A Synopsis -The Swiss Family Robinson
The Swiss Family Robinson is a well-known adventure novel that people of many countries have enjoyed for more than two hundred years. It has also been made into graphic novels and films.
The novel, written by the Swiss clergyman Johann David Wyss, is not just an adventure. It aims at teaching young people values like self-reliance, determination, love for your family, co-operation, and prudent use of resources. It also has good lessons relevant to natural sciences, good husbandry, and even mathematics!
Some elements of the novel do stretch reality to a certain extent- but we must consider that it is a
work of fiction and not a fact file. Given below is a synopsis- and an outline of its basic story.
William, Elizabeth, and their children had been traveling in a ship when the ship was caught in a great storm. The other passengers evacuated without them. William, and his family including the young children Fritz, Ernest, Jack, and Franz, were left to survive alone. They weathered the great storm waiting in the ship’s hold. The ship survived the night and the family found themselves within sight of a tropical desert island The next morning, they decided to get to the island they could see beyond the reef. With much effort, they constructed a vessel out of tubs. After they filled the tubs with food and ammunition and all other articles of value they could safely carry, they rowed toward the island. Two dogs from the ship named Turk and Juno swam beside them. The ship’s cargo of livestock, guns and powder, carpentry tools, books, a disassembled pinnace, and provisions had also survived.
Over the next few days, William (father) attached the floatable old kegs to one another and built a
bow that curved around them. The family had landed successfully on the island. They set up a tent and softened the floor with armloads of grass they cut and spread to serve as their beds. They came to a grove of trees. One tree grew what looked like gourds on its trunk. The father told Fritz, the gourds would make
excellent bowls and spoons, and they cut them into
various utensils.
After some days, Elizabeth informed William that
she wanted the family to move to a safer place. Their
current camp was not only exposed but also very dry
and hot. If they built a house up in one of the large
trees, they would be safe from jackals. She described
a perfect tree for the project, one whose trunk was
nearly forty feet in diameter. The branches were very
long and extended straight out from the trunk, making
them perfect platforms for a structure. Later, when
determining the height of the lowest branches, the father
taught the boys geometry and how to use triangles to
measure big objects. He measured a defined distance
from the trunk, then calculated angles using several
measuring rods, determining that the lowest branch was
thirty feet off the ground.
The men knotted a rope at certain intervals and
attached pieces of bamboo in each knot. Thus, they
created their ladder. Father returned to the beach and
collected driftwood, thinking it would be perfect to
build a ‘sled,’ on runners rather than wheels. Later,
they used it to transport materials.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth announced that the garden she
had been tending was producing healthy plants. Corn, melons, pumpkins, and cucumbers were already growing.
The next day, only the father and Fritz traveled to the
woods, exploring and finding such exotic plants as one
with waxy fruit, from which candles could be made.
Fritz discovered a tree exuding a rubbery sap, from
which his father claimed that they could make boots.
Thinking ahead of the next winter, father decided to
create a place safe from the elements, a strong storage
spot to protect themselves and their belongings. Fritz
came up with the idea of a cave. Not finding one,
they thought of carving out their own cave in the rock
abutting their camping site. On the smooth face of the
rock, father marked the dimensions for an opening and
they picked away at the hard surface with their axes,
chisels, hammers, and shovels. Over the next several
days, the family cut windows in the rocks to allow for
crosscurrents of air and for sunlight to enter the cave.
When they had finished, they had four rooms, complete
with a fireplace. They now had a new winter home.
Because of the low light, the cave house they had
built felt oppressive. To remedy this, father and Jack
rigged up a new light. They found a bamboo pole that
would reach from the floor to the ceiling. Then after
securing it, Jack climbed to the top of the pole and
hung a large oil lamp that they had rescued from the
ship.
One day, they found that one of the family’s
huts had been completely destroyed and the cultivated
fields around it had been trampled and ruined. There
were huge footmarks everywhere. Father saw massive
damage to trees as well as many huge footprints, which
he identified as belonging to an elephant herd.
The next morning, the family began to design
a new defense to discourage all wild animals from
entering their cultivated lands. They also finalized their
ideas about the new residence. Rather than building a
house on stilts, which the elephants could knock down
easily, they would use four strong trees growing in a
square near one another as the foundation. The trees
were of equal size, approximately twelve feet apart.
Thus, they built another safe home.
Ten years passed and the young boys were now
young men, and their parents were very proud. They
called the island New Switzerland. Many adventures
occurred over the years.
On the shore of another island, Fritz had knocked
down an albatross, which was threatening to attack him, and found a rag tied to the large bird’s leg. On the rag
was a message that an Englishwoman had been stranded
on the ‘smoking rock.’ Fritz had no idea how old the
message was. His father suggested that “smoking rock”
sounded like a reference to a volcano. Since there were
no volcanoes in the vicinity, the bird might have come
from hundreds of miles away. However, Fritz felt that
someone needed his help, and he was determined to do
his best to find the sender. Before returning home, he
had written his own note on the rag, retied it to the
albatross’s leg, and had watched the bird fly off. The
note told whoever received it “Do not despair. Help
is near!” Fritz, then successfully, rescued the young
woman, Jenny Montrose. Though shy at first, soon, she
got used to living with the Robinson family.
One day, they saw a ship, which had laid anchor.
An encampment had been set up on one of the smaller
islands. After checking the people through their spyglass,
Fritz and his father decided to announce themselves
after they had returned home and cleaned it up. They
did not want the crew to think they were savages. The
next day, Fritz and his father, met the captain and told
him their own history as well as Jenny’s. To everyone’s
surprise, it had been Jenny’s father who had inspired
the captain’s search; he believed his daughter was still
alive after three years. The captain had decided to
attempt to find her.
With a burst of celebration, the family, passengers,
and crew of the British vessel headed towards New
Switzerland. Everyone was amazed by the prosperity
and good health of the survivors.
As the day ended, the father realized that decisions
must be made about who wanted to stay on the island
or return with the ship. Elizabeth and her husband did
not wish to live anywhere but on the island. They had been there for so long and had grown used to their
life. Jenny asked if anyone would support her return
to England. Fritz was the first to respond. He offered
cheers for ‘us’ who was going to Europe. Ernest, on
the other hand, wanted to stay on the island. Jack
also decided to stay back. Franz, the youngest boy,
decided to join Fritz in leaving. Franz wanted a chance
to receive an academic education. Before Fritz left, he
told his parents of his love for Jenny and his wish to
marry her.
The father had kept a record of all the adventures
they had had on the island. He handed over the journals
to the captain to be published. Then the ship departed.