Robinson Crusoe: Chapter 23 Summary & Analysis

Around two o'clock in the afternoon, the Englishmen sought shade from the afternoon heat in some woods where they fell asleep, leaving the three prisoners on the shore. Seeing an opportunity, Robinson went to the prisoners and told them that he could help them. One of the prisoners was astonished and asked whether he was speaking to God, an angel, or a man.

Robinson assured him that he was a man and asked what the prisoners' situation was. The man identified himself as the captain of the ship anchored in the water and said that his crew had mutinied and planned to leave the captain and two of his men (including his mate) to die on this island.

Robinson asked if they should try to kill the mutineers or take them prisoner. The captain informed Robinson that there were two villains who couldn't be trusted, but that the others could be taken prisoner. Robinson and the three Englishmen withdrew to the cover of some woods to talk more, so that the other Englishmen wouldn't see them if they woke.

Robinson promised to help the captain and his men on two conditions: that they obeyed him while on the island, and that they carried Robinson and Friday to England if they recovered their ship. The captain eagerly agreed and promised that he would keep his word.

Robinson, the captain, and the two other prisoners attacked the mutineers, killing two. The captain promised to let the others lived if they promise their loyalty to him and pledge their help in recovering the ship for the captain. They agreed and three other sailors, who had been apart from the group returned and submitted to the captain.

Now that the mutineers were taken care of, Robinson told the captain his story. The captain marveled at it and thought that Robinson was preserved on the island "on purpose to save his [the captain's] life." The captain admired Robinson's "castle" and fortifications.

The captain informed Robinson that there were still 26 mutineers aboard his ship, and therefore that he did not know how to proceed in recovering it. Robinson decided that they should take the boat on the shore and carry it away from the water, empty it of its supplies, and put a hole in it, so any mutineers from the ship could not use it anymore if they came to shore.

The ship fired some guns as a signal to the mutineers who went ashore, but when there was no response, another boat with ten men was sent from the ship to the shore. The captain could see the men on the boat and told Robinson that three of them were honest, while the rest were not. The captain was frightened, but Robinson reassured him and reminded him of his thought that Robinson had been preserved specifically to save him.

Two of the former mutineers were deemed by the captain to be honest, so Robinson armed them and they joined Robinson, Friday, the captain, and the captain's two men who had been prisoners with them. With this group of seven, Robinson planned to overtake the new boat of ten sailors, who came ashore and started shouting, looking for their lost comrades.

When the sailors heard no response, three of them went back into the boat and waited out on the water, while the other seven stayed on land. Now Robinson could not attack the seven on land without the three on the boat going back to the ship for reinforcements. Robinson, however, devised a strategy.

Robinson sent Friday and the captain's mate onto the shore out of sight of the other English sailors, near a creek. The two then shouted as if they were the sailors' comrades. They kept shouting and retreating into the woods, so that the seven pursued them. Meanwhile the three Englishmen in the boat sailed up into the creek, where Robinson and the rest of his crew surprised them and they surrendered.

As night approached, the other seven sailors came back to the boat, shocked to find it empty and their companions nowhere to be found. They worried aloud that the island may be enchanted. The captain and Friday then attacked them, and the leader of the group was killed. Robinson and the rest of his group surrounded the mutineers and demanded their surrender, claiming that they had an army of 50 men.