A Book Report of Robinson Crusoe(鲁滨孙漂流记的读书报告)
A Book Report of Robinson Crusoe
Daniel Defoe, born in the 17th century, was “Father of British novels”. Although his parents wanted him to be a missionary when he was young, he decided to go into business which, later on，offered him many opportunities to travel around Europe. It was not until he was 59 did he settle down to create the masterpiece Robinson Crusoe.
The gist of the story is as follows. The leading character Robinson Crusoe, despite the warning of his parents, determined to go to sea and see the world, leaving behind him a peaceful and pleasant life. The subsequent miserable attempts spoiled by storms, pirates did not stop him. After he became a rich man in Brazil, his aspiration to see the world led him to the shipwreck, which fortunately or unfortunately, left none alive but him on an isolated island. After that comes the most impressive part of the novel. As a sole survivor, though lonely and depressed, he tried to overcome lots of difficulties to live on. He learnt to plant crops, domesticate wild animals and gradually he adapted himself to the environment. However, he never gave up the hope of leaving the island one day. In the 24th year he spent on the island, he saved a savage and called him “F riday”. One day, he rescued a captain and helped him take back his ship from the betraying sailors. It was this ship that enabled them to leave the island. 35 years later, when Robinson Crusoe returned to the island, he sent new immigrants to it. Seeing them living happily on the island, he left it delightedly.
The plot of the novel is not very complicated to follow and sometimes it is lacking in striking highlights to grab my attention, especially when the writer related how Robinson Crusoe made a raft and other life necessities. However, the novel has many elaborate details which enable us readers to have a clear picture in mind. For example, he described Fridayˊs limbs, hair, forehead, skin, face, nose, mouth, teeth, lips with many adjectives. Another example is “ Friday kissed, embraced, hugged, cried, laughed, jumped, danced, sung ”when he saw his father. These verbs are so specific that we can feel how happy Friday was at the moment.
As the leading character, Robinson Crusoe is the very representative of the emergent capitalists in the 17th and the 18th centuries. He had great aspirations and never yielded to setbacks. When he was placed on a desolate island, he managed to get out of despair by means of reading the Bible. For example, “ He read the Word of God every day and applied all the comforts of it to his present state”.
In addition, the relationship between Robinson Crusoe and Friday is really moving. For instance ,“Never man had a more faithful, loving, sincere servant than Friday was to me”, “His very affections were like those of a child to a father”. In particular, when I read “What you send Friday for? Take, kill Friday, no send Friday away”, tears welled up in my eyes. Now I can well understand why “ man Friday” becomes a set expression referred to a faithful and helpful partner in English.
Reading the novel is no less than a spiritual journey in which I got worried, frightened and delighted with what happened to the character. All in all, Robinson Crusoe is really worth reading.