I Make Myself a Canoe - I See the Shore Spread with Bones Summary

Robinson discovered he could not move the boat, which had carried him to the shores of the island, back into the water. His next decision was to build himself a boat out of a tree by trying to use the same methods the natives on other islands used to make canoes. He, after considerable time and effort, managed to shape a sizable canoe for himself. Unfortunately, the canoe was so large and he had built it so far from the shore, that he could not put it into the water.

The completion of the canoe came during his fourth year of living on the island. He reflected upon his isolation and decided it was, in the end, beneficial to him. He became much closer to God in his time there and realized the trappings of modern living were not necessary for happiness. He enjoyed the basics of living more, such as having food, shelter, and clothing. He realized this is all he truly needed to make his life worthwhile.

After learning to make some more clothes, because those he had salvaged from the ship were worn and constructing an umbrella to keep the sun off his body, he decided to build a new smaller canoe. He built this one closer to the creek and was able to launch it into the creek. He wanted to survey the island from the water. He launched his boat in his sixth year on the island and began his adventure. He ran into a few problems in his endeavor to circumnavigate the island. He found the current on the east side of the island was strong and ran further out into the sea, the wind picked up after a few hours and allowed him to make his way back towards the island. The boat was then caught in an eddy and this helped even more to carry him back to the island. He eventually found a harbor to dock his boat and then he made his way to his home in the savanna. He was awoken the next morning by the sound of someone calling his name. It was in fact his parrot, Poll, who Robinson had taught to talk.

Robinson also thought of ways in which to attain fresh meat other than shooting the animals. He was in his eleventh year of living on the island and his gun powder supply was running low. He tried to use snares to catch goats, but finally settled on digging pits to trap them. He wanted to have live animals which he could breed and use for meat. He also learned how to milk the goats and made butter and cheese. He eventually after two years of building up his herd had 43 goats, which he put in a pasture on the savanna. He built a fence around the animals to keep them from running away.

After trying to find a way to move his canoe from its harbor to the other side of the island, Robinson decided it would be easier to build another canoe. He used the canoes to go out on little excursions in the sea, but he never went too far from shore. The experience he had previously; being caught in the current, frightened him so much he tried to always stay close to shore.

One day as Robinson was walking to his boat, he spotted the print of a human foot in the sand. This began a series of events for Robinson in which he fed upon his deepest fears; he ran home as quickly as he could. He was in fear that savages were on the island and would soon find and kill him. He then decided the print was that of the Devil coming to frighten him. He thought it was the Devil, because he could find only one foot print, which to him meant that no man could leave only one print, therefore it had to be the Devil. He was in some ways cheered by the idea of the Devil being on the island, because that meant it was not savages. He eventually discounted this theory and went back to his original idea of it being savages from the mainland. He decided his homes needed better protection from invaders. He had been on the island 15 years by now and was afraid of having anyone else on the island with him. He built up his fortifications around his homes, even added an area where he had guns in place to fire on any invaders. He took the precaution of dividing up his goat herd into several different pastures, so his herd could not be wiped out all at once. He also deepened and renewed his faith in God to help him in his time of trouble.

As he is looked for another pasture for his goats, Robinson walked down a hill and discovered human bones strewn about the shore. He also observed a fire pit dug to burn or cook the flesh of the victims. He was so overcome by this discovery he went into hiding, only venturing to his homes and his goat herds for two years. He had by now been on the island 18 years. He decided he must find a way to destroy the savages in order to save others and his own lives. He tried to find hiding places and device schemes, in which he was able to single handedly kill the savages. He eventually decided it was not his place to take such actions. He decided to only harm the savages if they threatened his life.

Robinson Crusoe experienced a fright on his boat, the threat of having others on the island, and saw the remains of a cannibalistic attack. He coped by devising plans to protect himself and turned to his faith in God.



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