Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe and the Virtues of Protestantism

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.

Early American literature is filled with an obvious expression of religion and its redeeming power as well as an acknowledgment of its strength to help human beings bear adversity and triumph in difficult situations. The power of religion, as expressed in early American literature deals more with a sense of

We see the first signs of a Christian centric society take shape in the New World when John Winthrop founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and gave his famous speech, “A Modell of Christian Charity.” (Doc A) He believed it was their duty (the colonists) as Christians to spread the Bible across America and to act as a beacon of civilization - to lead others by example. The widespread implementation of these fundamental principles was the main purpose of his speech.

To Cotton, “the visible church had the task of educating the mass of believers in the spirit of the true religious ideal and the government [shall be] sovereign.”3 He felt that there should be one uniform religion, Puritan, and that God should be the only one to make rules for the Christian people. He believed that a democracy for the church would only make people more inferior to those who were apart of the government. As the colonies began to become less close to their European home front in England and the Church of England, many people began to stray away from the traditional Church of England and join and even create new dominations. So many changes took place in religion and politics that it emphasizes the fact that, “New England was rapidly moving from a state of homogenous Puritanism to heterogeneous colonialism.” 4 The Great Awakening and the Enlightenment played a huge part in the new society and government in the

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.

Religion and faith play numerous roles in people’s lives. From being a unifying factor to alienating people, and from comforting people to terrifying others, the roles of religion is vast and boundless. In The Crucible and “Upon the Burning of Our House”, it is evident that religion and faith play a subconscious role in the lives of people by acting as an inner conscience and by giving people a spiritual peace of mind.

I think they had a great impact on colonization. Religious had a greater impact than Economics on English colonization. Encouraging factors for America’s survival include the effect of the Great Awakening and varied interpretations of this movement.

Thus, Robinson Crusoe was displaying uncertain signs of his belief in God. It isn’t until he is on the uninhabited island that he begins to slowly convert into a full Christian.

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.

This paper is an attempt to examine the seeming opposition of religion vs. self-interest with respect to the character of Robinson Crusoe. I will venture to demonstrate that in the novel, Defoe illustrates the contradictions with which Crusoe must contend as he strives to please God while ensuring his own survival in the world. In part, I will endeavor to show that a distorted sense of Puritanism as well as the existing colonial mindset exacerbated this opposition, and resulted in what I propose to be Defoe's (possibly retroactive) imposition of a religious justification for Crusoe's actions.

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.

I took into consideration that information from different sources are very important in order to complete my thesis in the was that I intended to. Firstly I read the book in Albanian, in order to have clear opinions about the book and then I read it in English. After completing the reading I started doing a lot of researchers on the internet, where I found a lot of books which were written about Robinson Crusoe. I have read different essays, books, newspapers, and critical thoughts from different authors which I found very helpful in order to construct thoughts of my own about the novel. Among them are Christopher Borsing “Daniel Defoe and the Representation of Personal Identity”, John Richetii “The Life of Daniel Defoe: A Critical Biography 2005, John Rochetti “ The Cambridge Companion To Daniel Defoe”, Ian Watt “MYTHS OF MODERN INDIVIDUALISM”,Robinson Crusoe, D. P. LEINSTER-MACKAY The Educational World of Daniel

Robinson behaved as a father for Friday teaching him to speak English and converting him to Christianity. In fact, he changed Friday from cannibalism to a Christian who believes in God. There is a strong spiritual relationship that relates the two men. They engaged in various theological debates finding out that there are some similarities between the two beliefs. Friday’s religion involves the worship of a mountain god named Bemamuckee represented by priests called Oowokakee. Friday has many doubts towards Christianity especially regarding the devil. “If God much strong, much might as the Devil, why God not kill the Devil, so make him no more do wicked?” Crouse shows trouble in answering to this question admitting that with his religious knowledge, he was not able to answer to that question. However all his insecurities about Christianity, Robison succeeds on converting Friday to Christianity. The episode of Crusoe teaching Friday about Christianity resembles the one in Paradise Lost where the angel Raphel teaches Adam about the divine nature of the world. In the last part of the novel, Robinson tells of when he and Friday rescued two prisoners from a group of cannibals discovering that one of the prisoners was Friday’s father. This event seems to be a coincidence because for many years Crusoe treated Friday as his son; therefore, this episode makes him think that Friday was not his