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Robinson Crusoe as a travelogue

 Plot

The plot revolves arund the protagonist who doesn't want to stay at home. He wants to travel the world, change his life, change his destiny. It begins with an individual who is not content to his father son he wants to go out and do with his own stuff and woulfd rather travel the world and make his own way in the world. It's interesting because Robinson Crusoe’s first voyage goes with a friend but the friend is so disheartened by the kinds of trouble that they have that he decides that is going no more voyage, he want to stay back home but Crusoe does not then decide this. He says never mind travels the trouble that he wanted to still voyage a long.  So his father of course gives him some good advice to say that stayed here, behere, stay with what we have and be happy. But he decides that he has to travel and he goes first of all he sets out to go to London and then later on, he will then travels all over world as well.

Travel to London

Now initially he goes with his friend and storm causes the fear of death of both the friend and himself, the friend ofcourse goes back. But Crusoe decides that he cannot go back and he sets himself up as a merchant on a ship. And he leaves London and he ofcourse makes some money and so on so forth. This is a successful voyage

Travel to North America 

He mades another voyage he leaves the money that he has made with a widow out whom he trusts. He sets out once again on his voyages and this voyage is not quite so successful. So on this second voyage he is captured and he is made a slave, for two full years he slaves in the house of the Pirate Lord of the ship that took him. When he escapes from that slavery he doesn’t do so alone but he takes with him a black boy ‘Xuri’.

Travel to Brazil

 He and Xuri taken on board ship and after many days they reached an island and there they board a Portuguese ship which is going to Brazil. Later Crusoe sells Xuri to the captain of the Portuguese ship.  Then the ship lands up in Brazil Crusoe settles down he once again makes a happish life for himself so on and so forth but condict. 

Travel to West Africa 

He once again decidess that he will go on one more voyage this time he will voyage to West Africa to seek his fortune. Now this time ends up again ship wrecked on what he thinks is uninhabited Island. When he wakes he feel depressed because he thinks he was the only guy left alive in the Island. Later he doesn’t want to worry so much because the ship on which he was coming was right there quite close, then he voyages to the ship and takes from it tools, food , he even finds animals on the ship with all these he started his life there. He transform that Island into his empire and he believes that this is the place where he can exert his authority and nobody will question it. 

But it comes to an end one morning when he sees a human footprint on the sand near this place and he gets paranoid that how can I human footprint have appeared there because it's not his foot print somebody else. He fears that the Island may be inhabited by Cannibals.At one day he discovers Cannibals that they have people with them whom they are going to sacrifice and he rescues one of them whom he names Friday and one more set of savages is found over there and this time they have them two captures one who is Friday’s father and the other one is a Spaniard. And now is the rescue of the Spaniard and Fridays father and now Crusoe continued to live with them. 

Return travel to England

Before the return Crusoe spots an English ship after that he realises that there is some mutiny on board and then three men are sent to shore so the three men are rescued then by Crusoe and he eventually rescues the ship itself from the mutineers. Finally he goes back to London after 28 years living on an Island. He finds that his money is safe with the widow with whom he had given. And then goes back to his plantations in Brazil and settled down to stable life

Again travel to Island

Then once again he goes on one more voyage this time leaving behind his children and he visits his own island and there he finds that there is a thriving colony which has been set up over there and so on and forth.


Conclusion 

It is the age of travel and discovery exploration and discovery was a late 16th and early 17th centuries we are talking in terms of a time when still travel was seen as crucial to the Identity of the Englishman but it was not a travel with only lead to exploration and discovery but it was travel will let to colonialism and establishment of an English empire. So when we look at Robinson Crusoe we are then seeing images of the beginning of that empire which are given to us by the novel itself.





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