Analysis Of Robinson Crusoe By Daniel Defoe

992 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The characteristics and the character of the novel robinson Crusoé

Robinson Crusoe, written by Daniel Defoe, is a historical fiction novel that takes place in the 1600’s. Although written by Defoe, the story is told completely in the first person by the main character Robinson. It allows the reader to experience the full story from his perspective and know what is going through his mind during main events. The story occurs in a variety of places, including England, the Brazils, and a deserted island in the Atlantic Ocean. However, a majority of the book takes place on the deserted island that Robinson gets stranded on after a shipwreck. Throughout Robinson’s struggles, he comes to really find himself and many of his discoveries become the themes of the book. During his long tenure on the island, he studies a lot of religion and doctrine related things through his Bible. He grows a closer relationship with God, and strives to repent daily. Overall, Robinson was marooned for a total of 27 years, and had to learn to not give up throughout the journey. He realizes that perseverance is the best way to handle his circumstances, and generally maintains a positive mentality. The plot begins as Robinson is a young man living in England with his parents, seeking a career. He expresses his desire to explore and journey the water as a ship crew member, and …show more content…

Due to the series of unfortunate events that he experiences, the author Daniel Defoe uses a more melancholy, gloomy tone throughout the majority of the story. There were many times in which Robinson had a more negative, pessimistic outlook on the situation during his near 30 year stay on a small island, which is understandable from the reader’s standpoint. These circumstances caused the tone to be more somber as demonstrated by the passage, “Very ill. Frightened almost to death with my sad condition- to be sick and no help. Prayed to God, all my thoughts confused,” (Defoe

Show More
Related

  • Themes In Green Grass Running Water

    703 Words  | 2 Pages

    When Crusoe meets Friday, he is joyous for having found someone he could finally make his slave as he had been previously. Although not fully envious of Robinson Crusoe, Friday is found stuck in between two worlds. One, where he thinks of Robinson as his friend and the other where he wonders why he is being treated as a slave, and not for his own personal benefit. Robinson’s views are purely of self-profit as he describes his dreams: “to think that this was all my own, that I was King and Lord of all this Country indefeasibly, and had a Right of Possession” (Defoe 72). This passage explains the belief of Robinson Crusoe in the feudal system and the use of hierarchy to promote bourgeois values upon the populations. The character of Robinson Crusoe then is used in Green Grass, Running Water in a satirical manner when Thought Woman explains to Crusoe that Robinson Crusoe himself would not enjoy his own company as he is seen by the rest of the world as a white supremacist with no place in native land: “But I don’t want to be Friday, says Robinson Crusoe. No point in being Robinson Crusoe all your life, says Thought Woman. It wouldn’t be much fun”(King 295). This proves that Friday was never a true friend to Crusoe when he also states: “[...]it has been difficult not having someone of color

    Read More

  • Frankenstein Knowledge And Power

    816 Words  | 2 Pages

    The movie recounts how Frankenstein achieves his goal by creating a life- the monster and is unhappy about the outcome. Then, the boat captain, after listening to Dr Frankenstein’s story, changes his mind about his quest and goes home. Overall, the knowledge and power they seek pushes the parallel characters further into a realm of unhappiness, loneliness and

    Read More

  • Moral Economy in Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and Locke’s Second Treatise of Government

    3072 Words  | 7 Pages

    Moral Economy in Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and Locke’s Second Treatise of Government. James Joyce on Robinson Crusoe: “.the man alone, on a desert island, constructing a simple and moral economy which becomes the basis of a commonwealth presided over by a benevolent sovereign” (Liu 731). Issues of property and ownership were important during the 18th century both to scholars and the common man. The case of America demonstrates that politicians, such as Thomas Jefferson, were highly influenced by John Locke’s ideas, including those on property and the individual’s right to it.

    Read More

  • The Impact of Robinson Crusoe Essays on the Ecology of the Island

    649 Words  | 2 Pages

    Daniel Defoe wrote his fictional novel Robinson Crusoe during the 18th century, a time of colonization, and the British agricultural revolution. In the novel Robinson Crusoe desires civilization and comforts during his years on the island, so much that he alters the ecology of the fictional “island” in order to fulfill his craving. Consequently, Robinson Crusoe changes the ecology of the island, with the introduction of invasive species, European crops, and enclosures. Crusoe uses the practices of the British agricultural revolution to colonize the island, and to better his life during his stay.

    Read More

  • Religion Vs. Self-interest in Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe

    2558 Words  | 6 Pages

    Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe. Ed. Thomas Keymer. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008. Print. Oxford World's Classics.

    Read More

  • Robinson Crusoe

    1015 Words  | 3 Pages

    While on a trip off the coast of England, rough winds threw Robinson Crusoe and his crew of sixteen members off course. Right after one of the crew yelled out “land ahoy'; the ship hit a rock and went down. Everybody drowned except Robinson Crusoe, who washed up on a nearby island; he was the only survivor. The next morning he realized what had happened and became scared of dying, because without food or clothes he could not survive. Not knowing what to do, he made a small shack and settled on the island for that night. The very next morning he made a choice to build a raft and go out to the broken boat and explore for items he could find. He was hardworking and smart even in a bad situation. His decision to go back to the boat and risk a chance of being killed by sharks changed his life span. It also proved that he was smart. By making smart decision and thinking wisely, it proved that he was a smart man. “I at once found some food, for I was hungry'; (15). If he had not gone back to the ship he could have starved to death. Robinson needed food and his choice to get it made him survive for a longer time. Even though Robinson had food and shelter he had nobody there to keep him company.

    Read More

  • Comparing Daniel Defoe and Robinson Crusoe

    891 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion, there were many ways Daniel Defoe expressed his own life experiences in Robinson Crusoe, but the comparisons that showed the most were their income, their living conditions, their troubles and even their writing. There were other similarities, but these were the most broad and comparable. The book Robinson Crusoe is like Daniel Defoe writing about himself but in another life as another person. All of the events may not have been exactly the same, but the message behind them remained the same. All in all, Robinson Crusoe and Daniel Defoe were very different people, with similar lives. You can always tell a lot about a person by what and the way they write. Sometimes, you just have to read between the lines.

    Read More

  • Visions of Utopia in Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe

    1901 Words  | 4 Pages

    "Daniel Defoe achieved literary immortality when, in April 1719, he published Robinson Crusoe" (Stockton 2321). It dared to challenge the political, social, and economic status quo of his time. By depicting the utopian environment in which was created in the absence of society, Defoe criticizes the political and economic aspect of England's society, but is also able to show the narrator's relationship with nature in a vivid account of the personal growth and development that took place while stranded in solitude. Crusoe becomes "the universal representative, the person, for whom every reader could substitute himself" (Coleridge 2318). "Thus, Defoe persuades us to see remote islands and the solitude of the human soul. By believing fixedly in the solidity of the plot and its earthiness, he has subdued every other element to his design and has roped a whole universe into harmony" (Woolf 2303).

    Read More

  • Psychological and Presentational Realism in Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe

    1688 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Eighteenth-century literature is popular for its peculiar style of writing that gives the readers an insider’s view in the novel. By combining the two aspects such as Psychological and Presentational Realism, authors have created works of pure masterpiece such as Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe. Defoe illustrates Moll, the protagonist’s psyche by writing the narrative in the first person to imply it as an autobiography. This allows psychological realism to work at its finest since the readers can feel a personal relationship to the character. The two important instances that occur with this type of realism are when Moll realizes that she is married to her own brother and her meeting with Humphrey, her son. In addition, Defoe also uses Presentational Realism to describe Moll’s initial career as thief with her first episode at the apothecary’s shop and later stealing a gold necklace from a child. The manner in which the setting is described gives the readers a sense of feeling of being there and at the same time experiencing her escape from the scene.

    Read More

  • Critical Review of Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe

    1442 Words  | 3 Pages

    Daniel Defoe tells tale of a marooned individual in order to criticize society. By using the Island location, similar to that of Shakespeare's The Tempest, Defoe is able to show his audience exactly what is necessary for the development of a utopian society. In The Tempest, the small society of Prospero's island addresses the aspects of morality, the supernatural and politics in the larger British society. In Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, the island's natural surroundings highlights the subject of man's individual growth, both spiritually and physically. Nature instantly exercises its power and control over man in the tropical storm that leads to the wreckage of Crusoe's ship. "The fury of the sea" (Defoe, 45) thrusts Crusoe to the shores of the uninhabited "Island of Despair" (Defoe, 70). Isolated on the island, Crusoe is challenged to use his creativity in order to survive.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of Robinson Crusoe

    1172 Words  | 3 Pages

    As boys grow into men they go through a series of changes, leaving them doubting both themselves and their beliefs. One specific author who explores this is Daniel Defoe, the author of Robinson Crusoe. In this publication, Defoe writes about a man who emerges from a series of catastrophes as a symbol of man’s ability to survive the tests of nature. Because of the many hardships that Defoe encountered throughout his life, writing about a man whose thoughts and internal struggles mirrored his own helps to give the publication a sense of realism. Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe is a fictional narrative that introduces prose fiction and proposes multiple themes that dabbles on various serious topics, such as religion.

    Read More

  • The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss

    1055 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss is a story about a family who are shipwrecked on an uninhabited island.

    Read More

  • Nature In Robinson Crusoe: The Purpose Of Nature

    1109 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Purpose of Nature A simple quote from Albert Einstein, “look deep into nature and you will understand everything better,” sums up how the world should be working together; yet it is not. Throughout the stories of Robinson Crusoe, written by Daniel Defoe, Life of Pi, written by Yann Martel, and The Red Turtle, directed by Michael Dudok de Wit, the audience is taken on a journey through nature, showing the differences in the characters based on whether or not they choose to coexist with the natural world. Using natural resources is something that can be described in a few different ways. In the case of Robinson Crusoe, using animals is for his own health and survival.

    Read More

  • Defoe, Richardson, Fielding and the English Novel

    3394 Words  | 7 Pages

    The roots of the novel extend as far back as the beginning of communication and language because the novel is a compilation of various elements that have evolved over the centuries.  The birth of the English novel, however, can be centered on the work of three writers of the 18th century: Daniel Defoe (1660-1731), Samuel Richardson (1689-1761) and Henry Fielding (1707-1754).  Various critics have deemed both Defoe and Richardson the father of the English novel, and Fielding is never discussed without comparison to Richardson.  The choice of these three authors is not arbitrary; it is based on central elements of the novel that these authors contributed which brought the novel itself into place.  Of course, Defoe, Richardson and Fielding added onto styles of the past and writing styles of the period, including moralistic instruction and picaresque stories.  Using writing of the time and the literary tradition of the past, Defoe first crafted the English novel while Richardson and Fielding completed its inception.

    Read More

  • Realism In Robinson Crusoe

    1590 Words  | 4 Pages

    Daniel Defoe has frequently been considered the father of realism in regards to his novel, Robinson Crusoe. In the preface of the novel, the events are described as being “just history of fact” (Defoe and Richetti ). This sets the tone for the story to be presented as factual, while it is in of itself truly fiction. This is the first time that a narrative fictional novel has been written in a way that the story is represented as the truth. Realistic elements and precise details are presented unprecedented; the events that unfold in the novel resonate with readers of the middle-class in such a way that it seems as if the stories could be written about themselves. Defoe did not write his novel for the learned, he wrote it for the large public of tradesmen, apprentices and shopkeepers (Häusermann 439-456).

    Read More

More about Analysis Of Robinson Crusoe By Daniel Defoe

Open Document