Many of you have probably read Daniel Defoe’s 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe. If you haven’t, then you’ve probably seen one of the numerous films and television shows based on the concept—an individual, or group of people, is stranded on an island for an extended period of time and must master the elements and their sanity to survive.
Gilligan’s Island was a version of this story, so too was the 2000 Tom Hanks film, Castaway. And in case you’re wondering: yes, the book Swiss Family Robinson was based on Defoe’s work, which means that the cheesy-yet-lovable 1960s sci-fi television show Lost in Space also was.
If you have read Robison Crusoe, then you know it really isn’t a kid’s book: there is human trafficking, the slave trade, cannibals, and plenty of violence. And, as it turns out, it wasn’t too far off from the real-life inspiration for the book—Alexander Selkirk.
Selkirk was born in 1676 in Scotland. From an early age, he was a problem for his family and the local community. He enjoyed fighting, stealing, chasing women, and causing havoc so much that he became a sailor when he was seventeen. He later became a privateer (a state-sanctioned pirate) for the British, which led him to the South Pacific in 1704, not far off the coast of what is today Chile.
When conflict between Selkirk and the captain came to a head, Selkirk’s ship ended up on an uninhabited island on the Juan Fernandez archipelago in September of 1704. Selkirk argued that the ship was too damaged to sail and that he would rather stay on the island.
The captain obliged Selkirk.
Before leaving, Selkirk’s captain gave him a gun, knife, hatchet, Bible, and various other provisions. Selkirk tried to change the captain’s decision but to no avail.
Selkirk had the last laugh, however, as the ship did sink off the coast of what is now Colombia.
Selkirk moved into the island’s interior and built a small shelter. He was able to live off a combination of fish, goats left by previous sailors, and berries, fruits, and other vegetables. He employed a couple of different techniques for contending with a large population of rats on the island. First, he made traps and placed them around his hut. Then he tamed the feral cats by feeding them during the day.
For entertainment and hope, he read his Bible, which gave him a new understanding of life.
He made clothes from goatskins and eventually had to make tools and weapons from branches, just as Gilligan and the crew did, well, sort of.
Selkirk’s only companions were the feral cats, though he had a couple of encounters with sailors. But since the sailors were Spanish and he was a privateer for the British, Selkirk had to avoid them, or risk a possible execution or a prison sentence that would’ve been worse than his present situation.
Eventually, Selkirk was rescued in February of 1709 by British privateers.
But, just like a true pirate, Selkirk didn’t let his marooning stop his activities. He went back to privateering and lived the rest of his life at sea until he died from yellow fever at age forty-five. Although Selkirk definitely lived an action-packed life, there is no evidence that he was involved in half of the things that Robinson Crusoe did in the book.
But I guess that’s why it’s called fiction, right?