Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe: a Spiritual Biography Essay

In a daze, confused and hurt, Dimmesdale wanders to the place where seven years ago Hester had stood clutching their child to her bosom, to the scaffold where he should have stood beside her all those years ago. While standing on the scaffold, his shirt open revealing his own scarlet letter to the world, he looked up at the pulpit where he had stood all those years ago and realizes the hypocrisy of his past actions. He knew that he was no closer to God than Hester, if anything he was far lower than she was, for she had the courage to admit to her sins and to accept her punishment and make the best of it.

Robinson Crusoe is a man who was lost in the world, stuck at home with his parents, he was expected to be a lawyer, but his heart longed for the sea. Crusoe eventually left home, without telling his parents what he planned. After several voyages, all of which were seemingly “unlucky,” he is shipwrecked on a desert island and is forced to survive with only bare necessities. Many people consider him a hero because of how he dealt with his misfortune. Some people believe that Robinson Crusoe is a likeable and admirable character, but others disagree. Robinson Crusoe is not a likeable or admirable character for three reasons: he is self-absorbed, he lacks emotion, and he is hypocritical.

Robinson Crusoe Christian faith swung wildly between praise and thankfulness for the many times God has saved him from storms, slavery, poverty, starvation and hostile Indians to deepest despair crying out to God way he “among all men was judged unfit to appear among the rest of his creation” (paraphrased) and at the first sign of danger, fear banished all “religious hope” (pg 154) and he forgot the many miracles already provided for his safety and health.

Both Olaudah Equiano and Robinson Crusoe confronted many misfortunes throughout their lives, Crusoe through adversity as a voyager and Equiano through life as a slave. However, they correspondingly persevere through those hardships and evolve into resilient men. Through Equiano and Crusoe’s conversion to Christianity their adventure sailing they are able to discover and develop their identities.

faith, which changes his and the reader’s perception of religion for the remainder of the book.

He took him to buy food and asked him to pray while he goes to get money from the ATM. When he came back he saw Willy as a humbler person, he's prayed to God and God has told Willy that Willy is “firme,” meaning that he is loved and respected. “I returned to the car, twenty dollars in hand and get in. Something has happened here. Willy is quiet, reflective and there is a palpable sense of peace in the vehicle. I look at Willy and say ‘You prayed, didn’t you?’”(Boyle 23). Through this chapter, the theme of Faith is key because of its power to change the demeanor of each and every

“Canessa began a continuous dialogue with God … ‘You can make it tough, God,’ he prayed, ‘but don’t make it impossible.’” Faith and prayer guided the survivors in their decision making on the mountain, and they were essential to the survival of the men. The Catholic faith, along with prayer, can lead a person to do marvelous things. The survivors of the crash in the Andes Mountains were extraordinary examples of this. All of the young men had grown up in Catholic families, and they had received a Catholic education. Because of their strong faith, their relationship with God became a crucial part of their decision making and survival on the mountain. Prayer would reassure them that God was with them and guiding them every day. When the group decided to eat the dead, their

This is an extremely important piece of the story in developing the theme of the story that he is going through a religious transformation. All of the diction syntax and figurative language is geared toward making this earthquake seem as bad as Defoe can make it sound. It has all of that build up and then at the end he states that he never had one serious thought of religion. It shows that he is still on the island and still learning from his previous sins, still in metamorphosis. For example, he uses the word overthrown instead of something like undone or destroyed, it has a more negative connotation.

As soon as Crusoe is washed up on the shore of the island he looked up and thanked God for his life. I would too if I were him because the way he described it, the boat was mighty far away and the waves were massive. It was a miracle he was still breathing considering everyone else had perished in the wreck. After, on page 104, he eases his mind by writing out the comforts and miseries of his current situation. He states, “But God wonderfully sent the ship in near enough to the shore, that I have got out as many necessary things as will either supply my wants or enable me to supply myself, even as long as I live”. Crusoe is acknowledging God’s presence in his survival and how caring he really was. Despite Crusoe’s lack of belief before the incident, God still had mercy on him and for that he was thankful. Furthermore, on page 152, Crusoe states he began to seriously read the Bible every single day for as long as his mind let him. This drove him to throw his hands in the air and cry, “Jesus, thou son of David! Jesus, thou exalted Prince and Saviour! Give me repentance!”. He revealed this was the first time he had truly prayed in all his life. Crusoe at this point is now

The ideas about Biographies for children changed overtime. So, Biographies in Europe and North America in the 17th through the 19th centuries were written about the didactic themes of the Puritans era, the values associated with the American frontier, and the belief

The first reason that Robinson Crusoe is an admirable character is because he devotes himself to growing his spiritual life. First, he asserts, “My duty to God, and the reading scriptures, which I constantly set apart some time from thrice every day.” (Defoe

However, unlike the custom of the times, Crusoe carves out a dedication "I came on shore here of the 30th of Sept. 1659" (Defoe 61) as opposed to a tribute to God or Christ. Next, in his journal, Crusoe begins to relieve himself by listing both the good and evil of his situation. Crusoe confronted with tragedy quickly takes religion into his life, but once again the sincerity in his beliefs can easily be questioned by the reader. Additionally, once Crusoe is settled into his life on the island, he forgets his commitment to religion until he becomes deathly ill. In his journal he writes "Very ill, frighted almost to death with the apprehension of my sad condition ... Prayed to God for the first time since the storm off Hull" (Defoe 84). His strength returns soon then suddenly he falls back into sickness. During this fit of illness he cries out for God to pity and have mercy on him. After waking up feeling better, but thirsty, Crusoe lies in bed and falls back to sleep. While asleep, Crusoe experiences a vision of a man descending from the clouds. The apparition approaches Crusoe, saying "Seeing all these things have not brought thee to repentance, now thou shalt die" (Defoe 85). Crusoe finally realizes all the wickedness in his life, such as disobeying his father and participating in the slave trade for his own profit. While suffering in sickness for another day, at last

Characteristics of the genre adventure, consist of a heroic protagonist, a journey or quest, unusual locations, and action and danger. Characteristics of the genre realistic fiction consist of events that could happen in real life, and the themes represent human experiences.

Crusoe's island, like the Garden of Eden, provides for all his needs. He has complete dominion over this island and all of its inhabitants; yet, he still longs to know the other parts of the island. Like Adam, after his search for knowledge, Crusoe sleeps on the hard cold ground "being quite spent with the Labor and Fatigue of the Voyage." (Note that before the "fall of man," labor was not a source of fatigue.) Here Defoe reminds us that God punishes man who is not

The theme of "man’s relationship to God and the universe" presented in Epistle 1 of Alexander Pope’s "An Essay on Man" complements Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. Crusoe is an inconsistent character who turns to God whenever he is in need, yet fails to maintain respect for nature and for his fellow man. In the first year of Robinson Crusoe’s solitary life on the island, he falls ill and has a terrifying dream that alters his awareness of his place in the universe and God’s control of it. This experience leads him to contemplate his past ingratitude and to embark on a life of piety, reading the Bible daily, though without a drastic or permanent change in his character.