Is Robinson happier in England?

Robinson had dreamt many times of coming back to England, especially at the end, when he saw an opportunity during a discussion with Friday's father (some spaniard would be willing to help Crusoe). He finally managed to go back to England thanks to his stratagems against the mutineers, having helped the captain of the ship.
We would think that Robinson would have begun a social contact with many persons there (he was missing it a lot several years before) but unfortunately, he almost doesn't have any family anymore, and particularly stays with Friday. In spite of Robinson is really wealthy, he doesn't feel so good yet. He thought of traveling a few times but doesn't do it because of religious purposes. We may also think Robinson is regretting his island. Europe should have been safer than his island for him, but in fact, he was attacked by 300 wolves, a bear and couldn't stand the cold in Spain. On his island at least, it was a continuous adventure, but daily, it didn't seem so hard for him. Besides, last chapter of the book reinforces this feeling and shows that Robinson is still interested in his island, he couldn't resist to come back there. He visited the prisoners he had left and gave them women and supplies. We can just imagine what he is going to do after. Becoming the governor of this island like he had imagined?

What does Robinson want???

In class, we discussed several times if Robinson really wanted to leave his island or not. It seemed to be for some people more likely that Robinson wanted to stay there, having a pretty good life. I was disagreeing with it, remember that when he heard the sounds of a battle near of his position, he fired with his gun to be discovered and rescued. However, now that he saved Friday, it seems that Robinson has everything he can want. Indeed he was just missing the human communication. Later, my thoughts were reinforced by the fact that he delivered his father and another man. Robinson was beginning to create his "kingdom" on the island, like he had done in Brazil. Yet, once he learned there were some other persons not far and they would be willing to help him, he began to dream about his return to the mainland again... What is Robinson going to do? The island, considered as his kingdom or a return to Europe?

Robinson's thoughts and changes during his stay.

I think that Robinsons thoughts changed since he first arrived on the island. At the beginning, he was really sad and did everything he could just for survival. He was blaming himself for his misery. But after his illness and his hallucination, he began to think about his relationship with God, and finally admitted that his punishment on the island was a consequence of all his bad precedent behaviors. Fortunately, after the several years he spent there, he began to enjoy his situation, looking at the island like his kingdom. He now had his bower, his plantations, his cattle... At this time, he was just missing the human communication, but his periods of bad mood occured more rarely compared to when he arrived. From a divine punishment, he noticed that his situation was good, having almost everything he needs, thanks to many improvements. [With the experience of staying on the island, he learned a lot and was finally able to create/produce whatever he needed (even if it was after some failures), becoming self sufficient.]

Robinson Crusoe

I chose to talk about the beginning of Robinson Crusoe. I've particularly liked the philosophical discussion between Robinson and his father, or rather his father's advices about the sense of the life. For Robinson father, people shouldn't try to search for adventures but they should stay in the middle state of the life. Something quiet. Indeep, Robinson and his curiosity couldn't resist the temptation of outpassing these advices, but once he was in trouble, he was strongly agreeing with his father's ideas.
To my mind, i think that a too adventurous life may be dangerous, and that in some cases, it's necessary to learn about the life worth. Moreover, people learn from their mistakes. They need to experience some wrong choices to go finally into the right path (However, Robinson lied to himself and repeated several times the same mistake, which is going on a ship, and finished isolated on a wild island).