1 INTRODUCTION

DENIEL DEFOE was born in England morn than 300 years ago, living from 1660 to 1731.Though he had some military adventures when he was young, he tried hard to be successful as a businessmen. In 1700 he settled down in London and from that time worked as a writer. When he died, he was quit prosperous.

" ROBINSON CRUSOE " was written in 1719 when Defoe was nearly 60 years old. Around that time Alexander Selkirk, a sailor who had spent four year alone on the pacific island of Juan Fernander west of chile, returned to English. This gave Defoe the idea of for his story. Many readers accepted it as turn because it is filled with such convincing details about Robinson's lonely life on the imaginary isle.

The theme of the story is self-reliance. Though he is thrown into a serious situation,Robinson overcomes every difficulty with his initiative and intelligence. He ever manages to rescue others from danger. In the end he is rewarded by being resued himself

Defoe wrote many other books but today he is chiefly remembered as the author of " ROBINSON CRUSOE"