoe shoots
one of them right in the head. It's quite a
raw moment.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
They're just trying to survive, heading south, hoping to spot
an English ship near Cape Verde or the Gambia River.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
And then finally some luck or providence says Crusoe might
see it. A Portuguese ship spots them.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
The signor englais the generous.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Captain exactly and this is a rare moment of pure
kindness in the story. Crusoe offers everything he has, his boat,
his few goods.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
As payment, but the captain refuses completely.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Says he saves him out of charity, takes him in
jury to Brazil for free. He even promises to hold
Crusoe's goods for him. There a genuinely good man.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
So Crusoe gets a fresh start in Brazil, and for
a while, it actually works out, doesn't it. He becomes
a planter, he does.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
He gets his own plantation, starts growing tobacco, becomes quite successful.
He finally achieves that middle state his father wanted for him.
He has peace, prosperity.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
There's always a but with Crusoe, always.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
His head becomes full of projects. Again. He's not content.
He sees a chance to get rich quicker.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
The voyage to Guinea for slaves.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Yes, it's pure greed and impatience. He even makes a
formal will leaving his plantation to the Portuguese captain, almost
like he knows it's a terrible idea, but he goes anyway, determined,
as Defoe writes, to be his own.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Destroyer, and this voyage leads directly to the island the
final shipwreck September thirtieth, sixteen fifty nine.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
The ultimate catastrophe. A hurricane drives them far off course,
batters the ship, and finally it runs aground. Everyone else
is lost. He alone, is.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Washed ashore somewhere near the coast of South America, right
latitude nine degrees twenty two minutes north.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
That's the location given, and his first feeling is just
overwhelming relief, ecstasy at being saved from the very grave.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
But that doesn't last long.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
No, the reality hits him almost immediately, utter desolation, alone,
no food, no water readily available, maybe wild beeat hosts.
That first night, he climbs into a thick, thorny tree
just to be safe.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
But then the next morning brings a small miracle.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
A huge one really. The tide has lifted the wrecked
ship and carried it closer to shore, sitting upright on
a sandbar.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
So the salvage operation begins.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Yes, this is crucial. For nearly two weeks he makes
trips out to the wreck, building rafts, bringing back everything
he possibly can food, bread, rice, cheese, rum, tools, guns, powder, shot, clothes.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Bedding, and crucially wood and iron work.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Absolutely vital, though he nearly loses a lot of the
iron when one of his rafts overturns, a huge setback
as he knows he can't replace it.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
And then the ship finally breaks up for good.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yeah, another storm comes and when it clears the wreck
is just gone. He's truly on his own now with
only what he managed to salvage.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
So Priority one shelter and while sanity keeping track.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Of tone exactly, he finds a suitable spot, a little
flat area against a steep rock face. He pitches the tent,
he salvage.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
There and builds his famous fortification castle.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
It's a huge undertaking a semicircle fence made of strong
wooden stakes driven deep into the ground, a double row
actually with cables woven between them. Took him almost a
year because he had such basic tools, mainly a wooden
spade he made, and an iron crowbar and the calendar
post right a big wooden cross he carves the date
he landed September thirty, sixteen fifty nine, and cuts a
(06:21):
notch every day. He needs that structure that way to
mark time, especially the Sundays.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
He falls into a routine quickly, doesn't He hunting every morning.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
For about three hours. Yeah. He discovers ghosts on the island,
which become a key food.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Source, and he figures out how to hunt them effectively
through observation.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
He notices they tend to look downward, so if he
stays above them on the rocks, he can often get
quite close before they see him.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Clever stuff finds pigeons too, and figures out how to
make a lamp.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Yeah. The candle see salvage ran out quickly, so he
renders goat fat tallow and uses some salvage oakum for
a wick. Basic, but it gives him light a huge Comfort's.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
That moment with the corn. It feels almost miraculous, it.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Really does to him, especially he'd shaken out an old,
seemingly useless bag of chicken feed near his shelter months before.
Then one day he sees green stalks growing there, barley
and rice.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
His first reaction is pure awe, right, a direct gift
from God totally.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
He's asconished, filled with religious thankfulness. He thinks God has
literally made corn grow just for him.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
But then his rational mind takes over.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Well, yeah, he remembers the bag of feed, realizes a
few grains must have survived the voyage, survived the rats,
and fallen it just the right shady damp spot to sprout.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Does that diminish his thankfulness?
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Initially? Maybe little? But then he reflects deeper. He sees
it still as providence, God working through natural means, through foresight.
The miracle wasn't the impossible, but the improbable survival and
placement of those few grains. He decides he should be
just as thankful. It's a big shift in his thinking.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
From demanding miracle to seeing providence in the every day exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
But that newfound faith gets severely tested pretty soon after,
about June of his first year, he gets incredibly sick.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
The terrible sickness, egg fever, violent.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Pains in his head, cold fits followed by burning fever.
He's terrified he's going to die there completely alone, and.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
This drives him to pray properly for the first time
since that first storm.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Yes, he finally admits his past life was just thoughtless
of God or a providence. He's genuinely repentant, but mostly
out of fear at this point.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
And then the dream that sounds terrifying.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Oh it is. He dreams a figure descends from a
black cloud, bright as fire, holding a spear, and a
voice booms out. Seeing all these things have not brought
thee to repentance, now thou shalt die. Wakes him up
in a cold sweat.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
But this leads to a discovery, doesn't it, and one
of the chests.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Yes. Rummaging through a chest later, probably looking for something else,
he finds tobacco, which he hadn't used much, and a Bible.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
He tries the tobacco first right, three ways.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Yeah, experimentally choose some, which makes him feel really strange,
almost stupefied. Then he steeps some leaves in rum and
drinks it. Finally, he burns some leaves on coals and inhales.
The smoke makes him incredibly drowsy.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
And in that hazy state, he picks up the Bible.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
And the very first words his eyes fall on are
call on me in the day of trouble, and I
will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Wow, talk about timing exactly.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
And it hits him. He kneels down and prays properly,
not just begging to be safe from the island, but
genuinely praying. And over the next few days, using the
tobacco remedy and perhaps just time, he recovers. By July third,
he's better, and.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
He realizes the deliverance he got wasn't the one he
was praying for.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Precisely, he wasn't delivered from the island, but from the sickness,
he learns to be thankful for the deliverance. He actually
received a massive step in his spiritual journey.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
So renewed physically and spiritually, he starts exploring more. Finds
a beautiful valley.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Yes on the western side of the island. It's like
a natural garden, melons, grapes, coconuts, oranges, limes. It's lush
and pleasant. He calls it his country house or bower.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
He feels like the king of the island now he.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Literally says I was king and lord of all this country.
But he also learns practical lessons. He gathers a huge
pile of grapes, but they spoil ah, so he figures
out he needs to dry them, hangs bunches in the
sun makes excellent raisins, essential for storing food through the
rainy season.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
And it's around this time he has that famous thought
about money. Right.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Oh yes. He's sorting through his salvage goods and finds
the gold and silver coins about thirty six pounds sterling worth.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Which would have been a decent amount back.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Home, absolutely but here utterly useless. He looks at this
pile of money and thinks, oh, drug, what artal good for?
He says, he traded all for a simple hand mill
to grind his corn, or some ink, or even a
few turnip seeds.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
All the good things of this world are no farther
good to us than they are for our use.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
That's the line, a profound realization about value. On the island,
usefulness is everything, wealth, status meaningless.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
So he settles into this life for years, actually labor routine,
relative peace until.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Year fifteen, fifteen years of solitude, and then one day,
walking along the shore near where he keeps his smaller boat,
he sees it the footprint, the print of a man's
naked foot in the sand, just one that must.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Have been an incredible shock.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
He describes himself as thunderstruck. Absolute terror floods him. He
runs back to his castle, looks behind him, constantly, mistakes
every bush, every tree stump for a man.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
All that religious hope and resignation he'd built up just vanishes.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Instantly, replaced by primal fear. He can't sleep, can't think straight.
His first assumption savages cannibals from the mainland may be
driven off course.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
By currents, but the fear makes him more cautious, more prepared.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Exactly, it snaps him out of complacency. He starts reinforcing
his fortress, finding ways to hide the entrance better. He
also immediately resolves to plant way more corn than he needs,
enough for two or three years, just in case his
main fields are discovered and destroyed. Pruden's born of terror, and.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
In the next few years are defined by this hypovigilance.
He becomes quite the craftsman.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Too, oh incredibly so. He learns to weave baskets from twigs,
fires his own pottery after many failed attempts, and becomes
a tailor.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Of sorts, making his famous outfit.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
The iconic crusoe look all from goat skins, a huge, tall,
shapeless cap, a short jacket, open knee breeches because it's hot,
two belts, one for a saw and hatchet, the other
for powder and shot his gun over his shoulder.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
And the umbrella.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Can forget the clumsy, ugly but essential goat skin umbrella
to protect him from sun and rain. He must have
looked utterly formidable, maybe slightly ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
And his home, the castle, is now completely hidden.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Yes, the steaks he planted for the fence have grown
into thick trees, creating a living wall you wouldn't even
know was there.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
All this preparation, this fear, it finally leads to something
in his twenty fourth year, the arrival of the cannibals.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Third year, actually he first sees signs bones a fire pit.
Then later he actually witnesses them about thirty savages around
a fire on his side of the island. They're dancing,
and then they drag out two prisoners to be killed
and eaten horrifically. Yes, one is killed immediately, but as
they prepare the second one, the prisoner suddenly breaks free
and runs.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Straight towards Crusoe's hiding place.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Directly towards him, with two cannibals in hot pursuit. Cruso
sees this as his moment may be ordained by providence
to intervene.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
He has his guns ready, how does he handle it?
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Very calculatedly, He runs towards them, intercepts the pursued man.
He knocks the first pursuer down hard with the stock
of his musket, avoids firing if he can help it.
But the second pursuer stops fits an arrow to his bow.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
So Crusoe has to shoot him.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
He has no choice, shoots him dead. The rescued man
is stunned, terrified by the noise and the flash of
the gun.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
And this is Friday.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
This is Friday. His reaction to Crusoe is immediate, total submission.
Kneels down, kisses the ground, puts Crusoe's foot on his head,
swears to be his slave forever.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Crusoe notes his appearance quite different from what he expected.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Yes, he describes Friday as tall, handsome, well made, not
the stereotypical features he associated with Negroes, but a done
olive color pleasing European like features long black hair. He's
immediately taken with him, and he names him Friday because
he saved him on a Friday. He starts teaching him
English Master. Yes. No, he feels lighter, joyful, even finally
(14:31):
companionship after twenty three years.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
There's that touching moment later when Crusoe asks Friday if
he wants to go home.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Oh, it's incredibly powerful. Chruso points towards Friday's homeland and
asks if he wants to return. Friday looks sad, says yes,
he would like to see his people. Crusoe pushes him,
asks the way he doesn't.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Just go and Friday's reaction He gets upset.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Thinks Crusoe is angry with him. He grabs a hatchet,
gives it to Crusoe and basically says, you kill Friday,
You not send Friday away weeping. It proves his absolute
loyalty and affection. Crusoe is deeply moved.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
They become a team and they end up rescuing more people,
don't they They do.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
About four years later, another group of cannibals arrives. This
time Crusoe and Friday attack proactively. They manage to rescue
two prisoners.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
And one turns out to be.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Friday's own father, an incredible coincidence. The other is a Spaniard.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
How do the other Cannibals react to Crusoe and Friday
fighting back utter terror?
Speaker 2 (15:26):
The firearms are like thunder and lightning to them. They
flee in panic. Crusoe thinks they believe he and Friday
are some kind of spirits who command fire. It ensures
the island is pretty much safe.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
After that, so the little colony grows, but rescue still
seems far off until year twenty eight a.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Ship after twenty eight years, two months, nineteen days, an
English ship anchors offshore finally, but it's not straightforward exactly.
They see a longboat coming ashore with eleven men, three
of whom are clearly prisoners. Crusoe and Friday watch hidden.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
He realize it's the ship's captain, his mate, and a
passenger captured by their own crew.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Right Crusoe sees his chance. He approaches the captain, cautiously
presents himself looking wild in his goat skins, heavily armed
as the governor of the island, with Friday as his man,
and they hatch a plan. They do working with the
captain and the other loyal men. They ambush the mutineers
when they come looking for their comrades. There's a fight,
(16:25):
some shooting.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
They kill the ringleaders.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Two the main villains are shot. The others are eventually
subdued or captured. They managed to retake the ship and Chruso.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Can finally finally go home.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Deceummer nineteenth, sixteen eighty six, he leaves the island.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
He takes a few souvenirs, his cap, the umbrella, his
parrot poll.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
And that money, the gold and silver coins he once
called useless, now carefully preserved. He arrives back in England
June eleventh, sixteen eighty seven, after thirty five years away
from his homeland.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
An unimaginable length of time. What's the first thing he does?
Speaker 2 (16:56):
He eventually makes his way to Lisbon, seeking out his
old friend, the Portuguese captain.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
And finds him still alive.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Yes, and the captain had been incredibly faithful. He'd managed
Crusoe's Brazilian plantation shares. Because Crusoe was presumed dead, the
estate had legally passed to others, but the captain had
kept track.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
So Crusoe gets his fortune.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Back and how with decades of profits, he's suddenly a
very wealthy man, master of over five thousand pounds stirling
in cash, plus an ongoing income from the estate of
about one thousand pounds a year.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Wow, he finally got the wealth he risked everything for.
Does he reward the captain?
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Oh, very generously. He ensures the captain and the widow
who helped him earlier are well taken care of. He's
finally able to be the benefactor.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
So he settles downe in England. Mary's has kids.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
He does enjoys peace and prosperity for several years, but
then his wife dies and that old restlessness.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
The wandering inclination returns.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
It does. In sixteen ninety four he actually sails again.
Where does he go?
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Back to the island.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Back to the island, he finds his little colony, the
Spaniardsday's father, some of the reformed mutineers he left behind
is thriving. They've multiplied, built things up, even fought off
another invasion of carib savages. It's become a proper little settlement.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
That's incredible. So looking back at this whole epic journey,
what's the big takeaway? The core lesson Crusoe learned.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
I think it comes back to that idea of perspective
of contrast, he says it himself. We never see the
true state of our condition till it is illustrated to
us by its contraries.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Nor know how to value what we enjoy, but by
the want of it exactly.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
He had to lose absolutely everything society, comfort, freedom, to
understand the value of simple things, of providence, of human connection,
even of just being safe.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
And there's that final irony, isn't there about wealth versus
his life on the island.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
It's maybe the most profound point after getting all the wealth,
returning to civilization. It reflects that he had more care
upon my head now than I had in my state
of life.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
In the island, where I wanted nothing but what I had,
and had nothing what I wanted.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Think about that the life of absolute necessity, which seemed
like a curse, ultimately brought a kind of peace and
contentment that wealth and society couldn't match. He found the
true middle state, perhaps not uncomfortable England, but in utter isolation,
were only usefulness mattered. What does that say about the
cost of civilization
Okay, let's really get into it today. We're unpacking the
definitive survival story, the one that basically, you know, launched
an entire genre. Absolutely, this is the deep dive into
Robinson Crusoe, his early life, the choices, the long, long captivity.
We want the story, all the details, straight from the source.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
It's quite a tale. And you really have to start
right at the beginning. Not the island, not yet, but.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Back in York, York, right sixteen thirty two.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yeah, he was born Robinson Koitzner. His father was actually
a merchant from Bremen, Germany. But you know how names
get changed.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Became Crusoe, Churtz snarda Crusoe. Okay, And the first big
turning point isn't a storm. It's a conversation, isn't it
with his father exactly.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
It's this crucial warning. His father pleads with him to
accept the middle state of life.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Middle state, or, as.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
He beautifully puts it, the upper station of low life.
He saw it as the best place to be. You
avoid the hardships and miseries of the poor, but also
the ambition, the pride, the luxury, and frankly, the envy
that comes with being you know, greater rich.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
It sounds safe, maybe a bit boring, like a guaranteed
path to just being Okay.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Well, yes, from Cruso's perspective maybe, but think about the
time seventeenth century England, this rising middle class. Ah right,
So this idea of stability temperance just sort of sliding
quietly through life. It was actually quite a powerful ideal
for many. Not for Crusoe, not at all. He had
this undeniable inclination to wander. He completely rejects this wholesome council,
(01:33):
as Dafoe calls it. And the consequences are well immediate.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Almost biblical, you said, the first voyage disaster.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Straightaway, a terrifying storm hits. He's never been seasick like this,
never faced whether like it. The fear is physical but
also spiritual. He instantly feels this pang of conscience, like
its divine judgment.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Yeah, he thinks he's being justly overtaken by the judgment
of Heaven.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
And the storm just gets worse. They have to cut
down the foremast than the main mast is trying to
ride it out.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
And then the leak that must have been terrifying.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Oh, absolutely, four feet of water in the hold. Everyone's
called to the pumps and Crusoe says, his heart just
died within me. He actually faints, falls backwards.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
And nobody even notices him in the chaos.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
No, someone literally shoves him aside with their foot. It's brutal.
Shows how insignificant he'd become in that moment of crisis.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
You'd think that would cure him of wanting to go
to sea.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
He would, yeah, but no, he recovers, brushes it off,
and keeps chasing that restlessness, which of course leads him
into even worse trouble.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Right, the next phase involves actual slavery.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Yeah. After some other failed ventures, he gets captured by
Moorish pirates. Off Celly spends two years as a slave.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
How does he get out of that?
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Pure determination?
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Really?
Speaker 2 (02:48):
He eventually escapes with a young fellow slave. sureI. They
sail down the coast of Africa in a small boat.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Isn't there a story about him shooting some large animal?
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yes? A fascinating detail. They see these two huge creatures,
one chasing the other, running from the mountains to the
sea to protect themselves or maybe their supplies. Crusoe shoots
one of them right in the head. It's quite a
raw moment.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
They're just trying to survive, heading south, hoping to spot
an English ship near Cape Verde or the Gambia River.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
And then finally some luck or providence says Crusoe might
see it. A Portuguese ship spots them.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
The signor englais the generous.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Captain exactly and this is a rare moment of pure
kindness in the story. Crusoe offers everything he has, his boat,
his few goods.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
As payment, but the captain refuses completely.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Says he saves him out of charity, takes him in
jury to Brazil for free. He even promises to hold
Crusoe's goods for him. There a genuinely good man.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
So Crusoe gets a fresh start in Brazil, and for
a while, it actually works out, doesn't it. He becomes
a planter, he does.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
He gets his own plantation, starts growing tobacco, becomes quite successful.
He finally achieves that middle state his father wanted for him.
He has peace, prosperity.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
There's always a but with Crusoe, always.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
His head becomes full of projects. Again. He's not content.
He sees a chance to get rich quicker.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
The voyage to Guinea for slaves.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Yes, it's pure greed and impatience. He even makes a
formal will leaving his plantation to the Portuguese captain, almost
like he knows it's a terrible idea, but he goes anyway, determined,
as Defoe writes, to be his own.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Destroyer, and this voyage leads directly to the island the
final shipwreck September thirtieth, sixteen fifty nine.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
The ultimate catastrophe. A hurricane drives them far off course,
batters the ship, and finally it runs aground. Everyone else
is lost. He alone, is.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Washed ashore somewhere near the coast of South America, right
latitude nine degrees twenty two minutes north.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
That's the location given, and his first feeling is just
overwhelming relief, ecstasy at being saved from the very grave.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
But that doesn't last long.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
No, the reality hits him almost immediately, utter desolation, alone,
no food, no water readily available, maybe wild beeat hosts.
That first night, he climbs into a thick, thorny tree
just to be safe.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
But then the next morning brings a small miracle.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
A huge one really. The tide has lifted the wrecked
ship and carried it closer to shore, sitting upright on
a sandbar.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
So the salvage operation begins.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Yes, this is crucial. For nearly two weeks he makes
trips out to the wreck, building rafts, bringing back everything
he possibly can food, bread, rice, cheese, rum, tools, guns, powder, shot, clothes.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Bedding, and crucially wood and iron work.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Absolutely vital, though he nearly loses a lot of the
iron when one of his rafts overturns, a huge setback
as he knows he can't replace it.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
And then the ship finally breaks up for good.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yeah, another storm comes and when it clears the wreck
is just gone. He's truly on his own now with
only what he managed to salvage.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
So Priority one shelter and while sanity keeping track.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Of tone exactly, he finds a suitable spot, a little
flat area against a steep rock face. He pitches the tent,
he salvage.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
There and builds his famous fortification castle.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
It's a huge undertaking a semicircle fence made of strong
wooden stakes driven deep into the ground, a double row
actually with cables woven between them. Took him almost a
year because he had such basic tools, mainly a wooden
spade he made, and an iron crowbar and the calendar
post right a big wooden cross he carves the date
he landed September thirty, sixteen fifty nine, and cuts a
(06:21):
notch every day. He needs that structure that way to
mark time, especially the Sundays.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
He falls into a routine quickly, doesn't He hunting every morning.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
For about three hours. Yeah. He discovers ghosts on the island,
which become a key food.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Source, and he figures out how to hunt them effectively
through observation.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
He notices they tend to look downward, so if he
stays above them on the rocks, he can often get
quite close before they see him.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Clever stuff finds pigeons too, and figures out how to
make a lamp.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Yeah. The candle see salvage ran out quickly, so he
renders goat fat tallow and uses some salvage oakum for
a wick. Basic, but it gives him light a huge Comfort's.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
That moment with the corn. It feels almost miraculous, it.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Really does to him, especially he'd shaken out an old,
seemingly useless bag of chicken feed near his shelter months before.
Then one day he sees green stalks growing there, barley
and rice.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
His first reaction is pure awe, right, a direct gift
from God totally.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
He's asconished, filled with religious thankfulness. He thinks God has
literally made corn grow just for him.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
But then his rational mind takes over.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Well, yeah, he remembers the bag of feed, realizes a
few grains must have survived the voyage, survived the rats,
and fallen it just the right shady damp spot to sprout.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Does that diminish his thankfulness?
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Initially? Maybe little? But then he reflects deeper. He sees
it still as providence, God working through natural means, through foresight.
The miracle wasn't the impossible, but the improbable survival and
placement of those few grains. He decides he should be
just as thankful. It's a big shift in his thinking.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
From demanding miracle to seeing providence in the every day exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
But that newfound faith gets severely tested pretty soon after,
about June of his first year, he gets incredibly sick.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
The terrible sickness, egg fever, violent.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Pains in his head, cold fits followed by burning fever.
He's terrified he's going to die there completely alone, and.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
This drives him to pray properly for the first time
since that first storm.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Yes, he finally admits his past life was just thoughtless
of God or a providence. He's genuinely repentant, but mostly
out of fear at this point.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
And then the dream that sounds terrifying.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Oh it is. He dreams a figure descends from a
black cloud, bright as fire, holding a spear, and a
voice booms out. Seeing all these things have not brought
thee to repentance, now thou shalt die. Wakes him up
in a cold sweat.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
But this leads to a discovery, doesn't it, and one
of the chests.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Yes. Rummaging through a chest later, probably looking for something else,
he finds tobacco, which he hadn't used much, and a Bible.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
He tries the tobacco first right, three ways.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Yeah, experimentally choose some, which makes him feel really strange,
almost stupefied. Then he steeps some leaves in rum and
drinks it. Finally, he burns some leaves on coals and inhales.
The smoke makes him incredibly drowsy.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
And in that hazy state, he picks up the Bible.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
And the very first words his eyes fall on are
call on me in the day of trouble, and I
will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Wow, talk about timing exactly.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
And it hits him. He kneels down and prays properly,
not just begging to be safe from the island, but
genuinely praying. And over the next few days, using the
tobacco remedy and perhaps just time, he recovers. By July third,
he's better, and.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
He realizes the deliverance he got wasn't the one he
was praying for.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Precisely, he wasn't delivered from the island, but from the sickness,
he learns to be thankful for the deliverance. He actually
received a massive step in his spiritual journey.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
So renewed physically and spiritually, he starts exploring more. Finds
a beautiful valley.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Yes on the western side of the island. It's like
a natural garden, melons, grapes, coconuts, oranges, limes. It's lush
and pleasant. He calls it his country house or bower.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
He feels like the king of the island now he.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Literally says I was king and lord of all this country.
But he also learns practical lessons. He gathers a huge
pile of grapes, but they spoil ah, so he figures
out he needs to dry them, hangs bunches in the
sun makes excellent raisins, essential for storing food through the
rainy season.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
And it's around this time he has that famous thought
about money. Right.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Oh yes. He's sorting through his salvage goods and finds
the gold and silver coins about thirty six pounds sterling worth.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Which would have been a decent amount back.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Home, absolutely but here utterly useless. He looks at this
pile of money and thinks, oh, drug, what artal good for?
He says, he traded all for a simple hand mill
to grind his corn, or some ink, or even a
few turnip seeds.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
All the good things of this world are no farther
good to us than they are for our use.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
That's the line, a profound realization about value. On the island,
usefulness is everything, wealth, status meaningless.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
So he settles into this life for years, actually labor routine,
relative peace until.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Year fifteen, fifteen years of solitude, and then one day,
walking along the shore near where he keeps his smaller boat,
he sees it the footprint, the print of a man's
naked foot in the sand, just one that must.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Have been an incredible shock.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
He describes himself as thunderstruck. Absolute terror floods him. He
runs back to his castle, looks behind him, constantly, mistakes
every bush, every tree stump for a man.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
All that religious hope and resignation he'd built up just vanishes.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Instantly, replaced by primal fear. He can't sleep, can't think straight.
His first assumption savages cannibals from the mainland may be
driven off course.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
By currents, but the fear makes him more cautious, more prepared.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Exactly, it snaps him out of complacency. He starts reinforcing
his fortress, finding ways to hide the entrance better. He
also immediately resolves to plant way more corn than he needs,
enough for two or three years, just in case his
main fields are discovered and destroyed. Pruden's born of terror, and.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
In the next few years are defined by this hypovigilance.
He becomes quite the craftsman.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Too, oh incredibly so. He learns to weave baskets from twigs,
fires his own pottery after many failed attempts, and becomes
a tailor.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Of sorts, making his famous outfit.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
The iconic crusoe look all from goat skins, a huge, tall,
shapeless cap, a short jacket, open knee breeches because it's hot,
two belts, one for a saw and hatchet, the other
for powder and shot his gun over his shoulder.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
And the umbrella.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Can forget the clumsy, ugly but essential goat skin umbrella
to protect him from sun and rain. He must have
looked utterly formidable, maybe slightly ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
And his home, the castle, is now completely hidden.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Yes, the steaks he planted for the fence have grown
into thick trees, creating a living wall you wouldn't even
know was there.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
All this preparation, this fear, it finally leads to something
in his twenty fourth year, the arrival of the cannibals.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Third year, actually he first sees signs bones a fire pit.
Then later he actually witnesses them about thirty savages around
a fire on his side of the island. They're dancing,
and then they drag out two prisoners to be killed
and eaten horrifically. Yes, one is killed immediately, but as
they prepare the second one, the prisoner suddenly breaks free
and runs.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Straight towards Crusoe's hiding place.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Directly towards him, with two cannibals in hot pursuit. Cruso
sees this as his moment may be ordained by providence
to intervene.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
He has his guns ready, how does he handle it?
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Very calculatedly, He runs towards them, intercepts the pursued man.
He knocks the first pursuer down hard with the stock
of his musket, avoids firing if he can help it.
But the second pursuer stops fits an arrow to his bow.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
So Crusoe has to shoot him.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
He has no choice, shoots him dead. The rescued man
is stunned, terrified by the noise and the flash of
the gun.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
And this is Friday.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
This is Friday. His reaction to Crusoe is immediate, total submission.
Kneels down, kisses the ground, puts Crusoe's foot on his head,
swears to be his slave forever.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Crusoe notes his appearance quite different from what he expected.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Yes, he describes Friday as tall, handsome, well made, not
the stereotypical features he associated with Negroes, but a done
olive color pleasing European like features long black hair. He's
immediately taken with him, and he names him Friday because
he saved him on a Friday. He starts teaching him
English Master. Yes. No, he feels lighter, joyful, even finally
(14:31):
companionship after twenty three years.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
There's that touching moment later when Crusoe asks Friday if
he wants to go home.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Oh, it's incredibly powerful. Chruso points towards Friday's homeland and
asks if he wants to return. Friday looks sad, says yes,
he would like to see his people. Crusoe pushes him,
asks the way he doesn't.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Just go and Friday's reaction He gets upset.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Thinks Crusoe is angry with him. He grabs a hatchet,
gives it to Crusoe and basically says, you kill Friday,
You not send Friday away weeping. It proves his absolute
loyalty and affection. Crusoe is deeply moved.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
They become a team and they end up rescuing more people,
don't they They do.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
About four years later, another group of cannibals arrives. This
time Crusoe and Friday attack proactively. They manage to rescue
two prisoners.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
And one turns out to be.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Friday's own father, an incredible coincidence. The other is a Spaniard.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
How do the other Cannibals react to Crusoe and Friday
fighting back utter terror?
Speaker 2 (15:26):
The firearms are like thunder and lightning to them. They
flee in panic. Crusoe thinks they believe he and Friday
are some kind of spirits who command fire. It ensures
the island is pretty much safe.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
After that, so the little colony grows, but rescue still
seems far off until year twenty eight a.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Ship after twenty eight years, two months, nineteen days, an
English ship anchors offshore finally, but it's not straightforward exactly.
They see a longboat coming ashore with eleven men, three
of whom are clearly prisoners. Crusoe and Friday watch hidden.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
He realize it's the ship's captain, his mate, and a
passenger captured by their own crew.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Right Crusoe sees his chance. He approaches the captain, cautiously
presents himself looking wild in his goat skins, heavily armed
as the governor of the island, with Friday as his man,
and they hatch a plan. They do working with the
captain and the other loyal men. They ambush the mutineers
when they come looking for their comrades. There's a fight,
(16:25):
some shooting.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
They kill the ringleaders.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Two the main villains are shot. The others are eventually
subdued or captured. They managed to retake the ship and Chruso.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Can finally finally go home.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Deceummer nineteenth, sixteen eighty six, he leaves the island.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
He takes a few souvenirs, his cap, the umbrella, his
parrot poll.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
And that money, the gold and silver coins he once
called useless, now carefully preserved. He arrives back in England
June eleventh, sixteen eighty seven, after thirty five years away
from his homeland.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
An unimaginable length of time. What's the first thing he does?
Speaker 2 (16:56):
He eventually makes his way to Lisbon, seeking out his
old friend, the Portuguese captain.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
And finds him still alive.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Yes, and the captain had been incredibly faithful. He'd managed
Crusoe's Brazilian plantation shares. Because Crusoe was presumed dead, the
estate had legally passed to others, but the captain had
kept track.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
So Crusoe gets his fortune.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Back and how with decades of profits, he's suddenly a
very wealthy man, master of over five thousand pounds stirling
in cash, plus an ongoing income from the estate of
about one thousand pounds a year.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Wow, he finally got the wealth he risked everything for.
Does he reward the captain?
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Oh, very generously. He ensures the captain and the widow
who helped him earlier are well taken care of. He's
finally able to be the benefactor.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
So he settles downe in England. Mary's has kids.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
He does enjoys peace and prosperity for several years, but
then his wife dies and that old restlessness.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
The wandering inclination returns.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
It does. In sixteen ninety four he actually sails again.
Where does he go?
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Back to the island.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Back to the island, he finds his little colony, the
Spaniardsday's father, some of the reformed mutineers he left behind
is thriving. They've multiplied, built things up, even fought off
another invasion of carib savages. It's become a proper little settlement.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
That's incredible. So looking back at this whole epic journey,
what's the big takeaway? The core lesson Crusoe learned.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
I think it comes back to that idea of perspective
of contrast, he says it himself. We never see the
true state of our condition till it is illustrated to
us by its contraries.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Nor know how to value what we enjoy, but by
the want of it exactly.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
He had to lose absolutely everything society, comfort, freedom, to
understand the value of simple things, of providence, of human connection,
even of just being safe.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
And there's that final irony, isn't there about wealth versus
his life on the island.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
It's maybe the most profound point after getting all the wealth,
returning to civilization. It reflects that he had more care
upon my head now than I had in my state
of life.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
In the island, where I wanted nothing but what I had,
and had nothing what I wanted.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Think about that the life of absolute necessity, which seemed
like a curse, ultimately brought a kind of peace and
contentment that wealth and society couldn't match. He found the
true middle state, perhaps not uncomfortable England, but in utter isolation,
were only usefulness mattered. What does that say about the
cost of civilization
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