In the very beginning of Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe gives us an elaborate explanation of middle-state life by the mouth of Crusoe's father, which, I think, is a shared idea among us. I did agree with Crusoe’s father’s point of view that “it was man of desperate fortunes on one hand, or of aspiring, superior fortunes on the other, who went abroad upon adventures , to rise by enterprise, and make themselves famous In undertaking of a nature out of the common road…”, however, I changed my mind after reading the fantastic novel. Middle state, just like what Crusoe’s father said, will not be susceptible to miseries or hardships or embarrassed with the pride and luxury. Yet I believe now that most breakthroughs in human history are achieved by those adventurers, instead those who always in their comfort zone.
There are two potential sources of inspiration of the protagonist Robinson Crusoe. One is Alexander Selkirk, who had been marooned in the island of Juan Fenandez off the coast of Chile for more than four years. On his return to England in 1709, Selkirk’s experience became known, and Richard Steele published an account of them on The Englishman, without, however, attracting any attention. That Defoe used Selkirk’s story was practically certain; but with his usual duplicity he claimed to have written Robinson Crusoe in 1708, a year before Selkirk’s return; the other, according to Tim Severin's book Seeking Robinson Crusoe, is Henry Pitman, a castaway who had been surgeon to the Duke of Monmouth. Pitman's short book about his desperate escape from a Caribbean penal colony for his part in the Monmouth Rebellion, his shipwrecking and subsequent desert island misadventures was published by J. Taylor of Paternoster Street, London, whose son William Taylor later published Defoe's novel. Severin argues that since Pitman appears to have lived in the lodgings above the father's publishing house and since Defoe was a mercer in the area at the time. Defoe may have met Pitman and learned of his experiences as a castaway. If he didn't meet Pitman, Severin points out that Defoe, upon submitting even a draft of a novel about a castaway to his publisher, would undoubtedly have learned about Pitman's book published by his father, especially since the interesting castaway had previously lodged with them at their former premises. Either way, we just have to admit that the detailed and vivid description by Defoe gives life to Robinson Crusoe—it is a masterpiece indeed.
The original character of man Friday is also mentioned in his book. Severin provides evidence that another publicized case of a real-life marooned Miskito Central American man named only as Will may have caught Defoe's attention, inspiring the depiction of man Friday in his novel.
Robinson Crusoe was influential in creating a colonialization mythology. As novelist James Joyce noted that the true symbol of the British Empire is Robinson Crusoe, to whom he ascribed stereotypical and somewhat hostile English racial characteristics: "He is the true prototype of the British colonist. ... The whole Anglo-Saxon spirit in Crusoe: the manly independence, the unconscious cruelty, the persistence, the slow yet efficient intelligence, the sexual apathy, the calculating taciturnity." In a sense Crusoe attempts to replicate his society on the island. This is achieved through the use of European technology, agriculture and even a rudimentary political hierarchy. Several times in the novel Crusoe refers to himself as the "king" of the island, while the captain describes him as the "governor" to the mutineers. At the very end of the novel the island is explicitly referred to as a "colony". The idealized master-servant relationship Defoe depicts between Crusoe and Friday can also be seen in terms of cultural imperialism. Crusoe represents the "enlightened" European while Friday is the "savage" who can only be redeemed from his barbarous way of life through assimilation into Crusoe's culture. Nonetheless Defoe also takes the opportunity to criticize the historic Spanish conquest of South America.
Robinson Crusoe is filled with religious aspects. Defoe was a Puritan moralist and normally worked in the guide tradition, writing books on how to be a good Puritan Christian, such as The New Family Instructor and Religious Courtship. While Robinson Crusoe is far more than a guide, it shares many of the themes and theological and moral points of view. It has even been speculated that God the Guide of Youth inspired Robinson Crusoe because of a number of passages in that work that are closely tied to the novel. A leitmotif of the novel is the Christian notion of Providence, penitence and redemption. Crusoe comes to repent of the follies of his youth. Defoe also foregrounds this theme by arranging highly significant events in the novel to occur on Crusoe's birthday. The denouement culminates not only in Crusoe's deliverance from the island, but his spiritual deliverance, his acceptance of Christian doctrine, and in his intuition of his own salvation.
When confronted with the cannibals, Crusoe wrestles with the problem of cultural relativism. Despite his disgust, he feels unjustified in holding the natives morally responsible for a practice so deeply ingrained in their culture. Nevertheless, he retains his belief in an absolute standard of morality; he regards cannibalism as a "national crime" and forbids Friday from practicing it.
According to J. P. Hunter, Robinson is not a hero but an everyman. He begins as a wanderer, aimless on a sea he does not understand, and ends as a pilgrim, crossing a final mountain to enter the promised land. The book tells the story of how Robinson becomes closer to God, not through listening to sermons in a church but through spending time alone amongst nature with only a Bible to read.
As the main character in this novel, Robinson Crusoe showed us great adventurousness, creativeness, persistence and strong mind, though sometimes he also got breakdown. In the novel, Crusoe had gone out to sea three times before he got trapped in the virgin island. During the first time of his voyage, he was hit by a severe storm that almost killed him. He regretted not listening to his father’s advice immediately when the storm begun but changed his mind after surviving from it. Struggling and despair inside, Crusoe never gave up the hope of life even though he was haunted by bad luck. He tried so hard to pull himself together when miserable things happened. His strong religious belief helped gone through all of those hardships. Sometimes people deify those heroes as if they will not be emotional at all. I was thinking why he was not upset when he was cast away on the desolate place, however, the truth is, he did feel upset, even to the extent of despair. “ …the tears would run plentifully down my face when I made these reflections; and sometimes I would expostulate with myself why Providence should thus completely ruin His creatures, and render them so absolutely miserable; so without help, abandoned, so entirely depressed, that it could hardly be rational to be thankful for such a life.”
Nevertheless, he always made it and felt grateful to God. When fate beat him harshly, he took it as an arrangement of the Creator and tried to see the optimistic aspect of life.
Generally speaking, Defoe put this novel in a less touchable way, yet, still, there are several moving scenes in this novel, most of which are related to Friday. The first scene happened when Crusoe tried to ask Friday to go back to his motherland without him. Friday was so angry and confused by his master’s request, threatening that Crusoe would better kill him with a hatchet if he wants to send Friday away. Putting the colonialism aside, I’d say this master-servant relation is found touching. Friday is such a loyal assistant. Another scene is about profound love between Friday and his father. “ But when Friday came to hear him speak, and look in his face, it would have moved any one to tears to have seen how Friday kissed him, embraced him, hugged him, cried again, wrung his hands, beat his own face and head; and then sang and jumped about again like a distracted creature.” Unlike our stereotype of relentless cannibals, Defoe showed us a touching image of the reunion between father and son after disasters. This provides us with a different perspective of cannibals—they are not only the unaffectionate man-eating creatures but have feelings towards their families.
Daniel Defoe is often given the credit for the discovery of the modern novel, though whether or not he deserves that honor is an open question. Nevertheless, he depicted such a real state of life in the 18th century as colonialism, adventurousness in sea and the huge influence of religion. Defoe impressed us not only with his abundant imagination, also his vivid description of details.
有一部分是借鉴来的，排版似乎因为软件问题乱了。如果发现马上修改。
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