"Crusoe and Friday felling wood" for Daniel Defoe's "Adventures of Robinson Crusoe" (1863-64) (original) (raw)

The Passage Illustrated: Boat-building Resumed

Upon the whole, as I found by all his discourse a settled affection to me, and that nothing could part him from me, so I found all the foundation of his desire to go to his own country was laid in his ardent affection to the people, and his hopes of my doing them good; a thing which, as I had no notion of myself, so I had not the least thought or intention, or desire of undertaking it. But still I found a strong inclination to attempting my escape, founded on the supposition gathered from the discourse, that there were seventeen bearded men there; and therefore, without any more delay, I went to work with Friday to find out a great tree proper to fell, and make a large periagua, or canoe, to undertake the voyage. There were trees enough in the island to have built a little fleet, not of periaguas or canoes, but even of good, large vessels; but the main thing I looked at was, to get one so near the water that we might launch it when it was made, to avoid the mistake I committed at first. At last Friday pitched upon a tree; for I found he knew much better than I what kind of wood was fittest for it; nor can I tell to this day what wood to call the tree we cut down, except that it was very like the tree we call fustic, or between that and the Nicaragua wood, for it was much of the same colour and smell. [Chapter XVI, "Rescue of the prisoners from the Cannibals," pp. 152-54]

Commentary

Crusoe, having laboured by himself for twenty-eight years, now becomes a colonial foreman or administrator directing the manual labour of his indigenous servant. Ironically, according to the text, despite his years on the island, Crusoe lacks the inherent woodland lore of the Noble Savage. Friday, with little prompting, knows precisely which species of tree to use for constructing a boat, and has little difficulty in this illustration adapting to the salient piece of European technology, the steel-headed axe. The binary opposites include directing versus acting, aboriginal versus colonist, youth versus age, and primeval jungle versus the tools of civilisation. Friday also seems to have readily adapted himself to European clothing, which is not restricting his movement.

The running head, "Another arrival of Canoes" (p. 155) prepares readers for Friday's using more powerful European technology, the musket, against the unwelcome visitors who are, in fact, members of a rival tribe living on the South American mainland.

Relevant illustrations from other 19th c. editions, 1790-1891

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Above: Paget's realisation of Crusoe's conducting a catechism class for his servant, "I entered into a long discourse" (1891). [Click on the image to enlarge it.]

Left: The original Stothard copper-plate engraving in which Crusoe welcomes both former captives, the Spaniard and Friday's father (1790), Robinson Crusoe builds a tent for Friday's father and the Spaniard. Right: Colourful realisation of the same scene, with a decidedly subservient and Negroid Friday contrasting the Caucasian Crusoe: Friday's first interview with Robinson Crusoe. (1818). [Click on the images to enlarge them.]

Bibliography

Defoe, Daniel. The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe Of York, Mariner. As Related by himself. With upwards of One Hundred Illustrations. London: Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, 1863-64.

Last modified 18 March 2018