Summary: Chapter VIII — The Journal
Crusoe makes us privy to the journal that he keeps for
a while, beginning with an entry dated “September 30, 1659,”
that inaugurates his account of life on the “Island of Despair,”
as he calls it. He proceeds to narrate events that have already
been narrated: his discovery of the ship’s remains, his salvaging
of provisions, the storm that destroys the ship entirely, the construction
of his house, and so on. He notes that he has lost track of which
day is Sunday, and he is thus unable to keep the Sabbath religiously.
He records the building of various pieces of furniture and tools.
He tames his first goat.
Summary: Chapter IX — I Throw Away the Husks
of Corn
Continuing his journal, Crusoe records his failed attempt
to tame pigeons and his manufacture of candles from goat grease.
He tells of his semimiraculous discovery of barley: having tossed
out a few husks of corn in a shady area, he is astonished to find
healthy barley plants growing there later. He carefully saves the
harvest to plant again and thus is able eventually to supply himself
with bread. On April 16, an earthquake nearly
kills him as he is standing in the entrance to his cellar. After
two aftershocks, he is relieved to feel it end with no damage to
his life or property.
Summary: Chapter X — It Blows a Most Dreadful Hurricane
Immediately after the earthquake, a hurricane arrives.
Crusoe takes shelter in his cave, cutting a drain for his house
and waiting out the torrential rains. He is worried by the thought
that another earthquake would send the overhanging precipice falling
onto his dwelling and resolves to move. But he is distracted from
this plan by the discovery of casks of gunpowder and other remains
from the ship that have been driven back to shore by the hurricane.
Crusoe spends many days salvaging these remains for more useful
items.
Summary: Chapter XI — I Am Very Ill and
Frighted
For more than a week of rainy weather, Crusoe is seriously
ill with a fever and severe headache. He is almost too weak to get
up for water, though he is dying of thirst. He prays to God for
mercy. In one of his feverish fits, he hallucinates a vision of
a man descending from a black cloud on a great flame. The man brandishes
a weapon at Crusoe and tells him that all his suffering has not
yet brought him to repentance. Crusoe emerges from the vision to
take stock of the many times he has been delivered from death and
cries over his ingratitude. He utters his first serious prayer to
God, asking for an end to his distress. The next day, Crusoe finds
he is beginning to recover, though he is still so weak he can hardly
hold his gun. He struggles with thoughts of self-pity followed by
self-reproach. Taking some tobacco and rum, his mind is altered
and he opens the Bible to read a verse about calling on the Lord
in times of trouble, which affects him deeply. He falls into a profound
sleep of more than twenty-four hours, which throws off his calendar
calculations forever. In the days that follow, Crusoe almost completely
recovers and kneels to God in gratitude. He prefers not to eat the
wildfowl while sick and instead eats some turtle eggs that he finds.
He begins a serious reading of the New Testament and regrets his
earlier life. He comes to conceive of his isolation on the island
as a kind of deliverance from his former guilty existence.
Summary: Chapter XII — I Take a Survey of
the Island
Now, in the month of July, in his tenth month on the island,
Crusoe discovers that the rainy season is a very unhealthy time.
Having acquiesced in the idea that only Providence controls his
deliverance from the island, Crusoe resolves to explore the place
thoroughly. He discovers sugarcane and grapes, and is delighted
with the beauty of one valley especially. He secretly exults in
imagining himself the king and lord of the whole domain. Crusoe
lays out grapes to make raisins and carries home a large basket
of limes and grapes. He contemplates choosing that site as his new
home, then spends the rest of July building a bower in the valley.
He notes that his domicile now houses some cats. He celebrates the
passing of one year on the island by fasting all day. Shortly after
this occasion, he runs out of ink and discontinues his journal.
Analysis: Chapters VIII–XII
Crusoe’s journal provides little interesting new information
for us, since most of it narrates previously recounted material.
But it does offer insights into Crusoe’s character, especially his
conception of his own identity. First, he introduces himself as
“poor, miserable Robinson Crusoe,” which strikes a startling note
of self-pity that contradicts the sturdy, resourceful self-image
of his narrative. There may be some grandiose posturing in this
journal. Moreover, as many have noticed, Crusoe’s journal is false
in its dating, despite its author’s loudly trumpeted concern for
absolute accuracy. By Crusoe’s own admission, he states that he
arrived on the island on the thirtieth of September. His idea of
a journal comes only later: “After I had been there about ten or
twelve days, it came into my thoughts, that I should lose my reckoning
of time for want of books, and pen and ink. . . .” Thus he keeps
no journal for the first ten or twelve days. Yet his first journal
entry is dated “September 30, 1659,”
the day of his arrival. Clearly Crusoe likes the idea of using the
journal to account for all his time on the island, giving himself
an aura of completeness, even if it requires some sneaky bookkeeping
to do so. This deception suggests to us that his interest in the
hard facts may be less than objective, and may actually be more
subjective and self-serving.
