Who wrote Crusoe? How did Robinson Crusoe appear and who in Russia bore his name

Who among us did not read in childhood, voluntarily or “under pressure” (as required school program), Daniel Defoe's adventure novel about Robinson Crusoe? The novel is written in the relatively rare genre of “fictional autobiography” or “Robinzoad”, so it is not surprising that the name of the main character became a household name two hundred years ago. Defoe himself wrote not one novel, but four. Moreover, the latter tells about the adventures of the already elderly Robinson in Siberia... However, the last novels of the series were never fully translated into Russian.

The adventures of Robinson and his faithful companion Friday are written so realistically that no one doubts the reality of the “autobiography”. However, alas, the real Robinson Crusoe never existed.

"Robinson" is collectively from the many stories about sailors surviving on uninhabited islands, of which there were many in that era.

Pirates in Her Majesty's Service

The fact is that, although Defoe avoids this topic in his novel, all (or almost all) real prototypes of his novel were pirates. As a last resort - privateers, i.e. the same pirates, only working under a contract for one of the warring countries (most often they were used by Great Britain to rob Spanish “golden caravans”).

Since pirate ships were not equipped with guardhouses, such sailors were either killed for their misdeeds or left on a desert island “to be judged by God.” In the latter case, the islands were used as "natural prisons". Indeed, you can’t escape from such an island, and it’s not easy to survive there. This was the “divine judgment”: if after a year or a couple of years the sailor remained alive, then he was again taken away by his own “colleagues” in the pirate “workshop”, but if not... No, as they say, there is no trial.

Alexander Selkirk

It is believed that Defoe's greatest influence was the story of the Scot's survival. Alexandra Selkirk. It was a sailor who served on a galley (small warship) " Sanc Por", where he was a boatswain. In 1704, as part of a small privateer flotilla under the leadership of the famous captain Dampier, he was supposed to rob Spanish ships off the coast of South America. However, like a true Scottish privateer, Selkirk had a very bad character and violent disposition, which is why he constantly quarreled with other sailors and superiors (and arguing with pirate captain- more expensive for yourself). Because of one of these quarrels, he was demoted in rank, after which he “in his hearts” declared that he now had no place on this ship. The captain took his words literally and ordered him to land on the nearest uninhabited island...

Despite the fact that the unlucky boatswain repented and asked to cancel the order, the captain equipped the sailor with everything necessary and landed him on the small island of Mas a Tierra, 600 km from the coast of Chile.

A good start to Robinson's story

It must be said that Selkirk received excellent equipment for those times. He was given spare clothes and underwear (a luxury for those times), tobacco, a cauldron for cooking, a knife and an axe. And most importantly, our hero was provided with a flintlock rifle, quite modern at that time, with a pound of gunpowder, bullets and flint. They also included the Bible, without which the “divine judgment” would not have been a trial. 300 years later, archaeologists at the site of his camp in the tropics also found navigational instruments, thanks to which Selkirk probably observed the stars, thus determining the day and month.

Let us note that the boatswain himself was an experienced man, although he was only 27 years old at the time of disembarkation. Alexander, the son of a shoemaker, ran away to a ship as a sailor at the age of 18. However, his ship was almost immediately captured by French pirates, who sold Selkirk into slavery. However, the brave young man escaped, joined the pirates himself and returned home as an experienced sailor with a large wallet full of ill-gotten gold coins...

Finding himself on a desert island, our sailor began a storm of activity. He built an observation post and two huts: an “office” and a “kitchen”. At first he ate local fruits and roots (he found, for example, a local variety of turnip), but then he discovered a small population of goats, which he hunted with his gun. Then, when gunpowder began to run out, he tamed goats and began to receive milk, meat and skins from them. The latter came in handy when, a couple of years later, his clothes became unusable. Using a nail he found, he sewed himself simple clothes from goat skins. The experience of working in my father's shoe shop came in handy. From half a coconut I made myself a “cup” on a leg, “furniture”, etc. That is, Selkirk has settled down quite thoroughly on the island.

Preserve humanity in solitude

Alexander Selkirk never met his “Friday”, so he suffered most from loneliness. The main tests, by his own admission, were loneliness and the fight against the rats that flooded this island. The rats ate food supplies and spoiled all his other property. Selkirk even made his own chest (which he decorated with carvings) to protect things from the weather and rats.

However, the boatswain found on the island wild cats, which he tamed, and thus protected himself from tailed pests. The presence of goats, rats and feral cats indicated that the island was once inhabited, but Selkirk never found traces of other people. In order not to forget human speech, he talked to himself and read the Bible aloud. Despite the fact that the boatswain was not the most righteous person, it was the Bible, as he himself later admitted, that helped him remain human in a wild environment.

One day, two Spanish ships arrived on the island, probably in search of fresh water, but Selkirk, who was a British privateer, was afraid to go out to them because... The Spaniards would probably have hanged him on the yards for piracy. The ships left, and the boatswain was again left alone with the goats and cats.

Robinson's rescue and the end of the story

But he was still saved. Four years after he arrived on the island, on February 1, 1709, his own flotilla under the leadership of Dampier returned for Selkirk. However, its composition was already different, and the ship "Saint Port" was not there. It is noteworthy that Woods Rogers, the captain of the Duke, which was directly involved in the evacuation of the Robinson, indicated in his logbook that he was rescuing the “governor of the island.”

Once on civilized land, Alexander Selkirk became a regular at taverns, where he told stories of his adventures on a desert island over a glass of beer. Probably one of the witnesses to his drunken performances was Daniel Defoe. The Scot himself did not stay on land for long. After some time, he returned to privateering again, but ten years later, off the coast of West Africa, he died of yellow fever and was “buried at sea” (that is, thrown overboard with full honors). Thus ended the story of the real Robinson.

By the way, the island where Alexander Selkirk lived was named “ Robinson Crusoe", and the neighboring one - " Alexander Selkirk" But this happened after the inglorious death of the brave Scottish boatswain with a bad character, who died without knowing that he had become a legend.

The future writer was born on April 26, 1660 in the English city of Bristol, where his father, James Faw, had a small trading business.

The fictitious nobility and ancient (allegedly Norman) origins, later invented by Daniel, gave the right to join the common people "Fo" - the particle "De". Later future writer will call himself "Mr. De Foe", and continuous writing surnames will happen even later. Composed by Daniel Defoe, the family coat of arms will consist of three fierce griffins against a background of red and gold lilies and next to the Latin motto, which reads: “Worthy and proud of praise.”

When Defoe was twelve years old, he was sent to school, where he stayed until he was sixteen. His father tried to give his only son an education so that he could become a priest. Daniel was educated in a closed educational institution, called Newington Academy. It was something like a seminary, where they taught not only theology, but also a fairly wide range of subjects - geography, astronomy, history, foreign languages. It was there that the boy's abilities were noticed. Daniel not only immediately became the first foreign languages, but also turned out to be a very talented polemicist.

However, studying at the academy did not at all contribute to strengthening the faith in the young man; on the contrary, the further he went, the more he experienced disappointment in the Catholic faith, and the desire to become a priest disappeared.

Upon leaving Newington Academy, he became a clerk for a merchant, who promised to make Daniel a participant in his business in a few years. Daniel fulfilled his duties conscientiously, he traveled to Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Holland. However, he soon became tired of trading, although it brought good profits.

Subsequently, Defoe himself was the owner of a hosiery production, and later - the manager, and then the owner of a large brick and tile factory, but went bankrupt. Defoe was an entrepreneur with an adventurous streak.

At the age of twenty, Daniel Defoe joined the army of the Duke of Monmouth, who rebelled against his uncle, James Stuart, who pursued a pro-French policy during his reign. Jacob suppressed the uprising and dealt harshly with the rebels, and Daniel Defoe had to hide from persecution.

It is known that on the way between Harwich and Holland he was captured by Algerian pirates, but escaped. In 1684 Defoe married Mary Tuffley, who bore him eight children. His wife brought in a dowry of £3,700, and for a time he could be considered a relatively wealthy man, but in 1692 both his wife's dowry and his own savings were swallowed up by bankruptcy, costing him £17,000. Defoe became bankrupt after the sinking of his chartered ship. The case ended with another escape from the inevitable debtor's prison and wanderings in the Mint quarter - a haven for London criminals. Defoe lived secretly in Bristol under an assumed name, fearing officials who arrested debtors. Bankrupt Defoe could go out only on Sundays - on these days arrests were prohibited by law. The longer he plunged into the whirlpool of life, risking his fortune, social status, and sometimes life itself - the ordinary bourgeois Daniel Foe, the more the writer Defoe extracted from life facts, characters, situations, problems that provoked thought.

Returning to England, Defoe, who by that time had become a Protestant, began to issue pamphlets directed against catholic church. That is why in 1685, when the Protestant leader the Duke of Monmouth was executed and King James II ascended the throne, Defoe had to go into hiding and even leave England. True, the exile did not last long, because already in 1688 a bourgeois revolution took place in England and William III became king, allowing Protestantism.

From that time on, Defoe entered the circle of famous English publicists. He wrote pamphlets, short works in poetry or prose on modern political and social topics, and even published his own newspaper, Review. He was also one of the most active politicians of his time, but only literary creativity Defoe ensured his fame not only among his contemporaries, but also among subsequent generations. A talented publicist, pamphleteer and publisher, he, without officially holding any government position, at one time exercised great influence on the king and the government.

IN literary activity Defoe proved himself to be a talented satirist and publicist. He wrote in different political topics. In one of his works, “Experience of Projects,” he proposes to improve communications, open banks, savings banks for the poor and insurance societies. The significance of his projects was enormous, considering that at that time almost nothing he proposed existed. The functions of banks were performed by money lenders and jewelers-money changers. The Bank of England, one of the centers of world financial capital at the present time, had just opened at that time.

Defoe gained especially wide popularity since the appearance of his pamphlet “The True Englishman.” Eighty thousand copies were sold semi-legally on the streets of London within a few days. The appearance of this pamphlet was due to the attacks of the aristocracy on King William III, who defended the interests of the bourgeoisie. The aristocrats attacked the king in particular because he was not an Englishman, but a foreigner who did not even speak English well. Defoe spoke in his defense and, not so much defending the king as attacking the aristocracy, argued that the ancient aristocratic families trace their origins to the Norman pirates, and the new ones - from the French footmen, hairdressers and tutors who poured into England during the Stuart restoration. After the publication of this pamphlet, Daniel Defoe became close friends with the king and provided enormous services to the English bourgeoisie in obtaining trade privileges and securing them by parliamentary acts.

In 1702, Queen Anne ascended to the English throne, the last of the Stuarts to be influenced by the Conservative party. Defoe wrote his famous satirical pamphlet, The Surest Way to Get Rid of Dissenters. Protestant sectarians in England called themselves dissenters. In this pamphlet, the author advised the parliament not to be shy with the innovators who bothered it and to hang them all or send them to the galleys. At first, parliament did not understand the true meaning of the satire and were glad that Daniel Defoe directed his pen against the sectarians. Then someone figured out the real meaning of the satire.

Aristocrats and fanatical clergy took this satire seriously, and the advice to deal with dissidents by gallows was considered a revelation equal to the Bible. But when it became clear that Defoe had brought the arguments of the supporters of the ruling church to the point of absurdity and thereby completely discredited them, the church and the aristocracy considered themselves scandalized, achieved Defoe’s arrest and trial, by which he was sentenced to seven years in prison, a fine and three times pillory.

This medieval method of punishment was especially painful, since it gave the right to street onlookers and voluntary lackeys of the clergy and aristocracy to mock the convicted person. But the bourgeoisie turned out to be so strong that it managed to turn this punishment into a triumph for its ideologist: Defoe was showered with flowers. On the day of standing in the pillory, Defoe, who was in prison, managed to print “Hymn to the Pillory.” Here he attacked the aristocracy and explained why he was put to shame. The crowd sang this pamphlet in the streets and squares while Defoe's sentence was carried out.

Two years later, Defoe was released from prison. Although Defoe's pillorying turned into a show of enthusiastic support, his reputation suffered and the thriving tile business fell into complete disarray while the owner was in prison. Defoe was threatened with poverty and possibly exile. To avoid this, Defoe agreed to the prime minister's dubious offer to become a secret agent of the Conservative government and only outwardly remain an “independent” journalist. So it began double life writer. Defoe's role in the behind-the-scenes intrigues of his time is not entirely clear. But it is obvious that Defoe’s political chameleonism found, if not justification, then an explanation in the peculiarities political life England. Both parties that alternated in power - the Tories and the Whigs - were equally unprincipled and self-interested. Defoe perfectly understood the essence of the parliamentary system: “I saw the underside of all parties. All this is appearance, mere pretense and disgusting hypocrisy... Their interests dominate their principles.” Defoe was also aware of how enslaved his people were, even though they lived in a country where there was a constitution. In his pamphlet “The Poor Man's Request,” he protested against the new deity - gold, before which the law is powerless: “English law is a web in which small flies get entangled, while large ones easily break through.”

Defoe was sent to Scotland on a diplomatic mission to prepare the way for the union of Scotland with England. He turned out to be a talented diplomat and brilliantly completed the task assigned to him. To do this, Defoe even had to write a book on economics, in which he substantiated the economic benefits of the future unification.

After ascending the English throne of the House of Hanover, Daniel Defoe wrote another poisonous article, for which Parliament awarded him a huge fine and imprisonment. This punishment forced him to leave political activity forever and devote himself exclusively to fiction.

His first novel about the adventures of Robinson, the full title of which is “The Life and Amazing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, a sailor from York, who lived twenty-eight years all alone on an uninhabited island off the coast of America, near the mouth of the Orinoco River, where he was thrown by a shipwreck during of which the entire crew of the ship, except himself, perished, with an account of his unexpected liberation by pirates, written by himself,” Defoe wrote at the age of 59.

The first edition of Robinson Crusoe was published in London on April 25, 1719, without the name of the author. Defoe passed off this work as a manuscript left by the hero of the story himself. The writer did this more out of necessity than out of calculation. The book promised good sales, and Defoe was, of course, interested in its material success. However, he understood that his name as a journalist who writes sharp journalistic articles and pamphlets would more likely harm the success of the book than attract attention to it. That’s why he initially hid his authorship, waiting until the book gained unprecedented fame.

In his novel, Defoe reflected a concept that was shared by many of his contemporaries. He showed that the main quality of any personality is intelligent activity in natural conditions. And only she can preserve the humanity in a person. It was Robinson’s strength of spirit that attracted the younger generation.

The popularity of the novel was so great that the writer published a continuation of the story of his hero, and a year later he added to it a story about Robinson’s journey to Russia. The works about Robinson were followed by other novels - “The Adventures of Captain Singleton”, “Moll Flanders”, “Notes of the Plague Year”, “Colonel Jacques” and “Roxanne”. Currently, his numerous works are known only to a narrow circle of specialists, but Robinson Crusoe, read both in large European centers and in the most remote corners globe, continues to be reprinted in huge numbers of copies. Occasionally, Captain Singleton is also republished in England.

"Robinson Crusoe" is the brightest example of the so-called adventurous sea genre, the first manifestations of which can be found in the English literature XVI century. The development of this genre, which reached its maturity in the 18th century, was determined by the development of English merchant capitalism.

Since the 16th century, England became the main colonial country, and the bourgeoisie and bourgeois relations developed at the fastest pace in it. The ancestors of "Robinson Crusoe", like other novels of this genre, can be considered descriptions of authentic travels, claiming to be accurate and not artistic. It is very likely that the immediate impetus for the writing of “Robinson Crusoe” was one such work - “Travels Around the World from 1708 to 1711 by Captain Woods Rogers” - which told about how a certain sailor Selkirk, a Scot by birth , lived on one uninhabited island for over four years.

The story of Selkirk, who actually existed, caused a lot of noise at that time and was, of course, known to Defoe. The appearance of travel descriptions is due, first of all, to production and economic necessity, the need to acquire skills and experience in navigation and colonization. These books were used as guides. They were corrected geographic Maps, a judgment was made about the economic and political profitability of acquiring one or another colony.

Maximum precision reigned in such works. The documentary travel genre, even before the appearance of Robinson Crusoe, showed a tendency to move into the artistic genre. In Robinson Crusoe this process of changing the genre through the accumulation of elements of fiction was completed. Defoe used the style of the Travels, and their features, which had a certain practical significance, became literary device: Defoe's language was also simple, precise and protocol. The specific techniques of artistic writing, the so-called poetic figures and tropes, were completely alien to him.

In “Travel” one cannot find, for example, “an endless sea”, but only an exact indication of longitude and latitude in degrees and minutes; the sun does not rise in some “apricot fog”, but at 6:37 am; the wind does not “caress” the sails, is not “light-winged”, but blows from the northeast; they are not compared, for example, in whiteness and firmness with the breasts of young women, but are described, as in textbooks of nautical schools. The impression the reader gets full reality Robinson's adventures are due to this style of writing. Defoe interrupted the narrative form with a dramatic dialogue (Crusoe's conversation with Friday and the sailor Atkins), Defoe introduced into the fabric of the novel a diary and an office book entry, where good is recorded in debit, evil in credit, and the remainder is still a solid asset.

In his descriptions, Defoe was always precise to the smallest detail. Readers learned that it took Crusoe 42 days to make a board for a shelf, a boat - 154 days, the reader moved with him step by step in his work and, as it were, overcame difficulties and suffered failures with him. No matter where on the globe Crusoe found himself, everywhere he looked at his surroundings through the eyes of the owner and organizer. In this work, with equal calm and tenacity, he tarred the ship and doused the savages with hot brew, raised barley and rice, drowned extra kittens and destroyed cannibals who threatened his cause. All this was done as part of normal daily work. Crusoe was not cruel, he was humane and fair in the world of bourgeois justice.

The first part of Robinson Crusoe was sold in several editions at once. Defoe captivated readers with the simplicity of his descriptions of real travel and the richness of his fiction. But Robinson Crusoe never enjoyed wide popularity among the aristocracy. The children of the aristocracy were not brought up on this book. But Crusoe, with its idea of ​​the rebirth of man through work, has always been the favorite book of the bourgeoisie, and entire educational systems are built on this Erziehungsroman. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in his “Emile,” also recommends “Robinson Crusoe” as the only work on which youth should be brought up.

For readers, Robinson is, first of all, a wonderful creator and hard worker. We admire him; even those episodes where Robinson fired clay pots, invented scarecrows, tamed goats, and fried the first piece of meat seem poetic. The reader sees how a frivolous and self-willed young man transforms under the influence of work into a seasoned, strong, fearless man, which has great educational significance.

Not only for his contemporaries, but also in the memory of all subsequent generations, Daniel Defoe remained, first of all, as the creator of this amazing book, which is still extremely popular all over the world.

Daniel Defoe can be considered one of the most prolific English writers, who, as has now been established, authored about four hundred separately published works, not counting the many hundreds of poems, polemical and journalistic articles, pamphlets, etc., published by him in periodicals. Defoe's creative energy was exceptional and almost unparalleled for his country and time.

The influence of Defoe's novel on European literature is not limited to the Robinsonade it generated. It is both wider and deeper. With his work, Defoe introduced the subsequently extremely popular motif of simplification, the loneliness of man in the bosom of nature, the beneficial nature of communication with it for his moral improvement. This motif was developed by Rousseau and varied many times by his followers - Bernardin de Saint-Pierre and other writers.

The technique of the Western European novel also owes a lot to Robinson. Defoe's art of depicting characters, his inventiveness expressed in the use of new situations - all this was a great achievement. With his philosophical digressions, skillfully intertwined with the main presentation, Defoe raised the significance of the novel among readers, turned it from a book for entertaining pastime into a source of important ideas, into an engine spiritual development. This technique was widely used in the 18th century.

In Russia, "Robinson Crusoe" became famous a hundred years later. extra years after its appearance in England. This is explained by the fact that the mass non-aristocratic reader in Russia appeared only from the second half of the 19th century century.

It is characteristic that Defoe's contemporary, Swift, became famous in Russia with mid-18th century century, and the works of Byron and Walter Scott were read almost simultaneously in England and Russia.

Towards the end of his life he found himself alone. Defoe lived out his days in a suburban outback. The children moved away - the sons traded in the City, the daughters were married. Defoe himself lived in the London slums that were familiar to him.

He died on April 24, 1731, at the age of 70. The compassionate Miss Brox, the mistress of the house where Defoe lived, buried him with her own money. Newspapers devoted short obituaries to him, for the most part of a mocking nature, in the most flattering of which he was honored to be called “one of the greatest citizens of the Grub Street Republic,” that is, the London street where the then greyhound writers and rhymers lived. A white tombstone was placed on Defoe's grave. Over the years, it became overgrown, and it seemed that the memory of Daniel Defoe - a free citizen of the city of London - was covered with the grass of oblivion. More than a hundred years have passed. And time, whose judgment the writer so feared, retreated before his great creations. When Christian World magazine in 1870 appealed to “the boys and girls of England” with a request to send money to build a granite monument on Defoe’s grave (the old slab was split by lightning), thousands of admirers, including adults, responded to this call.

In the presence of the descendants of the great writer, the opening of a granite monument took place, on which was carved: “In memory of the author of Robinson Crusoe.”

The text was prepared by Andrey Goncharov

Used materials:

Materials from the site www.peoples.ru
Materials from the site www.belletrist.ru
Materials from the site www.library.vladimir.ru
Materials from the site www.school-sector.relarn.ru

The plot is most likely based on the true story of Alexander Selkirk, the boatswain of the ship "Cinque Ports" ("Sank Port"), who was distinguished by an extremely quarrelsome and quarrelsome character. In 1704, he was landed at his own request on an uninhabited island, supplied with weapons, food, seeds and tools. Selkirk lived on this island until 1709.

In August 1719, Defoe released a sequel - “ The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe", and a year later - " Serious Reflections of Robinson Crusoe“, but only the first book was included in the treasury of world literature, and it is with it that a new genre concept is associated - “Robinsonade”.

The book was translated into Russian by Yakov Trusov and received the title “ The Life and Adventures of Robinson Cruise, a Natural Englishman"(1st ed., St. Petersburg, 1762-1764, 2nd - 1775, 3rd - 1787, 4th - 1811).

Plot

The book is written as a fictional autobiography of Robinson Crusoe, a resident of York who dreamed of traveling to distant seas. Contrary to his father's wishes, he left in 1651 native home and goes with a friend on his first sea voyage. It ends in a shipwreck off the English coast, but this did not disappoint Crusoe, and he soon made several trips on a merchant ship. In one of them, his ship was captured off the coast of Africa by Barbary pirates and Crusoe had to be held captive for two years until he escaped on a longboat. He is picked up at sea by a Portuguese ship bound for Brazil, where he settles for the next four years, becoming the owner of a plantation.

Wanting to get rich faster, in 1659 he took part in an illegal trading voyage to Africa for black slaves. However, the ship encounters a storm and runs aground on an unknown island near the mouth of the Orinoco. Crusoe was the only survivor of the crew, having swam to the island, which turned out to be uninhabited. Overcoming despair, he saves everything from the ship necessary tools and supplies before it was finally destroyed by storms. Having settled on the island, he builds himself a well-sheltered and protected home, learns to sew clothes, bake clay dishes, and sows the fields with barley and rice from the ship. He also manages to tame the wild goats that lived on the island, which gives him a stable source of meat and milk, as well as hides for making clothes. Exploring the island for many years, Crusoe discovers traces of cannibal savages who sometimes visit different parts of the island and hold cannibalistic feasts. On one of these visits, he rescues a captive savage who was about to be eaten. He teaches the native English and calls him Friday, since he saved him on that day of the week. Crusoe discovers that Friday is from Trinidad, which can be seen from the opposite side of the island, and that he was captured during a battle between Indian tribes.

The next time the cannibals are seen visiting the island, Crusoe and Friday attack the savages and rescue two more captives. One of them turns out to be Friday's father, and the second is a Spaniard, whose ship was also wrecked. In addition to him, more than a dozen more Spaniards and Portuguese, who were in a hopeless situation among the savages on the mainland, escaped from the ship. Crusoe decides to send the Spaniard along with Friday's father on a boat to bring his comrades to the island and jointly build a ship on which they could all sail to civilized shores.

While Crusoe was waiting for the Spaniard and his crew to return, an unknown ship arrived at the island. This ship was captured by rebels who were going to land the captain and his loyal people on the island. Crusoe and Friday free the captain and help him regain control of the ship. The most unreliable rebels are left on the island, and Crusoe, after 28 years spent on the island, leaves it at the end of 1686 and in 1687 returns to England to his relatives, who considered him long dead. Crusoe travels to Lisbon to make a profit on his plantation in Brazil, which makes him very rich. After this, he transports his wealth overland to England to avoid traveling by sea. Friday accompanies him, and along the way they find themselves on one last adventure together as they fight hungry wolves and a bear while crossing the Pyrenees.

Sequels

There is also a third book by Defoe about Robinson Crusoe, which has not yet been translated into Russian. It is entitled "The Serious Reflections of Robinson Crusoe" Serious Reflections of Robinson Crusoe ) and is a collection of essays on moral themes; The name of Robinson Crusoe was used by the author in order to attract public interest in this work.

Meaning

Defoe's novel became a literary sensation and spawned many imitations. He demonstrated man's inexhaustible capabilities in mastering nature and in the fight against a world hostile to him. This message was very consonant with the ideology of early capitalism and the Enlightenment. In Germany alone, in the forty years that followed the publication of the first book about Robinson, no less than forty “Robinsonades” were published. Jonathan Swift challenged the optimism of Defoe's worldview in his thematically related book Gulliver's Travels (1727).

In his novel (Russian edition The New Robinson Crusoe, or the Adventures of the Chief English Mariner, 1781) German writer Johann Wetzel subjected the pedagogical and philosophical discussions of the 18th century to sharp satire.

The German poetess Maria Louise Weissmann philosophically interpreted the plot of the novel in her poem “Robinson.”

Filmography

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Notes

Literature

• Urnov D. M. Robinson and Gulliver: The fate of two literary heroes / Rep. ed. A. N. Nikolyukin; Academy of Sciences of the USSR. - M.: Nauka, 1973. - 89 p. - (From the history of world culture). - 50,000 copies.(region)

Links

• in the library of Maxim Moshkov

Excerpt characterizing Robinson Crusoe

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The French troops gradually melted away in a mathematically correct progression. And that crossing of the Berezina, about which so much has been written, was only one of the intermediate stages in the destruction of the French army, and not at all a decisive episode of the campaign. If so much has been and is being written about the Berezina, then on the part of the French this happened only because on the broken Berezina Bridge, the disasters that the French army had previously suffered evenly here suddenly grouped together at one moment and into one tragic spectacle that remained in everyone’s memory. On the Russian side, they talked and wrote so much about the Berezina only because, far from the theater of war, in St. Petersburg, a plan was drawn up (by Pfuel) to capture Napoleon in a strategic trap on the Berezina River. Everyone was convinced that everything would actually happen exactly as planned, and therefore insisted that it was the Berezina crossing that destroyed the French. In essence, the results of the Berezinsky crossing were much less disastrous for the French in terms of the loss of guns and prisoners than Krasnoye, as the numbers show.
The only significance of the Berezina crossing is that this crossing obviously and undoubtedly proved the falsity of all plans for cutting off and the justice of the only possible course of action demanded by both Kutuzov and all the troops (mass) - only following the enemy. The crowd of Frenchmen fled with an ever-increasing force of speed, with all their energy directed towards achieving their goal. She ran like a wounded animal, and she could not get in the way. This was proven not so much by the construction of the crossing as by the traffic on the bridges. When the bridges were broken, unarmed soldiers, Moscow residents, women and children who were in the French convoy - all, under the influence of the force of inertia, did not give up, but ran forward into the boats, into the frozen water.
This aspiration was reasonable. The situation of both those fleeing and those pursuing was equally bad. Remaining with his own, each in distress hoped for the help of a comrade, for a certain place he occupied among his own. Having given himself over to the Russians, he was in the same position of distress, but he was on a lower level in terms of satisfying the needs of life. The French did not need to have correct information that half of the prisoners, with whom they did not know what to do, despite all the Russians’ desire to save them, died from cold and hunger; they felt that it could not be otherwise. The most compassionate Russian commanders and hunters of the French, the French in Russian service could not do anything for the prisoners. The French were destroyed by the disaster in which they were Russian army. It was impossible to take away bread and clothing from hungry, necessary soldiers in order to give it to the French who were not harmful, not hated, not guilty, but simply unnecessary. Some did; but this was only an exception.
Behind was certain death; there was hope ahead. The ships were burned; there was no other salvation but a collective flight, and all the forces of the French were directed towards this collective flight.
The further the French fled, the more pitiful their remnants were, especially after the Berezina, on which, as a result of the St. Petersburg plan, special hopes were pinned, the more the passions of the Russian commanders flared up, blaming each other and especially Kutuzov. Believing that the failure of the Berezinsky Petersburg plan would be attributed to him, dissatisfaction with him, contempt for him and ridicule of him were expressed more and more strongly. Teasing and contempt, of course, were expressed in a respectful form, in a form in which Kutuzov could not even ask what and for what he was accused. They didn't talk to him seriously; reporting to him and asking his permission, they pretended to perform a sad ritual, and behind his back they winked and tried to deceive him at every step.
All these people, precisely because they could not understand him, recognized that there was no point in talking to the old man; that he would never understand the full depth of their plans; that he would answer with his phrases (it seemed to them that these were just phrases) about the golden bridge, that you cannot come abroad with a crowd of vagabonds, etc. They had already heard all this from him. And everything he said: for example, that we had to wait for food, that people were without boots, it was all so simple, and everything they offered was so complex and clever that it was obvious to them that he was stupid and old, but they were not powerful, brilliant commanders.
Especially after the joining of the armies of the brilliant admiral and the hero of St. Petersburg, Wittgenstein, this mood and staff gossip reached higher limits. Kutuzov saw this and, sighing, just shrugged his shoulders. Only once, after the Berezina, he became angry and wrote the following letter to Bennigsen, who reported separately to the sovereign:
“Due to your painful seizures, please, Your Excellency, upon receipt of this, go to Kaluga, where you await further orders and assignments from His Imperial Majesty.”
But after Bennigsen was sent to the army, he came Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, who started the campaign and was removed from the army by Kutuzov. Now the Grand Duke, having arrived at the army, informed Kutuzov about the displeasure of the sovereign emperor for the weak successes of our troops and for the slowness of movement. The Emperor himself intended to arrive at the army the other day.
An old man, as experienced in court affairs as in military matters, that Kutuzov, who in August of the same year was chosen commander-in-chief against the will of the sovereign, the one who removed the heir and the Grand Duke from the army, the one who, with his power, in opposition the will of the sovereign, ordered the abandonment of Moscow, this Kutuzov now immediately realized that his time was over, that his role had been played and that he no longer had this imaginary power. And he understood this not just from court relationships. On the one hand, he saw that military affairs, the one in which he played his role, was over, and he felt that his calling had been fulfilled. On the other hand, at the same time he began to feel physical fatigue in his old body and the need for physical rest.
On November 29, Kutuzov entered Vilna - his good Vilna, as he said. Kutuzov was governor of Vilna twice during his service. In the rich, surviving Vilna, in addition to the comforts of life that he had been deprived of for so long, Kutuzov found old friends and memories. And he, suddenly turning away from all military and state concerns, plunged into a smooth, familiar life as much as he was given peace by the passions seething around him, as if everything that was happening now and was about to happen in the historical world did not concern him at all.
Chichagov, one of the most passionate cutters and overturners, Chichagov, who first wanted to make a diversion to Greece, and then to Warsaw, but did not want to go where he was ordered, Chichagov, known for his courage in speaking to the sovereign, Chichagov, who considered Kutuzov benefited himself, because when he was sent in the 11th year to conclude peace with Turkey in addition to Kutuzov, he, making sure that peace had already been concluded, admitted to the sovereign that the merit of concluding peace belonged to Kutuzov; This Chichagov was the first to meet Kutuzov in Vilna at the castle where Kutuzov was supposed to stay. Chichagov in a naval uniform, with a dirk, holding his cap under his arm, gave Kutuzov his drill report and the keys to the city. That contemptuously respectful attitude of the youth towards the old man who had lost his mind was expressed to the highest degree in the entire address of Chichagov, who already knew the charges brought against Kutuzov.
While talking with Chichagov, Kutuzov, among other things, told him that the carriages with dishes captured from him in Borisov were intact and would be returned to him.
- C"est pour me dire que je n"ai pas sur quoi manger... Je puis au contraire vous fournir de tout dans le cas meme ou vous voudriez donner des diners, [You want to tell me that I have nothing to eat. On the contrary, I can serve you all, even if you wanted to give dinners.] - Chichagov said, flushing, with every word he wanted to prove that he was right and therefore assumed that Kutuzov was preoccupied with this very thing. Kutuzov smiled his thin, penetrating smile and, shrugging his shoulders, answered: “Ce n"est que pour vous dire ce que je vous dis. [I want to say only what I say.]
In Vilna, Kutuzov, contrary to the will of the sovereign, stopped most of the troops. Kutuzov, as his close associates said, had become unusually depressed and physically weakened during his stay in Vilna. He was reluctant to deal with the affairs of the army, leaving everything to his generals and, while waiting for the sovereign, indulged in an absent-minded life.
Having left St. Petersburg with his retinue - Count Tolstoy, Prince Volkonsky, Arakcheev and others, on December 7, the sovereign arrived in Vilna on December 11 and drove straight up to the castle in a road sleigh. At the castle, despite severe frost, there were about a hundred generals and staff officers in full dress uniform and an honor guard of the Semenovsky regiment.
The courier, who galloped up to the castle in a sweaty troika, ahead of the sovereign, shouted: “He’s coming!” Konovnitsyn rushed into the hallway to report to Kutuzov, who was waiting in a small Swiss room.
Thick in a minute big figure An old man, in full dress uniform, with all the regalia covering his chest, and his belly pulled up by a scarf, pumping, walked out onto the porch. Kutuzov put his hat on the front, picked up his gloves and sideways, stepping with difficulty down the steps, stepped down and took in his hand the report prepared for submission to the sovereign.
Running, whispering, the troika still desperately flying by, and all eyes turned to the jumping sleigh, in which the figures of the sovereign and Volkonsky were already visible.
All this, out of a fifty-year habit, had a physically disturbing effect on the old general; He hurriedly felt himself with concern, straightened his hat, and at that moment the sovereign, emerging from the sleigh, raised his eyes to him, cheered up and stretched out, submitted a report and began to speak in his measured, ingratiating voice.
The Emperor glanced quickly at Kutuzov from head to toe, frowned for a moment, but immediately, overcoming himself, walked up and, spreading his arms, hugged the old general. Again, according to the old, familiar impression and in relation to his sincere thoughts, this hug, as usual, had an effect on Kutuzov: he sobbed.
The Emperor greeted the officers and the Semenovsky guard and, shaking the old man’s hand again, went with him to the castle.
Left alone with the field marshal, the sovereign expressed his displeasure to him for the slowness of the pursuit, for the mistakes in Krasnoye and on the Berezina, and conveyed his thoughts about the future campaign abroad. Kutuzov made no objections or comments. The same submissive and meaningless expression with which, seven years ago, he listened to the orders of the sovereign on the Field of Austerlitz, was now established on his face.

The book about the adventures of Robinson Crusoe can rightfully be considered one of the most famous works in European literature. Even those of our compatriots who are not particularly inclined to spend time reading will certainly be able to talk about what they once read about amazing adventures a sailor who lived alone on a desert island for almost thirty years. However, far fewer readers will remember who wrote Robinson Crusoe. So as not to return to the book again, but to immerse yourself again in the atmosphere carefree childhood, re-read this article and remember what the author wrote about, thanks to whom the amazing adventures of the sailor saw the light of day.

Robinson Crusoe and Munchausen

The events in the life of a sailor, described by Daniel Defoe, are one of the books of the 17th and 18th centuries, which took a special place among works of children's literature along with the adventures of Baron Munchausen. But if the story about the famous eccentric who claimed that he pulled himself out of the swamp by his hair is reread by adults only during a period of nostalgia for childhood, then the novel that Daniel Defoe created is a completely different matter. It should be noted that the name of the author who wrote about the amazing adventures of the baron is known only to specialist bibliographers.

Robinson Crusoe. Theme of the work

We will try to answer the question of what is the main task of this work. Those who remember the story in which Robinson Crusoe found himself, the content of this work, will understand why the author created it. The main theme of the novel is the problem of a person from a civilized society who finds himself alone with nature.

About the creation of the work

The works are quite typical for realistic novels England at that time.

The prototype of the main character is the sailor Selkirk and, of course, Daniel Defoe himself. The author endowed Robinson with his love of life and perseverance. However, Robinson is almost 30 years older than the writer: when the middle-aged sailor lands on his native shore, full of energy, educated by Defoe, is already operating in London.

Unlike Selkirk, Robinson spends not four and a half years on a desert island, but 28 long years. The author consciously puts his hero in such conditions. After his stay on Robinson remains a civilized person.

Daniel Defoe was able to write with amazing accuracy about the climate, flora and fauna of the island where Robinson ended up. The coordinates of this place coincide with the coordinates of the island of Tobago. This is explained by the fact that the author carefully studied the information described in books such as “The Discovery of Guiana”, “Travels Around the World” and others.

The novel saw the light

When you read this work, you understand that whoever wrote Robinson Crusoe took great pleasure in working on his brainchild. The work done by Daniel Defoe was appreciated by his contemporaries. The book was published on April 25, 1719. Readers liked the novel so much that in the same year the work was republished 4 times, and in total during the author’s lifetime - 17 times.

The writer's skill was appreciated: readers believed in incredible adventures the main character who spent almost 30 years on a desert island after a shipwreck.

Robinson Crusoe is the third son of a wealthy man. Since childhood, the boy dreams of sea voyages. One of his brothers died, the other went missing, so his father is against him going to sea.

In 1651 he goes to London. The ship he is sailing on is wrecked.

From London he decides to sail to Guinea, now the ship is captured by a Turkish corsair. Robinson falls into slavery. For two years he has no hope of escaping, but when surveillance weakens, Robinson finds an opportunity to escape. He, the Moor and Xuri are sent to fish. Throwing the Moor overboard, he persuades Xuri to flee together.

A Portuguese ship picks them up at sea and takes them to Brazil. Robinson sells Xuri to the ship's captain.

In Brazil, the main character settles down thoroughly, buys land, works, in a word, comes to the “golden mean” that his father dreamed of.

However, his thirst for adventure pushes him to travel to the shores of Guinea for labor. Neighboring planters promise to run the farm in his absence and hand over slaves to him along with everyone else. His ship is wrecked. He is the only one left alive.

Having difficulty reaching the shore, Robinson spends his first night in a tree. From the ship he takes tools, gunpowder, weapons, food. Robinson understands that he subsequently visits the ship 12 times and finds “a heap of gold” there, philosophically noting its uselessness.

Robinson arranges for himself reliable housing. He hunts goats, and then domesticates them, establishes agriculture, and constructs a calendar (notches on a post). After 10 months of staying on the island, he has his own “dacha,” which the main character locates in a hut in that part of the island where hares, foxes, turtles live, and melons and grapes grow.

Robinson owns cherished dream- build a boat and sail to the mainland, but what he built can only allow him to travel close to the island.

One day the main character discovers a footprint on the island: for two years he has been possessed by the horror of being eaten by savages.

Robinson hopes to save a savage who is destined “for slaughter” in order to find a comrade, assistant or servant.

Towards the end of his stay on the island, Friday appears in his life, whom he teaches three words: “yes”, “no”, “mister”. Together they free the Spaniard and Friday's father, captives of the savages. Soon after this, the crew of an English ship arrives on the island, taking their captain, his assistant and the ship's passenger prisoner. Robinson frees the prisoners. The captain takes him to England.

In June 1686, Robinson returns from his journey. His parents died long ago. All income from the Brazilian plantation is returned to him. He takes care of two nephews, marries (at 61), and has two sons and a daughter.

Reasons for the book's success

The first thing that contributed to the success of the novel was high craftsmanship the one who wrote Robinson Crusoe. Daniel Defoe did a tremendous amount of work studying geographical sources. This helped him describe in detail the features of the flora and fauna of the uninhabited island. The author's obsession with his work, the creative enthusiasm that he experienced - all this made his work unusually reliable, the reader sincerely believed in Defoe's plan.

The second reason for success is, of course, the fascination of the plot. This is an adventure novel of an adventurous nature.

Dynamics of personality development of the main character

It is easy to imagine that at first, upon arriving on the island, Robinson felt the deepest despair. He is just a weak man left alone with the sea. Robinson Crusoe is cut off from what he is used to. Civilization makes us weak.

However, he later realizes how lucky he is to be alive. Realizing his situation, the main character begins to settle down on the island.

During his twenty-eight years of living on a desert island, Robinson learned a lot that helped him survive. The remoteness from civilization forced him to master the skills of making fire, making candles, dishes, and oil. This man independently made his own house and furniture, learned to bake bread, weave baskets, and cultivate the land.

Perhaps the most valuable skill that Robinson Crusoe acquired over many years is the ability to live, and not exist, in any conditions. He did not complain about fate, but only did everything to make it better for him; hard work helped him in this.

Psychological character of the novel

The work about Robinson Crusoe can rightfully be considered the first psychological novel. The author tells us about the character of the main character, the trials he endures. Whoever wrote Robinson Crusoe tells an unusually accurate account of the experiences of a man on a desert island. The writer reveals the recipe thanks to which main character finds the strength not to lose courage. Robinson survived because he managed to pull himself together and work hard without giving in to despair.

In addition, Defoe endowed the main character with the ability to analyze his behavior. Robinson kept a diary, which for a long time was his only interlocutor. Main character learned to see the good in everything that happened to him. He acted knowing that things could have been much worse. Difficult life demanded from him the ability to be an optimist.

About the character of the main character

Robinson Crusoe, the chapters of Defoe's work tell us a lot about this hero, is a very realistic character. Like any other person, this sailor has good and bad qualities.

In Xuri's case, he reveals himself to be a traitor, unable to empathize with others. It is characteristic, for example, that Friday calls him master, and not friend. Robinson speaks of himself as the owner of the island or even as the king of this land.

However, the author gives the main character many positive qualities. He understands that only he himself can be responsible for all the misfortunes in his life. Robinson - strong personality, which constantly acts and achieves improvements in its destiny.

about the author

The life of Daniel Defoe himself is also replete with adventures and full of contradictions. After graduating from theological academy, he, however, spent his entire rather long life engaged in commercial enterprises associated with great risks. It is known that he was one of the participants in the uprising against royal power, after which he went into hiding for a long time.

All his activities were connected with a dream that was clear to many: he wanted to get rich.

By the age of 20, he had established himself as a successful businessman, but subsequently suffered bankruptcy, after which, escaping from debtor's prison, he lived in a shelter for criminals under an assumed name.

Later he studied journalism and became an influential political figure.

Defoe hid from creditors until the end of his days and died completely alone.

The history of the creation of Robinson Crusoe

For my long life D. Defoe wrote many books. But none of them were as successful as The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. D. Defoe was prompted to write the novel by a meeting with Alexander Selkearn, the navigator of the ship “Five Ports”. He told Defoe his amazing story. Selkirk quarreled with the captain on the ship, and he landed him on an uninhabited island off the coast of Chile. There he lived for four years and four months, eating goat and turtle meat, fruit and fish. At first it was hard for him, but later he learned to understand nature, mastered and remembered many crafts. One day, the Bristol ship "Duke" under the command of Woods Rogers arrived at this island, and he took Alexander Selkirk on board. Rogers wrote down all of Selkirk's stories in the ship's log. When these recordings were made public, Selkirk was talked about in London as a miracle. D. Defoe used stories about the adventures of the navigator and wrote his novel about Robinson Crusoe. Seven times the author changed the details of the hero's life on the island. He moved the island from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, and pushed the time of action into the past by about fifty years. The writer also increased the length of his hero's stay on the island seven times. And in addition, he gave him a meeting with true friend and an assistant - with the native Friday. Later, D. Defoe wrote a sequel to the first book - “The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe.” In this book, the writer talks about how his hero came to Russia. Robinson Crusoe began to get acquainted with Russia in Siberia. There he visited the Amur. And to this Robinson traveled all over the world, visited the Philippines, China, sailed across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. D. Defoe's novel “The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe” had a significant influence on the development of world literature. He started a new genre - “Robinsonade”. This is what they call any description of adventures in an uninhabited land. D. Defoe's book has been reprinted many times. Robinson has many doubles. He had different names, was both Dutch, Greek, and Scots. Readers from different countries expected works from writers that were no less exciting than D. Defoe’s book. So one book gave rise to a number of other literary works.

Genre:

The genre of the novel "Robinson Crusoe" was defined as: an educational adventure novel (V. Dibelius); adventure novel (M. Sokolyansky); a novel of education, a treatise on natural education (Jean-Jacques Rousseau), “the classic idyll of free enterprise,” “a fictional adaptation of Locke’s theory of the social contract” (A. Elistratova). According to the lecture: a novel about work.

The plot of the novel "Robinson Crusoe" falls into three parts (according to the lecture):

1: events related to the hero’s social existence, stay in his homeland are described, issues of ideology are touched upon: (superiority of the middle class, slave trade."

2: describes hermit life on the island. Philosophy of life. Friday is a natural person. Defoe's positive program is visible in his example. That is, a combination of naturalness and civilization.

3: loss of harmony. Return to England. Adventure novel.

Defoe embodied in Robinson the typically Enlightenment concept of history

Robinson's image

The image of Robinson Crusoe is by no means fictional, and is based on real stories sailors. In Defoe's time, the main and only type of long-distance travel was sailing. It is not surprising that from time to time the ships were wrecked, and often the survivors were washed up on a desert island. Few people managed to return and tell their stories, but there were such people, and their biographies formed the basis of the work of Daniel Defoe.

The description of Robinson Crusoe occurs in the first person and, while reading the book, you are imbued with respect and sympathy for the main character. Rejoicing and empathizing, we go with him all the way, starting from birth and ending with returning home. A man with enviable tenacity and hard work, who, by the will of fate, finds himself alone in an unknown area, immediately sets goals for himself and soberly assesses his chances of survival. Gradually equipping his home and household, he does not lose hope of salvation and makes every effort to achieve his goals. In fact, he went all the way from a primitive man to a wealthy peasant, and alone, without any education or special knowledge.

In various translations and adaptations, this was the main idea of ​​the work, survival and salvation. However, Daniel Defoe was smart enough not to limit the image of Robinson Crusoe only to everyday problems. The work is wide open spiritual world and the psychology of the main character. His growing up and maturity, and subsequently aging, cannot go unnoticed by an experienced reader. Starting with enviable enthusiasm, Robinson gradually comes to terms with his fate, although the hope of salvation does not leave him. Thinking a lot about his existence, he understands that with all the abundance of wealth, a person receives pleasure only from what he really needs.

In order not to forget human speech, Robinson begins to talk with pets and constantly reads the Bible. Only when he was 24 years old on the island was he lucky enough to talk to a man from a tribe of savages whom he saved from death. The long-awaited interlocutor Friday, as Robinson nicknamed him, faithfully and devotedly helped him on the farm and became his only friend. In addition to his assistant, Friday became a student for him, who needed to learn to speak, instill faith in God, and wean him from the habits of savages.

However, Robinson was only glad; it was not an easy task and at least somehow helped him take his mind off sad thoughts. These were the most joyful years of life on the island, if you can call them that.

Hero Robinson Crusoe. Description of Robinson Crusoe. The image of Robinson Crusoe. Robinson's rescue is as exciting and unusual as his life on the island. Thanks to his friend Friday, he managed to suppress a riot on a ship that accidentally landed on the island. Thus, Robinson Crusoe saves part of the team and returns with them to the mainland. He leaves the rebels on the island on his former possessions, providing them with everything they need, and returns home safely.

The story of Robinson Crusoe is instructive and exciting. The happy ending and the return are pleasing, but it becomes a little sad that the adventures are over and you have to part with the main character.

Subsequently, many authors tried to imitate Daniel Defoe, and he himself wrote a continuation of the adventures of Robinson Crusoe, but not a single book surpassed his masterpiece in popularity. Robinson Crusoe is a sailor who found himself as a result of a shipwreck on an uninhabited island in the West Indies near the island of Trinidad and managed to live on it for twenty-eight years, first completely alone, and then with the savage Friday, to develop this island and start a farm on it, in which had everything necessary for life.

Telling the story of his stay on the island, R. tells in detail how his life was settled: what things and main tools he managed to save from the crashed ship, how he set up a tent made of canvas and how he surrounded his home with a palisade; how he hunted wild goats and how he later decided to tame them, built a pen for them, learned to milk them and make butter and cheese; how several grains of barley and rice were discovered and what labor it took to dig up a field with a wooden shovel and sow it with these grains, how he had to protect his crop from goats and birds, how one crop died due to the onset of drought and how he began to observe the change dry and rainy seasons to sow in right time; how he learned to make pottery and fire it; how he made clothes from goat skins, how he dried and stored wild grapes, how he caught a parrot, tamed him and taught him to pronounce his name, etc. Thanks to the unusualness of the situation, all these prosaic everyday actions acquire the interest of exciting adventures and even a kind of poetry. Trying to provide himself with everything necessary for life, R. works tirelessly, and with his work the despair that gripped him after the shipwreck gradually dissipates. Seeing that he can survive on the island, he calms down, begins to reflect on his former life, finds the finger of providence in many turns of his fate and turns to reading the Bible, which he saved from the ship. Now he believes that his “imprisonment” on the island is divine punishment for all his many sins, the main one of which is his disobedience to the will of his parents, who did not let him go sailing, and his flight from his home; at the same time, he is imbued with deep gratitude to divine providence, which saved him from death and sent him the means to maintain life. At the same time, his beliefs are distinguished by the concreteness and efficiency characteristic of his class. Once on the island, he reflects on his situation, divides a sheet of paper in half and writes down its pros and cons in two columns: “good” and “evil”, strongly reminiscent of the columns “income” and “expense” in a merchant’s ledger. In his worldview, R. turns out to be a typical representative of the “middle class” and reveals all its advantages and disadvantages