Robinson Crusoe Chapter 20 Summary

Summary

Robinson Crusoe and his party are traveling through snowy country with a wounded guide when they encounter a monstrous bear. Friday, delighted and eager to entertain, deliberately provokes the bear by throwing a stone and then baiting it toward the party. He nimbly climbs an oak, teases the bear along a precarious branch, and finally slides down to seize his gun and, when the bear descends awkwardly, shoots it dead at point-blank range. The party laughs at Friday’s daring and receives a brief lift of spirits, but their guide remains badly hurt and night is approaching.

As they press onward toward the next village the group sees signs of depredation: a dead horse and the remains of two men. Wolves begin to appear and howl; soon three bodies of wolves—front, flank, and rear—seem to surround them. Crusoe organizes a disciplined defense: alternating volleys so they can sustain continuous fire, using pistols and fusees, and forming a three-front line behind felled timber with the horses in the center. After repeated volleys, use of a powder train laid along the timber and a final pistol volley with a loud shout routs the wolves. They estimate about sixty wolves killed or disabled. Exhausted and shaken, they reach a nearby town alarmed by recent attacks; the guide is incapacitated and replaced. Crusoe then reports traveling on to Toulouse and further to England, and concludes the chapter by summarizing some later developments in his colonial affairs and signaling that more account will follow in a second part.

Key events

1. Friday provokes a massive bear and lures it toward the party.
2. Friday climbs and teases the bear on a limb, then slides down and shoots it dead at close range.
3. The party discovers bitten corpses and a dead horse—clear signs of wolf activity.
4. Wolves assemble in three bodies and threaten to surround them.
5. Crusoe organizes alternating volleys and a breastwork behind felled timber; they ignite a powder train to scatter wolves.
6. After heavy firing and a final charge, they kill roughly sixty wolves and reach the village; the guide is too injured to continue.

Analysis

This chapter combines bravura action with survival tactics to develop themes of human cunning versus nature and the value of discipline and improvisation. Friday’s episode with the bear foregrounds his physical skill, theatrical courage, and cultural otherness: he treats the encounter as entertainment and demonstrates resourcefulness and bodily agility that surprise and amuse Crusoe’s European sensibilities. The bear scene also gives Crusoe a chance to admire Friday’s daring while revealing a paternal, sometimes exasperated, stance toward him.

The wolf attack shifts the focus from individual bravado to collective organization. Crusoe’s command of military-style tactics—alternating volleys, forming a triangular breastwork, using the horses as bait and a powder-train as improvised ordinance—shows his leadership, experience, and pragmatic cruelty in extremis. Symbolically, the wolves operate as an almost apocalyptic natural force: their numbers and coordination read like an army, testing civilized order and exposing vulnerability. Narratively, the chapter escalates physical danger while reinforcing Crusoe’s role as narrator-leader who interprets others (Friday, the guide) and orchestrates survival. The juxtaposition of comic triumph (the bear) with horrific threat (wolves devouring men) also heightens tonal contrasts that keep the reader alert to both admiration and anxiety in Crusoe’s worldview.

Important quotes

““O master, you give me te leave, me shakee te hand with him; me makee you good laugh.””

FridayFriday announces his intention to confront the bear and treat the fight as entertainment.

““You fool,” says I, “he will eat you up.””

Robinson CrusoeCrusoe reproaches Friday for provoking the obviously dangerous bear.

““So we kill bear in my country,” says Friday.”

FridayFriday proclaims his familiarity with killing bears after he successfully shoots the beast.

Characters in Chapter 20

• Robinson Crusoe
• Friday
• guide
• my other man
• bear
• wolves