Robinson Crusoe: Blog 2

The next few chapters start off with Crsuoe writing into his journal, starting with the date, "September 30, 1659," saying this is the start of his life on the "Island of Despair," the name he gives to the island. He writes about the ship's remains, the construction of his house, and the destruction of the ship. Crusoe also loses what day it is and this upsets him as he can no longer keep the Sabbath Day holy, which is Sunday. Crusoe also learns to tame his own goat. Crusoe then later makes candles out of goat grease. Crusoe also discovers Barley on the island and survives a deadly earthquake that almost kills him. After the earthquake, a hurricane comes and Crusoe toughs it out and later goes and seeks for provisions that may have come to shore. After weeks of terrible weather, Crusoe then comes down with a fever and has many hallucinations, including one where he sees a man descending from a black cloud on fire. Crusoe begs GOD to end this terrible nightmare and reads from the bible later to pray to the lord. Then we jump to July, the 10th month Crusoe has been on the island. Crusoe takes a full scan of the island as he sees that he will be here for awhile. He finds grapes and other fruits and finds a beautiful valley where he builds another bower, or house. When the one year passing of his arrival on the island comes, he fasts all day. He then runs out of ink and can no longer write in his diary. In the last chapter, Crusoe makes a chart so that he can plan when the rainy seasons are and get the most out of his planting, He also makes wicker baskets, which prove to be very useful.

Crusoe as a character hasn't really changed. He is still very religious as he prays to GOD when in need and reads from the bible daily. I like that in him because it shows that he has faith and that is important. I feel sorry for Crusoe as he has lost track of the days and can no longer keep Sunday sabbath. I would hate to not know what date it was, or even not remember when my birthday was. The theme has mainly stayed the same. He is still tryign to show his will to survive and is still a bright, strong man. We see more in these chapters that Crusoe is struggling and faces new challenges andI only believe that will continue. I believe that the novel is about to take a sudden twist. I feel like Crusoe is going to find something soon that is going to either help him get off the island or put him in serious risk of dying. The novel still suggest's that regular people can survive if they have the strenght and will power to do it. It shows that also the technology was not great back then. If Crusoe had a cell phone or a compass, he may be able to get himself off the island. However, he is trapped in the mid 1600's and he is more alone than ever. Thsi reminds me of American Gladiators because on that show, they have to fight for their survival or get sent home without winning. Crusoe is fighting for his survival everyday and his mind is being put to the test each and every day. I have learned that you can get very deadly sick if you stay out in such bad weather as Crusoe is in. We saw that Crusoe got deadly sick from being in the hurricane and since he wasnt protected enough, he suffered from a fever and almost died.