The Hardships of Robinson Crusoe

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THE HARDSHIPS OF ROBINSON CRUSOE by Samantha Bordador English 10 Honors B Block March 6, 2013 Conflict is the element of literature that creates the story. The entire plot mountain is built around the conflict. It is a struggle between either internal forces such as feelings or external, physical forces. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe includes both types of conflict, all scattered throughout the novel. Many of the conflicts are small, but they all develop the story and lead up to either the climax (the main conflict) or the resolution. Robinson Crusoe faced many hardships, but was able to get through fear, surviving on a deserted island, and overtake and tame cannibals. Crusoe’s first few, smaller conflicts are before he is shipwrecked on the island. At the beginning of the novel, Crusoe narrates a story of his youth when his father advised Robinson against going out to sea, lest he die like Robinson’s older brother when he went out to adventure. Of course, Robinson ran away from home at age eighteen. A storm occurs shortly after his running away and joining his friend on the ship. Scared out of his mind, Robinson vows to God that he will never go on a ship again if God will spare his life. After another terrible storm, the master of the ship tells Crusoe that the storm was a sign, and that he should never go to sea again. After the nerves from the storm fade, Crusoe disregards everything that he promised or was told and boards a ship headed to the coast of Africa. An external conflict soon arises, what, in literature, is called “Man V. Man.” Crusoe is captured by pirates. When he escapes on his master’s fishing boat with a boy named Xury, they struggle for water and food, but find resources on land. The two timidly keep the peace with the “friendly Negroes” on the shore, and soon find a
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