30 September 1659: Robinson Crusoe is shipwrecked

Defoe’s character Friday has become an English-language idiom. The term man Friday or girl Friday refers to a loyal and competent employee, servant, or second-in-command. In the story, Friday proves himself a trusted sidekick, helping Crusoe as willing labourer, servant, and soldier. Friday is named after the weekday on which Crusoe rescues him. [1]

Some literary anniversaries take place entirely within the pages of a book. On 30 September 1659, Robinson Crusoe reaches the island he calls the “Island of Despair”, the sole survivor of a terrible shipwreck. Daniel Defoe gives his fictional castaway such convincing practical concerns that we can almost believe we are reading a genuine journal.

Crusoe salvages tools and provisions, builds a shelter, grows grain and raises goats. He also brings ashore two cats, while the ship’s dog swims to join him. Even on a desert island, animal companionship can make life more bearable. His remarkable resourcefulness sustains him through more than twenty-eight years on the island.

Published in 1719, the novel The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe appeared without Defoe’s name, its title page declaring it “Written by Himself”. This pretence of autobiography helped make the adventure seem entirely real. Often described as the first English novel, it is more safely recognised as a landmark in the development of this form.

Defoe may have drawn on several accounts of survival. Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk, who spent four years and four months on an island off Chile is the best-known possible inspiration. Unlike Crusoe, Selkirk had asked to be left behind, fearing his ship was unseaworthy. In Seeking Robinson Crusoe, Tim Severin also makes a case for Henry Pitman, whose published adventures included escaping captivity and living on a Caribbean island.

Crusoe’s story also reflects the beliefs and attitudes of Defoe’s time. His faith helps Crusoe through his isolation, but his involvement in slavery and his treatment of Friday are more troubling today. He comes to value Friday’s companionship, yet always regards himself as the master.

With a footprint in the sand, a handmade home, and an apparently impossible tale of survival, Daniel Defoe created a story that still haunts our imaginations today.