Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" recounts the extraordinary adventures of its titular character, an Englishman who, against his family's wishes, embarks on a life at sea. After a series of misadventures, including capture by pirates, Crusoe finds himself shipwrecked and the sole survivor on a remote, uninhabited tropical island. The novel meticulously details his 28 years of isolation, during which he ingeniously utilizes salvaged materials to build a shelter, cultivate crops, domesticate animals, and establish a rudimentary civilization. His solitary existence is profoundly altered by the appearance of cannibals and his eventual rescue of a native whom he names Friday.