Section 17
Uncomfortable
Origins
Robinson
now has an estate to direct, but he’s uncomfortable.
He’s become used to only wanting enough to subsist on, but now he’s
experiencing overwhelming luxury. He
doesn’t know what to do with himself.
He doesn’t trust other people, thinking they might be out to get money
from him. He will only trust the
old Portuguese captain. He decides
to return to England, but is reluctant to go by ship.
This is not surprising, given the hardship that sea travel has led him
into. He decides to travel by land.
He refrains from discussing his trip in detail, but does note that he
witnesses an attack by a wolf -- which is broken up by Friday -- in France.
His party is also tracked by a bear in these same parts, though here too
Friday disposes of the wild beast. The
entire party is attacked by a wolf pack, as well, before the end of the trip,
although they are able to scare them off with pistol reports, wounding some
twenty to thirty of them in the process.
After
arriving in England, Robinson decides to sell his plantation because he realizes
that moving back to Brazil would mean giving up his Protestantism (Brazil is a
Catholic country), and reaps great profit from it. The
novel comes to a quick close after this. He
marries, has three children, and then his wife dies. He is seduced into trade again, however, this time in the
East Indies. The novel closes with
Robinson’s return to a life of adventure.
