Summary: Chapter XXIV — We Make Another
Canoe
Crusoe begins to love Friday and, in the course of rudimentary
conversations with him, learns that the cannibals periodically visit
the island. Crusoe also acquires enough geographical information
to locate himself near Trinidad. Crusoe finds out that Friday is
aware of mainland Spaniards who kill many men. Crusoe attempts to
educate Friday in religious matters and finds that his servant easily understands
the notion of God, to whom Friday draws similarities with his own
deity Benamuckee. Friday has more difficulty understanding the devil,
not grasping why God does not rid the world of this evil being permanently,
and Crusoe has trouble answering this question. Crusoe admits that
he lacks the religious knowledge necessary for instructing Friday
in all the aspects of God and the devil. Friday reports that the
cannibals have saved the men from the shipwreck discovered by Crusoe
before Friday’s liberation and that those men are living safely
among the natives now. When Friday expresses a yearning to return
to his country, Crusoe fears losing him, and when Crusoe considers
trying to join the shipwreck survivors, Friday becomes upset and
begs Crusoe not to leave him. Together, the two build a boat in
which they plan to sail to Friday’s land in November or December.
Summary: Chapter XXV — We March Out Against
the Cannibals
My island was now peopled, and I thought
myself very rich in subjects . . . how like a king I looked.
(See Important Quotations Explained)
Before Crusoe and Friday have a chance for their voyage
to the cannibals’ land, the cannibals visit Crusoe’s island. Twenty-one
natives come in three canoes to carry out another cannibalistic
attack on three prisoners. Hesitant on moral grounds to kill so
many, Crusoe reasons that since Friday belongs to an enemy nation,
the situation can be construed as a state of war in which killing
is permissible. Approaching the shore, Crusoe observes that one
of the prisoners is a European. Crusoe and Friday fall upon the
cannibals and quickly overcome them with their superior weapons,
allowing only four to escape. Friday is overjoyed to find that another
of the prisoners is his own father. Crusoe and Friday feed the dazed
prisoners and carry them back to Crusoe’s dwelling, where a tent
is erected for them. Crusoe reflects contentedly on the peopling
of his kingdom with loyal subjects.
Summary: Chapter XXVI — We Plan a Voyage
to the Colonies of America
After conversing with his “two new subjects,” Friday’s
father and the Spaniard, Crusoe revisits his earlier dream of returning
to the mainland. Crusoe asks the Spaniard whether he can count on
the support of the remaining men held on the cannibals’ territory.
The Spaniard says yes, but reminds Crusoe that food production would have
to be expanded to accommodate so many extra men. With the help of
his new workers, Crusoe increases his agricultural capacity. He
gives each of the new men a gun.
Summary: Chapter XXVII — We Quell a Mutiny
One day Friday comes running to Crusoe with news that
a boat is approaching the island, and Crusoe, with his spyglass,
discovers it to be English. Crusoe is suspicious. Near the shore,
Crusoe and Friday discover that the boat contains eleven men, three
of whom are bound as prisoners. Friday suspects that the captors
are preparing for cannibalism. When the eight free men wander around
the island, Crusoe approaches the prisoners, who mistake him for
an angel. One prisoner explains that he is the captain of the ship
and that the sailors have mutinied. Crusoe proposes that in exchange
for liberating him and the other two, he and Friday should be granted
free passage to England. The captain agrees and Crusoe gives him
a gun. Crusoe realizes that the other seamen may notice something
wrong and send more men onshore to overpower Crusoe’s men. They
disable the boat to prevent the additional men from escaping.
Sure enough, ten seamen come in from the ship to discover
the boat destroyed. Leaving three in the second boat as watchmen,
the other seven come ashore. Crusoe then sends Friday and another
to shout at the men from various directions, and Crusoe succeeds
in confusing and tiring them so that they are finally separated.
The men in the boat eventually come inland and are overwhelmed by Crusoe’s
stratagems. On behalf of Crusoe, the captain, finally addressing
the remaining men, offers to spare everybody’s life except that
of the ringleader if they surrender now. All the mutineers surrender.
The captain makes up a story that the island is a royal colony and
that the governor is preparing to execute the ringleader the next
day.
Analysis: Chapters XXIV–XXVII
The affectionate and loyal bond between Crusoe and Friday
is a remarkable feature of this early novel. Indeed, it is striking
that this tender friendship is depicted in an age when Europeans
were engaged in the large-scale devastation of nonwhite populations across
the globe. Even to represent a Native American with the individual
characterization that Defoe gives Friday, much less as an individual
with admirable traits, was an unprecedented move in English literature.
But, in accordance with the Eurocentric attitude of the time, Defoe
ensures that Friday is not Crusoe’s equal in the novel. He is clearly
a servant and an inferior in rank, power, and respect. Nevertheless,
when Crusoe describes his own “singular satisfaction in the fellow
himself,” and says, “I began really to love the creature,” his emotional
attachment seems sincere, even if we object to Crusoe’s treatment
of Friday as a creature rather than a human being.
