Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Robinson Crusoe was the first novel written by Daniel Defoe that was published in 1719. Initially, it was published as an autobiographical travelogue by Robinson Crusoe; however, Daniel Defoe was revealed to be the real author of the fictional novel and fictional character Robinson Crusoe in the later editions. Robinson Crusoe is expressed as a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical desert island near the coasts of Venezuela and Trinidad.
Daniel Defoe belonged to a Presbyterian Puritan family and he wrote this book as a spiritual autobiography of Robinson Crusoe while emphasizing different aspects of Christianity and his beliefs. The book tells the story of how Robinson becomes closer to God, not through listening to sermons in a church but through spending time alone amongst nature with only a Bible to read. The novel follows the Christian idea of Providence, Penitence, and Redemption. In this novel, Defoe depicted Crusoe trying to replicate English Christian society on the island. This is achieved through the use of European technology, agriculture, and even a rudimentary political hierarchy. Crusoe refers to himself as the ‘king’ of the island. At the very end of the novel the island is referred to as a "colony". The Master-slave relationship of Crusoe with another character Friday suggests the idea of ‘cultural assimilation.” Crusoe represents the "enlightened" European while Friday is the "savage" who can only be redeemed from his cultural manners through assimilation into Crusoe's culture. The novel also talks of ‘religious tolerance.’ When confronted with the cannibals, Crusoe wrestles with the problem of cultural relativism. Despite his disgust, he feels unjustified in holding the natives morally responsible for a practice so deeply ingrained in their culture.
The story of Robinson Crusoe is often mentioned by Classicist, Neoclassicist, and Austrian economists to illustrate the theory of production and choice in the absence of trade, money, and prices.
Because of the spiritual nature and episodic pattern of Robinson Crusoe, many critics argue that it is not a novel. Nonetheless, Robinson Crusoe was considered the first English novel for a long period until it was contended that Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko was published much earlier, in 1688. Yet, Robinson Crusoe is credited as the first realistic fiction.
Robinson Crusoe became hugely popular and inspired a new literary genre named Robinsonade which describes the genre of stories similar to Robinson Crusoe. While Robinson Crusoe was an accidental castaway, J. G. Ballard wrote stories in which the protagonists often choose to maroon themselves and coined the term ‘inverted Robinsonade’ to represent stories of becoming castaway willingly for a healing and empowering process.
Characters of Robinson Crusoe:
Robinson Crusoe is the protagonist of the novel. He is a young rebellious man who likes the idea of sea travel while his family opposes him. He leaves home for sea travel but brings misfortune on himself and is left to fend for himself in a primitive land. Xury is a slave of a Moor ship that captures Robinson Crusoe. Crusoe and Xury escape together from the slave ship and then Crusoe enslaves Xury as his own. Later on, he sells Xury to buy a ship. Friday is another slave of Crusoe who spends many years on the Island. Crusoe saves Friday from the Cannibals and enslaves him. He then tries to teach English to Friday and converts him to Christianity. Crusoe’s father is a merchant named Kreutznaer who embodies the theme of the merits of Protestant, middle-class living. Crusoe’s mother fully supports her husband and opposes Crusoe from going on sea travel. Moorish Pirate is a sea robber who captures and enslaves Robinson Crusoe. The Portuguese sea captain is an honest man who embodies all Christian ideals. He takes Robinson and Xury to Brazil and helps Crusoe in buying some plantation. The Widow is the wife of the late sea captain with whom Crusoe made his first and only successful sea journey to the East coast of Africa. He leaves his little fortune to the widow for safekeeping. The widow is a very honest and motherly figure for Crusoe. The Savages are the Cannibals that come to Crusoe's Island and who represent a threat to Crusoe's religious and moral convictions as well as his own safety. The Spaniard is one of the prisoners saved by Crusoe and Friday. Another one is Friday’s father. Crusoe treats the Spaniard man with much more respect than any other colored people he comes into contact with. The captured sea captain is an ideal soldier and sea captain who faces mutiny on his ship. Crusoe helps him in winning over the traitorous crew member of his ship.
Summary of Robinson Crusoe:
The novel begins as an anonymous editor introduces Robinson Crusoe and his incredible adventures, which he says are true, entertaining, and useful for the reader. Crusoe then begins telling his story. When he was about 18 years old, he used to live with his parents in Hull, England. Crusoe’s father wished him to become a lawyer and his mother too always forced him to follow his father’s advice. However, Crusoe was a rebellious young man who had a dream of long sea voyages. His father admonishes him and offers examples of his two elder brothers who are gone because of their passion for adventure. His father says that a middle-class existence is the most stable and he must acquire it. However, Robinson ignores such advises and decides to run away from his home. On August 1651, Crusoe boards a ship from Hull to London. The weather goes rogue and the ship is forced to halt at Yarmouth. The ship captain advises Crusoe to return to his home but he decides to go to London via road. In London, Crusoe joins the crew of a trading ship bound for Guiana. The ship captain is very generous towards Crusoe and treats him like his son. Crusoe claims that it was the only successful trip of his during which Crusoe made a small fortune through trading. After returning to London, the captain of the ship dies of old age. Crusoe decides to join the same ship again for another trip to the coast of East Africa. He leaves all his fortune in the custody of the widow of the late ship captain and goes on the trip.
On their way, the ship is attacked by a Turkish pirate who takes the ship to the Moorish port of Sallee where the pirate captures and enslaves all the crew members including Crusoe. Crusoe suffers the abomination of slavery for two years and then he gets a chance to escape. Once he is told to go fishing with two other Moorish slaves. Robinson throws one of them overboard and asks the other to accompany him if he is willing to be loyal to him. The name of the second Moorish slave is Xury. Xury admires Robinson and becomes his willing slave and companion. They take the boat to unknown parts of the sea and anchor on what appears to be uninhabited land. Soon they discover that black people live on the island. These black people are very friendly to Crusoe and Xury though they cannot understand their language. Robinson then notices a Portuguese ship at a distance from the shore. He and Xury paddle their ship towards the ship and ask for the help of the Portuguese ship captain. The ship captain says that he will board the two for free and will take them to Brazil.
Robinson sells Xury to the Portuguese ship captain who in return helps him financially to buy some plantation in Brazil. Soon he manages to get some business partners and together, they decide to engage in the slave trade. Since Crusoe has experience in sea travel, it is decided that Robinson will be the master of the tradepost ship. They arrange for a strong-built ship and Robinson agrees to be the captain of the ship for the purpose of slave-trade. However, during his very first voyage on the new ship, a terrible shipwreck happens, and all crew members, except Robinson die in that accident. Being alone in the vast sea, he gets frightened and asks for God’s help in saving him. Somehow, he succeeds in reaching the shore of an island. Robinson names this island the Island of Despair and mentions that it is situated at the mouth of the Orinoco River. He sees penguins and seals on the island but no human being.
Robinson manages to gather some tools, and other provisions from his ship before it sinks into the sea and picks up the Bible that was floating on a wooden log. With the help of the tools, he tries to recreate his English life. He builds a fenced-in habitat near a cave that he excavates. He uses a wooden cross and marks it to create a calendar. Similarly, he recreates other necessities, learns how to cook, and raises goats and crops. He captures and adopts a small parrot as a pet. During his initial days, he feels very miserable and starts reading the Bible for attaining guidance and calmness. Gradually, he starts feeling spiritual enlightenment despite being totally alone. He convinces himself that he is living a much better life here than he did in Europe--much more simple, much less wicked. He comes to appreciate his sovereignty over the entire island. Once he decides to make a small boat and venture around the island but he faces wild tides and gets back to the island, never to try the adventure again. For 15 years, he lives alone, unaware of any other human being in the near vicinity. One day, he discovers some footprints and follows the trail. He finds out a group of cannibalistic savages hunting and eating the prisoners. Robinson discovers that these cannibals do not live on the island but they treat it as a hunting ground for wayward prisoners. They visit here in canoes from a mainland not too far away to hunt the prisoners. Robinson feels outraged and disgusted with their cannibalistic behavior. However, as he continues to think about them, he realizes that he has no reason to hate them as he feels unjustified in holding the natives morally responsible for a practice so deeply ingrained in their culture. Furthermore, he doesn’t know what crimes the prisoners committed against the natives. Yet, he resolves to maintain his own morals and decides to confront the cannibals whenever they return again for hunting the prisoners. After some years, the Cannibals return to the island and Robinson uses his guns and saved artillery from the wrecked ship to make them run away. Meanwhile, he manages to save a savage prisoner from the attack of cannibals.
The savage is extremely grateful to Crusoe for saving his life and follows him to his in-fenced habitat. Crusoe names his Friday and starts teaching him English and learning the Bible. He starts teaching him Christian values and the European lifestyle. Crusoe becomes his ideal master and Friday learns to be an ideal slave aspiring to learn everything Christian and European. Robinson and Friday spend some more years on the island and one day, they witness the canoes of the savages with three prisoners. Robinson and Friday attack the Cannibals and manage to save two of the prisoners. One of them is a Spaniard and the other one is a native savage who happens to be the father of Friday. Friday is too happy after meeting his father and encourages him to learn the Christian mannerism but his father is not too enthusiastic about it. After some months, Friday’s father and the Spaniard decide to return to the mainland so that they may bring back the colleagues of the Spaniard man.
Meanwhile, a small ship comes ashore and many men land on the island to explore. Robinson notices that three of them are prisoners. While most of the men are exploring the island, Robinson manages to come near the prisoners and one of them reveals that he is the captain of the ship and his crew members are traitorous and mutinied against him. Robinson promises to help and save the Captain if he agrees to accept his authority over the Island and if he agrees to take him and Friday back to England for free. The captain agrees to this proposition. Crusoe and Friday free the three prisoners and together, they manage to defeat the traitorous crew members. The captain gains hold of the ship back and he addresses Crusoe as the governor of the island and asks for justice against the traitors. Crusoe admonishes the traitorous crew members and calls them white savages. He punishes them to stay on the island. Before leaving for England, He informs the traitorous crew members how to survive on the island and tells them that soon, some more people will come to the island to accompany them as he expects the Spaniard to visit the island with Friday’s father and his colleagues. After that, the ship captain takes Robinson and Friday back to England. He returns to England after 28 years and learns that his parents died years ago. He learns that since his father has no expectation of returning, he didn’t name him in his will. Nevertheless, Robinson learns that his plantation in Brazil is making good profits and the widow of his old captain too gives back his little fortune that he made in Guiana during his first trip. He gives money to the Portuguese captain and the widow who were so kind to him. He returns to the English countryside and settles there, marrying and having three children. When his wife dies, he once more goes to the sea.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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