Daniel Defoe reflects us the portrait of a young adventurous English man named Robinson Crusoe who is craving for a life at sea in his first published work Robinson emerges both as a protagonist character and as a narrator throughout the story and tells us his story with plenty of details Robinson Crusoe is encouraged by his family mostly by his father to live a calm and secure life Nevertheless he keeps seeking a life at sea Hence Robinson finds his way out to be at sea by deciding to become a merchant and this decision becomes the starting point for his life which will be full of adventures After some unfortunate expeditions he still keeps his hopes up and becomes a slave merchant because of its economic advantages However this desire to be a slave merchant leads him to another unfortunate expedition that concludes with a shipwrecked and Robinson finds himself alone on an island as the only survivor of the accident Once Robinson overcomes with the consequences of the wreck and the effects of poor conditions on the island he begins to get accustomed to living in solitude He also discovers another sign of life on the island which belongs to the cannibals After a while he saves a man named Friday from the cannibals of the island and becomes the master of him The story goes on with a lot of both fortunate and unfortunate adventures of Robinson Crusoe and also continues even after the salvation of the island
Throughout his famous novel Daniel Defoe focuses on issues which vary differently He has an approach that gives references to religion colonialism and racism All of these issues can be seen in most of the parts of the book and a lot of examples can be given to explain and understand these issues Firstly a great deal of religious issues is seen in the book of Daniel Defoe Biblical references such as the Prodigal Son the Israelites departure from Egypt and Elijah and the Ravens are incorporated as well in order to parallel both Crusoe s spiritual attitude and the changes he undergoes As Alexandra G Macy mentioned in her theses the writer also makes a lot of Biblical references over the course of the story The first example of these issues is Robinson s descriptions of his disobedience to his father He would venture to say to me that if I did take this foolish step God would not bless me and I would have the leisure to reflect upon having neglected his counsel when there might be none to assist in my recovery In this quotation from the book he makes reference to the story of Adam and Eve who left Eden in the Bible and just like them Robinson also leaves behind his family and his life in the best condition Another example of the issues described in the book is Robinson s comparison of Job who is a character in the Bible s chapter XXIX I might well say now indeed that the latter end of Job was better than the beginning It is impossible to express here the flutterings of my very heart when I looked over these letters and especially when I found all my wealth about me for as the Brazil ships come all in fleets the same ships which brought my letters brought my goods Robinson thinks that there is a religious cause for him to live through all those unfortunate events which also includes a great solitude because he left his family and his life behind Hence he believes that all those misfortune was moral teachings to gain the Christian patience Secondly colonialist side of Robinson is another issue in the book In his theses on Colonialism Slavery and Religion in Daniel Defoe s Robinson Crusoe Ghanim Alshammari mentions that Forming a summarized image of British colonialism Crusoe makes Friday into a good servant In the book Robinson creates a master servant relationship with Friday and gives Friday an identity while civilizing and making him a Christian
My island was now peopled and I thought myself very rich in subjects and it was a merry reflection which I frequently made how like a king I looked This quotation from the book is another example of colonialism issue and shows Robinson s ownership reflection Nevertheless he does not talk about any responsibility of his own towards his people but only has the image of people who are grateful for being possessed in Robinson s mind Thirdly the racist approach is seen in many parts of the book of Defoe To set an example I was born in the year 1632 in the city of York of a good family though not of that country my father being a foreigner of Bremen who settled first at Hull He got a good estate by merchandise and leaving off his trade lived afterward at York Even this quotation from the book that Robinson talks about his family shows the racist aspect of him He presents his family neutrally through the terms of origin nationality and etc There isn t any definite emotion or affection for his family in his words Ultimately Robinson s references to the Bible stories and characters his colonialist side towards to the people in the book and his racist personality gives us some important perspectives and facts of these issues that should be taken into consideration while reading the book
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