BA Sem – 3 English (Core/Ele) - 201

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

Introduction:

Robinson Crusoe was Defoe’s first-published full narrative and his most
popular, appealing to both middle-class and aristocratic readers with its
combination of a believable and very human first-person narrator, realistic
detail, allusions and references to actual places and people, imagery drawn
from everyday life and the natural world, and an appealing, if somewhat
unstructured, narrative line.

The title page of the book provides a considerable amount of information

for the reader. The LIFE and Strange Surprizing ADVENTURES of
ROBINSON CRUSOE, of YORK. Mariner: Who lived Eight and Twenty Years,
all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the Coast of America, near the Mouth
of the Great River of Oroonoque; Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck,
wherein all the Men perished but himself. With An Account how he was at
last as strangely deliver’ by PIRATES. Written by Himself. That, in brief, is
a plot summary. It also is evidence of the ordinariness of the narrator, a
seaman from York (and therefore middle-class) who is forced by
circumstances to fend for himself in unfriendly surroundings, a practical
man who manages to survive for twenty-eight years before his rescue.
Finally, within this long title is the evidence of Defoe’s insistence on
realism—the use of real place names, the statement that the book is an
autobiographical narrative.

The character of Robinson Crusoe:

Robinson is the protagonist and the narrator of the novel. He is
individualistic, self-reliant, and adventurous. He continually discounts the
good advice and warnings of his parents and others, and boldly seeks to
make his own life by going to sea. He is at times overly ambitious and is
unable to remain content with a comfortable life (whether in England or
Brazil). Trapped on his island, he learns to survive all alone and also ends
up becoming a devout Christian, repenting for his past sins and gaining a
newfound confidence in God and his divine plan of providence. Robinson's
extreme individualism is at times heroic, but also leads him to disregard
others. While he values the loyal friends he finds over the course of his
journeys (repaying and rewarding the captain's widow and the Portuguese
captain, for example), he sells Xury into a kind of slavery or indentured
servitude and treats Friday as an inferior servant. His self-reliance can also
shade into narcissism, reflected in his narration's focus on himself and
disregard for others: most of the other characters in the novel don't even

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get a name. But in spite of any of these faults, Defoe presents Robinson as
the novel's intrepid hero, who draws on reserves of ingenuity and bravery
to survive incredibly against the whims of nature and fate.

While he is no flashy hero or grand epic adventurer, Robinson Crusoe

displays character traits that have won him the approval of generations of
readers. His perseverance in spending months making a canoe, and in
practicing pottery making until he gets it right, is praiseworthy.
Additionally, his resourcefulness in building a home, dairy, grape arbor,
country house, and goat stable from practically nothing is clearly
remarkable. The Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau applauded
Crusoe’s do-it-yourself independence, and in his book on
education, Emile, he recommends that children be taught to imitate
Crusoe’s hands-on approach to life. Crusoe’s business instincts are just as
considerable as his survival instincts: he manages to make a fortune in
Brazil despite a twenty-eight-year absence and even leaves his island with
a nice collection of gold. Moreover, Crusoe is never interested in portraying
himself as a hero in his own narration. He does not boast of his courage in
quelling the mutiny, and he is always ready to admit unheroic feelings of
fear or panic, as when he finds the footprint on the beach. Crusoe prefers
to depict himself as an ordinary sensible man, never as an exceptional hero.

That Robinson Crusoe is a Defoe character is evident from the moment he

finds himself shipwrecked. He acts immediately in the interest of survival,
salvaging such necessities as he can from the stricken ship and building a
rude shelter. Yet Crusoe’s concern is not only for his physical well-being;
he begins a journal in which he plans to record his spiritual progress as it
is reflected in the daily activities that mark his sojourn on the island. For
nearly two decades, Crusoe works to create a life for himself, building what
he needs, improvising where he must, and ultimately replicating a little
corner of England on the desert island. What he accomplishes is beyond
basic survival; he fashions an English life that is dependent on the
transformation of raw materials into the necessities of his culture. He plants
grain that he bakes into bread, he domesticates goats so that he might
have milk, and he turns a cave into a cozy fortified dwelling that boasts
comfortable furniture. When Friday arrives, Crusoe’s little English empire is
complete: the conqueror has mastered both the territory and its people.

Having survived the shipwreck, Crusoe has become strongly aware of his
vulnerability as a human being, and throughout the narrative he insists that
his life is proof of the workings of divine Providence. Consequently, he often
reflects on the spiritual lessons to be learned not only from his experiences
on the island but also from the events in his life that led to his sojourn so
far from home. This reflection is typical of Defoe’s narrators, who look on
life’s experiences as a series of symbolic occurrences pointing to the
connections between the spiritual and the secular.

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Defoe has created in Robinson Crusoe a man very like himself—and very
much a typical eighteenth-century Englishman. Crusoe’s plebeian origins,
his earnest industry, his tendency to see religious meaning in the mundane,
and his talent for overcoming misfortune are all Defoe’s qualities. Like the
average Englishman of his time, Crusoe is something of a bigot, and
although he treats Friday well, the slave is never offered his freedom and
must call Crusoe “Master.” Crusoe triumphs over his circumstances and
environment, and indeed he manages to provide himself with a little
paradise on earth; but he is English to the core, and with the first
opportunity he returns to England and settles down to family life.

Finally, while not boasting of heroism, Crusoe is nonetheless very

interested in possessions, power, and prestige. When he first calls himself
king of the island it seems jocund, but when he describes the Spaniard as
his subject we must take his royal delusion seriously, since it seems he
really does consider himself king. His teaching Friday to call him “Master,”
even before teaching him the words for “yes” or “no,” seems obnoxious
even under the racist standards of the day, as if Crusoe needs to hear the
ego-boosting word spoken as soon as possible. Overall, Crusoe’s virtues
tend to be private: his industry, resourcefulness, and solitary courage
make him an exemplary individual. But his vices are social, and his urge
to subjugate others is highly objectionable. In bringing both sides
together into one complex character, Defoe gives us a fascinating glimpse
into the successes, failures, and contradictions of modern man.

Robinson Crusoe is often described as one of the major forerunners of the

novel. Although written as a travel narrative, it displays many of the
modern novel’s major characteristics: realism (through verisimilitude, the
first-person narrator, imagery from the natural world, and copious detail),
interesting and believable characters engaged in plausible adventures and
activities, and an engaging story.

Short Note on Friday

Probably the first non-white character to be given a realistic, individualized,

and humane portrayal in the English novel, Friday has a huge literary and
cultural importance. If Crusoe represents the first colonial mind in fiction,
then Friday represents not just a Caribbean tribesman, but all the natives
of America, Asia, and Africa who would later be oppressed in the age of
European imperialism. At the moment when Crusoe teaches Friday to call
him “Master” Friday becomes an enduring political symbol of racial injustice
in a modern world critical of imperialist expansion.
Recent rewritings of the Crusoe story emphasize the sad consequences of
Crusoe’s failure to understand Friday and suggest how the tale might be
told very differently from the native’s perspective.

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Aside from his importance to our culture, Friday is a key figure within the
context of the novel. In many ways he is the most vibrant character
in Robinson Crusoe, much more charismatic and colourful than his master.
Indeed, Defoe at times underscores the contrast between Crusoe’s and
Friday’s personalities, as when Friday, in his joyful reunion with his father,
exhibits far more emotion toward his family than Crusoe. Whereas Crusoe
never mentions missing his family or dreams about the happiness of seeing
them again, Friday jumps and sings for joy when he meets his father, and
this emotional display makes us see what is missing from Crusoe’s stodgy
heart. Friday’s expression of loyalty in asking Crusoe to kill him rather than
leave him is more heartfelt than anything Crusoe ever says or does. Friday’s
sincere questions to Crusoe about the devil, which Crusoe answers only
indirectly and hesitantly, leave us wondering whether Crusoe’s knowledge
of Christianity is superficial and sketchy in contrast to Friday’s full
understanding of his own god Benamuckee. In short, Friday’s exuberance
and emotional directness often point out the wooden conventionality of
Crusoe’s personality.

Despite Friday’s subjugation, however, Crusoe appreciates Friday much

more than he would a mere servant. Crusoe does not seem to value
intimacy with humans much, but he does say that he loves Friday, which is
a remarkable disclosure. It is the only time Crusoe makes such an
admission in the novel, since he never expresses love for his parents,
brothers, sisters, or even his wife. The mere fact that an Englishman
confesses more love for an illiterate Caribbean ex-cannibal than for his own
family suggests the appeal of Friday’s personality. Crusoe may bring Friday
Christianity and clothing, but Friday brings Crusoe emotional warmth and
a vitality of spirit that Crusoe’s own European heart lacks.

Short Note on The Portuguese captain

The Portuguese captain is presented more fully than any other European in
the novel besides Crusoe, more vividly portrayed than Crusoe’s widow
friend or his family members. He appears in the narrative at two very
important junctures in Crusoe’s life. First, it is the Portuguese captain who
picks up Crusoe after the escape from the Moors and takes him to Brazil,
where Crusoe establishes himself as a plantation owner. Twenty-eight
years later, it is again the Portuguese captain who informs Crusoe that his
Brazilian investments are secure, and who arranges the sale of the
plantation and the forwarding of the proceeds to Crusoe. In both cases, the
Portuguese captain is the agent of Crusoe’s extreme good fortune. In this
sense, he represents the benefits of social connections. If the captain had
not been located in Lisbon, Crusoe never would have cashed in on his
Brazilian holdings. This assistance from social contacts contradicts the
theme of solitary enterprise that the novel seems to endorse. Despite

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Crusoe’s hard individual labor on the island, it is actually another human
being—and not his own resourcefulness—that makes Crusoe wealthy in the
end. Yet it is doubtful whether this insight occurs to Crusoe, despite his
obvious gratitude toward the captain.

Moreover, the Portuguese captain is associated with a wide array of virtues.

He is honest, informing Crusoe of the money he has borrowed against
Crusoe’s investments, and repaying a part of it immediately even though it
is financially difficult for him to do so. He is loyal, honoring his duties toward
Crusoe even after twenty-eight years. Finally, he is extremely generous,
paying Crusoe more than market value for the animal skins and slave boy
after picking Crusoe up at sea, and giving Crusoe handsome gifts when
leaving Brazil. All these virtues make the captain a paragon of human
excellence, and they make us wonder why Defoe includes such a character
in the novel. In some ways, the captain’s goodness makes him the moral
counterpart of Friday, since the European seaman and the Caribbean
cannibal mirror each other in benevolence and devotion to Crusoe. The
captain’s goodness thus makes it impossible for us to make oversimplified
oppositions between a morally bankrupt Europe on the one hand, and
innocent noble savages on the other.