Investigate the ecological consequences of colonialism. Utilize your findings to elucidate the issue of cat overpopulation on the island in the novel. What contemporary issues arise from invasive exotic species? Examine a similar problem in your locality.

Analyze the portrayal of the character Friday in the novel. How does he differ from other depictions of indigenous people during Defoe's era? Read Aphra Behn's Oroonoko and compare the character of the Prince in that novel with Defoe's Friday.

Robinson Crusoe was widely popular as a children's book. What lessons were children intended to learn from Crusoe's adventures? Are there any moral lessons to be drawn from his story?

Many economists reference Robinson Crusoe to illustrate basic economic concepts. What economic principles does Crusoe exemplify?

Crusoe is a former slave trader, yet he is appalled by the Spanish treatment of native South Americans. Research England's involvement in the slave trade. Is Crusoe's treatment of the indigenous people any more humane than that of the Spanish Conquistadors?

Based on the novel, describe what an eighteenth-century family was like. How does it contrast with your own family?