Robinson Crusoe is a religious or spiritual allegory – justify OR discuss

 Apart from being an exciting account of a man’s adventures on an uninhabited island, the book, “Robinson Crusoe” has been found to possess a profound allegorical significance. For many, Crusoe’s many references to God, to Providence, to sin are extraneous to the real interest of the novel. Readers through the 19th century read “Robinson Crusoe” in the light of religion. For example, a reviewer for the Dublin University Magazine called the book a great religious poem, showing that God is found where men are absent. In deciding whether or to what extent Robinson Crusoe is a spiritual autobiography and a great religious poem, one might consider the following:

In the “Preface,” Defoe announces that his intention is to justify and honour the wisdom of Providence in all the variety of our circumstances.

Moreover, Robinson Crusoe can be viewed from theological and practical levels. If we see from the theological level, we will find that man’s extreme aspiration is the cause of sin. As we see in “Paradise Lost” by John Milton that Adam and Eve are banished from the Heaven because of their aspirations and disobedience to God, here in the same was Crusoe is thrown on an uninhabited island because of disobedience towards his father.

Crusoe receives warnings against the rashness of going to sea from his father and from the captain of the first ship he sails on. Both are figures of authority and can be seen as proxies for God. In ignoring their warnings, he is also denying God’s providential social order in the world. God’s providential social order in the world means that God arranged the world hierarchically, endowing the king with authority in the political realm and the father with authority in the family.

Crusoe’s conversation with his father about leaving home can be interpreted from a religious perspective. Crusoe repeatedly refers to leaving home without his father’s permission as his “original sin“; he not only associates God and his father but regards his sin against his father as a sin against God also remembering his first voyage.

Crusoe comments:
“…my conscience, which was not yet come to the pitch of hardness to which it has been since, reproached me with the contempt of advice and the breach of my duty to God and my Father”.

In the Puritan family structure, the father was regarded as God’s deputy; in rejecting his father’s advice, Crusoe is committing Adam and Eve’s sin of disobedience. For Crusoe, as for Adam, and Eve, disobedience grows out of restlessness and discontent with the station God assigned.

When Crusoe is cast ashore on a deserted island, he sees his situation as the fulfillment of his father’s prediction that if Crusoe disregarded his advice, Crusoe would find himself alone with no source of help. As his father said with a little sigh,

“That boy might be happy if he would stay at home; but if he goes abroad,
he will be the most miserable wretch that ever was born”.Alone on the island, Crusoe is Everyman, alienated from God because of sin.

One way of reading Robinson Crusoe is as a spiritual autobiography. The spiritual autobiography portrays the Puritan drama of the soul. Concerned about being saved, having a profound sense of God’s presence, seeing His will manifest everywhere and aware of the unceasing conflict between good and evil, Puritans constantly scrutinized their lives to determine the state of their souls and looked for signs of the nature of their relationship with God. The spiritual autobiography usually follows a common pattern: the narrator sins, ignores God’s warnings, hardens his heart to God, repents as a result of God’s grace and mercy, experiences a soul-wrenching conversion, and achieves salvation. The writer emphasizes his former sinfulness as a way of glorifying God; the deeper his sinfulness, the greater God’s grace and mercy in electing to save him. He reviews his life from the new perspective his conversion has given him and writes of the present and the future with a deep sense of God’s presence in his life and in the world. Here we also find the touch of spiritual autobiography.

Crusoe throughout uses religious language, imagery, and Biblical references. Crusoe narrates his life story long afterward, and from the beginning of his tale, Crusoe presents events not only from his point of view as a youth but also from a Christian perspective; he looks at his past through the eyes of the convert who now constantly sees the working of Providence. He tells of his first shipwreck and of his then ignoring what he now perceives as God’s warning, “… Providence, as in such cases generally it does, resolved to leave me entirely without excuse. For if I would not take this for a deliverance, the next was to be such a one as the worst and most hardened wretch among us would confess both the danger and the mercy”. And he found “the secret hints and notices of danger”.

After his dream and the beginning of his regeneration, Defoe reviews his life and his understanding and sense of God deepen. But reason alone is not sufficient to result in conversion and Crusoe turns to the Bible; studying it reveals God’s word and will to him, and he finds comfort, guidance, and instruction in it. For the first time in many years he prays, and he prays, not for rescue from the island, but for God’s help:-

“Lord be my help, for I am in great distress”.

After thinking about his life, he kneels to God for the first time in his life and prays to God to fulfill his promise “that if I called upon Him in the day of trouble, He would deliver me”. His next step toward conversion is asking for God’s grace, “Jesus, Thou Son of David, Jesus, Thou exalted Prince and Saviour, give me repentance!”. He comes to realize that spiritual deliverance from sin is more important than physical deliverance from the island. A little later, when he is about to thank God for bringing him to the island and so saving him, he stops, shocked at himself and the hypocrisy of such a statement. Then he “sincerely gave thanks to God for opening my eyes, by whatever afflicting Providences, to see the former condition of my life, and to mourn for my wickedness, and repent”. This incident indicates that Crusoe’s faith is fervent and honest.

In short we can say that Defoe’s “Robinson Crusoe” is a great religious allegory. This shows the inner conflict of Crusoe and portrays the Puritan drama of the soul. This follows the pattern of “Sin → Punishment → Realization → Redeem → Salvation”.

Comment on the theme of colonialism in Defoe’s book Robinson Crusoe.

“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.

Robinson Crusoe conveys an economic doctrine. Do you agree? Elaborate your answer.

The economic framework of the novel Robinson Crusoe is the essential dimension of it. Defoe portrays Crusoe as a ‘homo economics’ or an economic man. The action and movement of Robinson’s voyage seems to be the work of a businessman, who involves in the transaction of money and wealth. His life both begins and ends as a tradesman. The economic implication of the novel will come out, if we discuss the major events of Crusoe’s life.

Robinson Crusoe pursues money very methodically, keeping account of his profit and loss. This is a characteristic feature of a modern businessman. We find Crusoe’s worldliness and monetary motive at the beginning of his voyage to Guinea. While they were on the voyage, the Captain gave Robinson advice to buy some toys and trifles and to earn some profits by selling them. This voyage made Robinson both a sailor and a merchant. Robinson says, ‘This was the only voyage which I may say was successful in all my adventures and which I owe to the honesty and integrity of my friend the Captain.” The speech is evident of Crusoe’s interest in money. He buys goods, sells those, and finally earns profit. He acts like a trader.

Robinson Crusoe abandons his parents’ advice and chooses the seafaring, life. He desires to be a prosperous and wealthy man. In this way, he wants to rise above the middle status of his life. The novel states the miserable condition of then middle class family of England. Crusoe is trying to be well off in economic aspect of his life and it is the general tendency of the bourgeois family of England. This is the reason Karl Mark attacks the novel in his Das Kapital. Robinson Crusoe possesses a capitalistic tendency in his life. He becomes a true materialistic man. His economic individualism prevents him from paying heed to the familial ties.

Again, Robinson’s economic motive makes him a commercial traveler. Whenever he gets opportunity, he involves in trade and commerce as a means of profit. When he escapes from the Moors, the Portuguese captain sets him up with a little capital, with which Crusoe intends to run his trade. Even, he becomes heartless in selling his slave Xury to the captain. He becomes the owner of above 5000 pounds.”These are the examples of the economic implications of the novel.Robinson considers his voyage to Brazil an economic success. He learns about sugar plantation there. He finds that sugar-planters grow rich, so he becomes a planter. He imports labours from Guinea. Crusoe’s activates in Brazil becomes typical of a white colonizers who were used to set up plantation in a far off land. The only aim of these planters was to make money in a very short time. Thus, the voyage of Robinson Crusoe illustrates the economic aspect of colonialism.

Even in his desolate condition in the remote island, Crusoe does not forget his monetary consideration. He regards himself as the master of the island and a rich man. This materialistic note is evident when Crusoe says, “The Island was now peopled, and I thought myself very rich in subjects.”

When Robinson reaches Lisbon and meets the Spanish captain of the ship, he takes all the account of his property from him. He declares that he will give one-third of his wealth to the king and two third to St. Augustine, which will be spent for the benefit of the poor and the conversion of the Indians to the Catholic faith. Crusoe becomes ecstatic for lots of money all around him.

Thus, materialism and capitalism lie at the heart of the novel Robinson Crusoe. Robinson seems to be a capitalist and an ‘economic man’. Certainly, the novel conveys an economic implication.