illustration of a man standing on an island and looking out at the ocean with the title Robison Crusoe written in the sky

Robinson Crusoe

by Daniel Defoe

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Student Question

Why did Robinson Crusoe keep goats?

Quick answer:

When he is stranded on the island, Robinson Crusoe keeps goats as a source of food.

Expert Answers

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When Robinson Crusoe first encounters goats on the island, he decides to hunt them so that he can eat their meat. On one of his hunting expeditions, he kills one goat but accidentally injures another, breaking its leg. To make amends, he decides to take it back to his home and nurse it back to good health. He cares for it so well that the goat becomes tame. The goat feeds upon the grass by his door and refuses to leave. At this point, Crusoe realizes that if he keeps tame goats, he will be able to have a source of food after he has run out of "powder and shot" for his gun. He will then not have to hunt goats, as they will gladly come to him. As well as eating the meat from the goats, Crusoe also boils the bones to make a nutritious broth.

Crusoe also makes use of the fat from the goats, once he has killed them for their meat. He pours the fat into a clay dish and dries it in the heat of the sun. He adds a wick, and when the fat dries, he has a candle, or lamp, which he can use to see by at night.

Crusoe also gets companionship from the goats, which is important for a man stranded alone on an island. This is not a primary motivation for keeping the goats, but it is a beneficial consequence.

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