“Robinson Crusoe is an allegorical journey to imperialism. Comment.
Or,
Discuss Robinson Crusoe as a prototype colonizer.
Or,
What aspects/elements of colonialism do you find in Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe? Discuss in brief.
Or,
Is Defoe’s hero Robinson Crusoe is a colonizer? Give reasons for your answer.
Or,
To what extent Robinson Crusoe is a colonizer in Defoe’s book Robinson Crusoe?
Answer: Daniel Defoe’s
world-class masterpiece Robinson Crusoe is a powerful adventure story of
a seafaring person. The book tells the tale of a marooned individual
who through relentless efforts ‘builds his own empire in a deserted
island. But, it is not an adventure story only; it can be read at
multiple levels. Brett C. Mcinelly comments in this regard:
“Spatially, Robinson Crusoe
illustrates that the vastness of the globe can bring a corresponding
enlargement, rather than shrinking, of the venturing self and can
produce close self-reflection of a kind not easy to achieve in
“civilized” society. Religiously, the novel demonstrates that a
spiritual awakening can take place in isolation from society and can be
crystallized when an Englishman subordinates and converts a non-European
Other. Economically, Defoe’s novel functions as an argument for the
expansion of trade. And psychologically, Robinson Crusoe shows that
relations with an alien Other can hone an ego that can master both its
own selfhood and the destiny of others.”
That Robinson Crusoe features a British
trader as the hero and the novel is set on a distant Caribbean island
cries out for interpretation of the text in the colonial contexts. On
the surface, the novel is a powerful adventure story which deals with
the fortune of a strong-willed and shipwrecked man and his subsequent
struggle for survival in a deserted island. But, on another level, the
book can be interpreted as an allegorical journey to imperialism. In
fact, Robinson Crusoe is commonly regarded as the prototypical colonial
novel of the eighteenth century. Critics have pointed out colonial
elements in the book. In this regard, Edward Said’s comment is
noteworthy; he says that Robinson Crusoe is “a work whose protagonist is
the founder of a new world, which he rules and reclaims for
Christianity and England”
Colonialism is one of the important
aspects of the novel Robinson Crusoe. The adventure story of the book is
related in a realist way. Robinson Crusoe and his life story are at the
core of Defoe’s novel. Ian Watt in his book The Rise of the Novel
identifies Robinson Crusoe as the first novel precisely because of the
detailed attention Defoe gives an “ordinary” individual. The story
apparently is an ordinary one. Crusoe’s journey begins on precarious
grounds–he is nearly swallowed by a storm, enslaved by Moors, and
shipwrecked on an uninhabited island frequented by cannibals and located
in the middle of the Spanish Empire–Crusoe gradually learns how to
assert himself over land and people. In short, the colonial setting
facilitates Crusoe’s individualism as he comes to recognize the unique
place he occupies as a British Protestant in a world in which he is
surrounded by religious and cultural Others.
Brett C. Mclnelly comments that
“Robinson Crusoe stands as an allegory or figure of colonialism Defoe
transforms colonialism through the power of fictional representation
into the adventures of a single man who masters an island, his native
companion, and himself. His formal realism works to enfold the myths of
psychological and economic self-sufficiency in a texture of convincing
detail.” As we read the novel, its protagonist, Crusoe gradually unfolds
to us as a prototype colonizer. After being stranded in a deserted
island Crusoe through relentless efforts establishes his control over
the island and thus shapes his own empire. In the novel Crusoe takes on
significance as a character because he stands as a stable and coherent
subject in the wake of an expanding empire. He possesses the mindset of a
colonizer. He is a fighter who struggles hard to establish his
self-importance and dominance. On the island, Crusoe constantly faces
physical peril, both real and imagined. He finds himself in a landscape
that could easily overpower him. But, Crusoe responds positively to
confirm his self-importance. Surveying his circumstances on the island,
Crusoe imagines himself “Lord of the whole Mannor; or if I
pleas’d, I might call myself King, or Emperor over the whole Country
which I had possession of”. Instead of shrinking in terror
in an alien environment Crusoe imagines himself in grandiose terms — as
a “King, or Emperor”. This shows that Crusoe saw himself as the founder
of this island; and according to law in the eighteenth century, Islands
i of the sea belonged to the first inhabitant. As the book progresses
it s obvious that Crusoe starts to think of himself as the absolute
ruler or lawmaker of the island.
Crusoe refashions himself and the
island. His way of establishing gradual control over the island and his
treatment of Friday make him an archetype of colonization. Crusoe not
only takes physical control of things but he also confirms linguistic
and cultural dominance too. He makes laws for the island, gives names to
different places and things on the island and by doing so he both
creates and assumes control over his island home. “By renaming
[Friday],” Novak states in his article “Friday: or, the Power of
Naming,”, “Crusoe assumes possession of him in the same way that
Columbus assumed possession of the land by his namings.”
Like an ideal colonizer Crusoe
establishes his cultural dominance on the island too. He establishes the
supremacy of his religion. Though the sincerity of Crusoe’s conversion
and his religious commitment have been debated by critics, in Robinson
Crusoe Defoe creates a Protestant who is tolerant, committed to
essential practices, keenly evaluative of his own behavior in relation
to his religion, intensely personal in his encounter with God, and
committed through acts of interpretation to seeing God’s hand in
everything. In the novel Crusoe develops a complex relationship with
Friday, his find Friday willingly submits to Robinson’s orders in
gratitude for having being rescued. Friday voluntarily accepts a
lifelong servitude under a mutual verbal agreement. Indeed, Robinson
exercises total authority on Friday; who must obey and be useful to his
master. Regarding Friday, Crusoe comments: “I was greatly delighted with
him, and made it my business to teach him everything that was proper to
make him useful, handy, and helpful; but especially to make him speak,
and understand me when I spoke….” It reveals Crusoe’s objective of
teaching Friday English language, Western habits, and the new name of
Friday With which the savage is reborn are obvious attempts for
establishing cultural and linguistic dominance. Friday’s conversion to
Christianity is another important aspect of colonization. The rescue of
Friday, a “wild creature”, supposes to undertake a religious conversion
and to educate him into civilized habits. The event further reinforces
the theme of colonialism in the novel.
Robinson Crusoe is more than just a
story about a man shipwrecked on an island. The island is only a
paradoxical place, because it simultaneously becomes a heaven and a
threat. It will overwhelm and conquer Crusoe if he does not make it his
paradise. It depicts a man’s journey of Christianity and how his faith
gives him a sense of power which he pushes upon others. Simultaneously,
the novel does not only portray the allegorical journey of spiritual
development, it also portrays categorically Crusoe’s allegorical journey
to colonialism. The novel shows that Crusoe by mastering his own self
masters his destiny; by mastering his destiny he masters others; and by mastering these he masters the economic contingencies of life.
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