Commentary Robinson Crusoe - Odt

Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe
Introduction
Robinson Crusoe is considered as the first English novel; it tells the story of the
eponymous hero, who is alone after a shipwreck on an island. He must learn to live
alone in the wild and tame it. To write the novel, it seems that Daniel Defoe was
inspired by the story of Alexander Selkirk, a sailor must also learn to live alone on
an island after a shipwreck. In this passage, Robinson begins to experience the
nature and to live with its resources; it's been two years that he is on the island.
Then one notice the hero's ambivalence, who appears very human: Robinson lives
both as if he had to relearn everything in the nature, but also keeps its western man
look with very marked customs and habits. These ambivalences between the cold
and pragmatic man and man model that learns to be independent and to be
sufficient in itself make the character of Robinson a very human being. Moreover,
we note at the end of the extract a very strong Christian impregnation, which
change the genre of the novel. We can then ask how this which can be seen as a
simple adventure story is a painting of the autonomous human being in the
Christian conception ? First one will see the ambivalence of the character, between
the necessity of the nature and the Western instincts. Then one will study how these
ambivalent character allow Defoe to give a very human portrait. Finally we will
look at the genre of this novel between adventure and conduct of Christian life.
I. L'ambivalence première du personnage

In all the extract, one feel the ambivalence between the myth of Robinson Crusoe
who lives in harmony with nature and the reality of the text of Daniel Defoe; here
we are dealing mostly with a man who tries to tame nature finally in a very Western
way.
A. L'homme dans la nature

First of all one grasps the need for Robinson to learn to live in this foreign nature.
So we have the presence of the lexical field of the nature, with words such as "".
Robinson is surrounded by this nature; it is as if it were alive in there, and give a test
to Robinson by the losing him "".He must learn to have new landmarks, as when he
says "" and this very bare account illustrates the pragmatic aspect of the character
face to such a situation. Cohesion is noted with nature that surrounds him, for
example when he uses the "." .All these elements support the myth of Robinson
Crusoe, the survivor trying somehow to be in communion with nature.
B. Essaie de vivre avec elle et de la dominer

However, Robinson fight back this nature and tries to dominate as a colonizer
would dominate the peoples inhabiting the land on which it is installed. It seems
very confident in this quest, and gives the impression of being so persuade that he
controls nature that he is no more afraid '. "In addition, we feel the need to perfectly
know this nature in order to better dominate it, when he says for example: "". This
need of domination then reflects a time, beginning with the philosophy of
Descartes: he argues that we must "be master of nature," like many others after him.
Robinson here is a prime example of those men who want to dominate everything,
control everything, until hunger of the kid to be able to assert himself.
C. L'homme reste très occidental

It is this need for constant domination that drives us to see Robinson like a real
Western man. He built a house, wants to form herds of animals (""), even has a dog
as a pet, and still has its weapons with him '. "This way of telling the events is
typically Western, that purely pragmatic side without artifice. The facts are accurate,
such as "" and turned almost scientific way. It goes to basics in every sentence. The
narrative is nothing poetic, there is no ameliorative description of the landscape as
one might expects. Robinson thinks only to go home, and if he lives with the nature
it is only because he is forced to.
This ambivalence of the hero reveals the very human aspect of the character, which
facilitates the identification and puts the least distance from the reader. Defoe do
not to create a perfect character, but the most real and logical character as possible.
II. Pour une description réaliste de la nature humaine

This ambivalence between the man who has to live in the wild and the western
aspect raises other lighter ambivalences, but which give a real human aspect to the
character of Robinson.
A. Un héros ambivalent
This ambivalence created by Daniel Defoe supports the very human aspect of his
character. So he learns to live at the simple state of nature, but is still very cold and
pragmatic. This is also a flawed hero who makes mistakes like everyone (""). This
hero is not the one who successfully overcome all obstacles with ease, as the heroes
of mythology; it can be seen in the use of the obligation "i was Obliged to to find out
the seaside" Robinson seems very real to us by his failures and his character.
B. Le mode d'énonciation
Although the story is in the first person singular, we feel in all the extract a kind of
a simple description, very pragmatic and cold. There are very few verbs of
perception, then one would expect to find a host, such as a diary; here Robinson
gives us not so much from its sensations, except the satisfaction and desire "," two of
the most human feelings. There is no punctuation other than points, and the text
appears to follow a rhythm that holds throughout. It is as if at Robinson he
remained only the survival instinct, which makes a very neutral speech.
C. L'humanité qui cherche à se recréer une situation sociale

One feels that Robinson is trying somehow to recreate a social environment,
structures that are familiar. Sometimes in the novel the hero is afraid (which
supports the idea of humanity) in this hostile environment; that is why it needs to
recreate a cocoon that is familiar and in which he can replace. Every man needs to
feel reassured by familiar presences. This is also why we observe religion at the end
of the text. Robinson must recreate his own civilization.
This character of the novel operating in a hostile environment seems to serve a

simple adventure novel; yet the end of the extract raises a new aspect of the text by
referring to the religion.
III. Le genre du roman

Beyond the character of Robinson raises the question of the genre of the novel,
which may be more ambiguous than it seems.
A. Le roman d'aventure
The Adventure of Robinson Crusoe is to start from nothing to rebuild everything;
this is the first adventure novel ever written as such. The characteristics of such a
genre are found in this extract: it describes several incidents, here the long journey
where Robinson is lost, it is located in an exotic location, it allows an easy
identification for adventurous readers, it focuses on the outstanding . Of course this
adventure novel has inspired many others, such as Jules Verne for example, with
the famous Around the world in 80 days.
B. Le récit chrétien
We feel an omnipresence of religion, and especially of the Christian religion, hence
its lexical field present at the end of the extract "". This end clearly leaves imply that
man owes everything to God, and this is what Robinson argues in his prayers when
he says "". In addition, this little trip appears as a real pilgrimage, a test where
Robinson will even collect "lost sheep" as Jesus gathers his disciples. The kid was
even said that falls in love with affection for him. Nature, God's creation, would be
there to put tests the Robinson, as the devil tempting Jesus. Robinson thinks he is
alone on this island to follow his destiny and wash his sins. Robinson Crusoe would
therefore not be a simple adventure story, but a Christian morality tale.
Conclusion
All these ambivalences, both in the character of Robinson or in the genre of the
novel make it a more complex story than in appearance, and develop many
problems around the issue of Christian forgiveness or to essential civilization of the
Western man; This last idea is felt even more when Robinson meets Vendredi. This
novel gives rise to a new genre, the « robinsonnade », and numerous rewrites, such
as Michel Tournier Vendredi ou la Vie sauvage, and is the basis for many novels
like Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a novel that interrogates on civilization
and its role.

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How does Robinson Crusoe struggle with his instincts as a Western man and his need to survive in nature?

What ambiguities does Defoe create in the character of Robinson Crusoe?

Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe

I. L'ambivalence première du personnage

A. L'homme dans la nature

B. Essaie de vivre avec elle et de la dominer

C. L'homme reste très occidental

II. Pour une description réaliste de la nature humaine

C. L'humanité qui cherche à se recréer une situation sociale

This character of the novel operating in a hostile environment seems to serve a

III. Le genre du roman

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