Robinson Crusoe
This speaker is based on the existing character Robinson Crusoe, the protagonist of an eighteenth-century novel about a man who survives through resourcefulness as a castaway on a deserted island. Bishop's poem picks up years after the end of the novel's events, when Crusoe has been rescued and brought back to England—in fact, the Crusoe of this poem has evidently been in England for years. This Crusoe looks back on his time as a castaway as a miserable period, reflecting on the boredom and discomfort he experienced there and vividly recalling tiny details of his shipwrecked period. At the same time, he experiences a new, strange type of isolation now that he is back in England. He is alone in remembering his own extraordinary experiences, and they feel both hauntingly close and very distant. Though he is relieved to be in England, he is now set apart from his environment and from the people who surround him.
Friday
In the original Robinson Crusoe, Friday is an indigenous inhabitant of the island who becomes an ally and friend of Crusoe's. Here, Crusoe describes Friday as "nice" and as a friend, but Bishop insinuates that the two shared a romantic or sexual relationship as well, with Crusoe even remarking that he would have liked to be able to have children with Friday. At the poem's end, Bishop reveals that Friday has been dead for many years, which further highlights Crusoe's bizarre isolation: the one person who shared his memories is now gone. Friday's death also serves as a subtle commentary on colonialism. He dies of measles, an infectious disease. With this detail, Bishop alludes to the devastating diseases brought into new areas and communities as a result of colonialism.
