A summary of Jules Verne’s "The School for Robinsons"

This 1882 adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne ironically reimagines the traditional Robinsonade. It is part of the famous "Extraordinary Voyages" cycle, occupying the twenty-second place. This book is a witty parody of Daniel Defoe’s classic plot, transforming a harsh ordeal in the wild into a grandiose dramatization.

Auction in San Francisco

The events unfold on May 15 in San Francisco, where the US Congress is auctioning off the uninhabited Spencer Island, located 740 kilometers off the California coast. The sale is being conducted by auctioneers Dean Felporg and Gingras. The government is asking an astronomical $1.10 million in cash for the uninhabited tract of land, approximately 90,000 hectares in size. Under the terms of the auction, the new owner receives only presidential status, not the rights of a sovereign monarch.

The public greeted the offer with ridicule, considering the purchase a waste of money. However, one of the town’s wealthiest residents, William Kolderup, who had made his fortune in the gold mines back in 1848, unexpectedly entered the bidding. He faced a rival, the arrogant millionaire Taskinar from Stockton. A fierce bidding war erupted between the two capitalists. Taskinar raised the price to three million five hundred thousand dollars, but Kolderup offered four million. The island went to Kolderup, and the enraged Taskinar left, harboring a thirst for revenge.

Escape from marriage and preparations for sailing

William Calderup returns to his mansion on Montgomery Street. He plans to unite his fortune and the destinies of his loved ones: his twenty-two-year-old nephew, Godfrey Morgan, and his sixteen-year-old ward, Fina Hollaney. The young people are in love, but Godfrey, sated with idleness, is in no hurry to sign a marriage contract. He devours books about great voyages and dreams of setting sail to see the world and test his courage.

Fina shows wisdom and convinces her guardian to allow the groom to travel until the wedding. Kolderup agrees and sends his mentor, the comical dance and manners teacher T. Artelett, known to everyone as "Turtelett," along with Godfrey. The steamship "Dream" is equipped for the voyage under the command of the seasoned Captain Turcotte. Kolderup combines his nephew’s voyage with carrying out trading missions in various ports. In early June 1882, the crew and passengers depart from San Francisco Harbor.

The voyage of the steamship "Dream"

The voyage begins smoothly, but strange things soon begin to happen on deck. Captain Turcotte and his assistant regularly hold secret meetings, and at night the Dream changes course for no apparent reason. On June 12, a stowaway is discovered in the hold — a Chinese actor named Seng-Wu, attempting to get to Shanghai without paying a fare. Godfrey intercedes for the uninvited guest, and the captain allows him to remain on board.

Soon the barometer drops, and a storm begins. For several days, the ship makes slow progress. Godfrey notices that the rolling motion abates at night, and the smoke from the funnel billows in the opposite direction, as if the ship were reversing course. The captain explains this as maneuvers to avoid a storm. On June 25, Turcotte goes out in a boat, ostensibly to scout the reefs, and on the night of June 26, fog rolls in. Suddenly, cries of disaster are heard: the Dream has struck underwater rocks and is sinking. The captain pushes Godfrey overboard, and the young man makes his way in the darkness to the coastal cliff.

The first days on a desert island

Morning breaks. Godfrey sees an unfamiliar shore before him and realizes he is alone. On the rocks, he finds a half-dead Tartelette, saved by an inflatable lifebelt. The dance teacher clutches his only salvaged possession — a pocket violin. Climbing to the top of a hill, Godfrey realizes they are on an isolated island and names the land after his fiancée — Fina’s Island.

The surviving domestic animals and birds from the ship — chickens, goats, sheep, and agoutis — made it ashore. The companions have no weapons, matches, or tools other than a multi-purpose pocket knife. They subsist on raw bird eggs, shellfish, and manzanilla fruit. Tartelette is unable to make fire by friction. After a long search, Godfrey finds shelter in the hollow of an ancient redwood tree about a hundred meters tall. The friends name the tree "Viltry" in honor of Uncle Wil.

Making Fire and a Life-Saving Find

On the night of July 4th, a thunderstorm erupts. A lightning strike ignites the upper branches of a redwood, sending red-hot embers falling to the ground. Godfrey and Tartelette build a fire, which they carefully tend from now on. They are now able to roast chicken and bake camas roots, which serve as a substitute for bread. Godfrey explores the interior of the redwood and seals a lightning-struck hole 24 meters above ground, opening access to the upper canopy. From the treetop, he twice notices strange smoke on the opposite end of the island, but his search finds no one.

On July 29, the surf washed a zinc-encased metal chest onto the sandbar. Inside was a veritable survival kit: clothing, underwear, tools, dishes, a cooking pot, a telescope, books, as well as firearms — carbines, revolvers, gunpowder, and ammunition. Over the next few days, the friends moved their belongings to Viltry. Godfrey hoists a red flag on the northern cape, hoping to attract the attention of passing ships. On September 13, an American steamship passes by the island, but signals from the shore go unanswered.

Saving Karefinot

On September 16, a native pirogue carrying twelve black cannibals appears off the coast. Godfrey and Tartelette hide in their hollow tree. The savages light a fire on the shore and prepare to eat the captive youth. Godfrey decides to intervene. He and Tartelette fire their carbines. Stunned by the roar and the deaths of two of their fellow cannibals, the cannibals abandon their victim and flee in terror on the pirogue.

The rescued captive acknowledges Godfrey as his master. He calls himself Carefinot, but is unable to learn the languages of white people. However, the intelligent and strong black man becomes a devoted assistant: he arranges housing, catches fish, and butchers carcasses. Tartelette attempts to teach Carefinot the rules of good manners and classical dance positions, leading to comical situations. During one of their outings, the friends catch giant green turtles that have washed ashore, providing themselves with a supply of meat for the winter.

Dangerous encounters in the forest

Soon, living conditions become more difficult. While hunting in November, Godfrey encounters a brown bear and shoots it, and a few days later, Karefinotu kills a huge tiger with a knife. The appearance of such animals on a small island seems inexplicable. Godfrey, Karefinotu, and Tartelette harvest pine logs and erect a high log fence around Viltry. Because of the autumn rains, they move the fireplace inside a hollow tree, constructing a chimney from bamboo stalks. Later, the scouts encounter rattlesnakes, and Tartelette is attacked by a real crocodile near the river, which Godfrey kills with a well-aimed shot.

The Invasion of the Predators and the Denouement

In January 1883, frost sets in, and the roars of a pack of predators — lions, hyenas, panthers, and tigers — resonate around Viltry at night. On January 19, the enraged beasts break through the fence, destroy the domestic herd, and storm the sequoia. A stray shot from a frightened Tartelette scatters the embers from the fireplace, igniting the bark. The sequoia ignites from within, and the remains of the gunpowder explode. The besieged flee to the upper branches until the scorched tree falls, caught in the crowns of neighboring giants. At this point, Carefinotu suddenly catches Godfrey’s attention and announces in perfect English that William Calderup is expected to arrive today.

Shots ring out, a downpour extinguishes the fire, and Uncle Will, Fina, and Captain Turcotte and his sailors appear before the stunned Godfrey. It turns out that what happened on Spencer Island was a grandiose staged set-up. Kolderup bought the island at auction for four million dollars and staged a fake shipwreck to teach his nephew a life lesson. The steamship Dream didn’t sink, the sailors played the role of savages, and Carefinot turned out to be a hired artist, Gyp Brass. Only a chest of provisions was secretly sent by the caring Fina with the help of Captain Turcotte.

The invasion of real wild animals baffled even Kolderup. The mystery is solved upon returning to San Francisco, where the Chinese man Seng-Wu, who had been living quietly alone on the other side of the island, also arrives on the Dream. Later, a stuffed crocodile, shot by Godfrey, is brought to the mansion. The monster’s scales still bear a label from the Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg, addressed to Taskinar. The rival, rejected at auction, took revenge by chartering a ship and releasing the predators onto Kolderup’s island. Having learned his lesson, Godfrey celebrates his wedding to Fina, cured of his craving for solitary adventures.