Master Slave relationship in Robinson Crusoe

1. PANDYA VIDHYA SEM 1
VIDHUPANDYA10497@GMAIL.COM
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, MKBU
PAPER NO : 2 THE NEO CLASSICAL AGE.
MASTER – SLAVE’S
RELATIONSHIP IN ROBINSON
CRUSOE

2. DANIEL DEFOE
• BORN IN 1660 IN LONDON, ENGLAND
• ENGLISH WRITER, JOURNALIST, NOVELIST AND POET
• HE WAS THE FIRST OF THE GREAT 18TH CENTURY
ENGLISH NOVELISTS.
• WROTE MORE THAN 500 BOOKS, PAMPHLETS,
ARTICLES AND POEMS.
• MOST FAMOUS FOR HIS NOVEL “ROBINSON CRUSOE”.
• WORKS: 1.ROBINSON CRUSOE, 2. MOLL FLANDERS, 3.
LEGION’S MEMORIAL, 4. ROXANA

3. ROBINSON CRUSOE
• ROBINSON CRUSOE IS A NOVEL BY DANIEL DEFOE
• FIRST PUBLISHED ON 25TH APRIL, 1719
• ROBINSON CRUSOE IS THE CHIEF PROTAGONIST OF THE NOVEL
• NARRATOR AS WELL AS HERO OF AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOVEL
• ADVENTURES NOVEL OR ADVENTURES JOURNEY
• ROBINSON IS FOND OF VOYAGING,HIS FATHER WANTS TO SEE
HIM AS A LAWYER BUT HE HAD LEAST INTEREST IN IT.

4. WHAT IS THE MASTER – SLAVE RELATIONSHIP
?
• FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE’S :- WORKS IN PARTICULAR THE FIRST ESSAY OF “ON THE
GENEALOGY OF MORALITY”.
• NIETZSCHE ARGUED THAT....THERE WERE 2 FUNDAMENTAL TYPES OF MORALITY
:-
• 1. MASTER MORALITY
• 2. SLAVE MORALITY

5. MASTER –SLAVE MORALITY
MASTER MORLITY :-
• VALUES PRIDE AND POWER
• WEIGHT ACTIONS ON GOOD OR BAD
CONSEQUENCES
SLAVE MORALITY :-
• VALUES THINGS LIKE KINDNESS,
EMPATHY AND SYMPATHY
• WEIGHT ACTIONS ON A SCALE OF
GOOD OR EVIL INTENTIONS.

6. ROBINSON CRUSOE AND
FRIDAY
[ MASTER – SLAVE ]
• CRUSOE IS THE MASTER
• FRIDAY IS THE SLAVE WHO IS TO SERVE HIS MASTER FOR
AS LONG AS HE LIVES.
• THIS COLONIAL MASTER - SLAVE RELATIONSHIP ASPECT
OF THE RELATIONSHIP IS EXPRESSED IN TEXT :-
“ I (CRUSOE) MADE HIM KNOW HIS NAME SHOULD BE
FRIDAY... I LIKEWISE TAUGHT HIM TO SAY “MASTER”, AND
THEN LET HIM KNOW THAT WAS TO BE MY NAME’S”.
• CRUSOE NEVER INFORM FRIDAY OF HIS REAL NAME, WHICH
DISPLAY A CERTAIN “HIERARCHY”.

7. HEART OF DARKNESS
• HEART OF DARKNESS IS THE NOVELLA WRITTEN BY
JOSEPH CONRAD
• RAISE QUESTIONS ABOUT IMPERIALISM AND RACISM
• HEART OF DARKNESS MEANS “HEART OF AFRICA”.
• THE CHARACTER NAMED KURTZ WHO IS EXTREMELY
HUNGRY FOR POWER AND POSITION COLONIES THE
INTERIOR OF AFRICA.
• EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM HAD REACHED IN AFRICA.

8. RACISM
• IN ROBINSON CRUSOE FRIDAY TREAT AS AN HE
WOULD AN ANIMAL.
• IN BLUEST EYE – RACISM
• BECAUSE OF AFRICAN AMERICAN GIRL
• BECAUSE OF DARK SKIN SHE CONSISTENTLY REGARDED
AS UGLY.

9. IDENTITY CRISIS
• ROBINSON CRUSOE – IDENTITY CRISIS
• IN NAMESAKE NOVEL – IDENTITY CRISIS OF THE
CHARACTER NAMED GOAL.

10. CONCLUSION
• WE ARE ALWAYS IN UNDER TRAP
OF SOME ONE, SOMETHING AND
SOMEWHERE. TO BE A FREE IS
HUMAN WISH ALWAYS BUT WE
SWINGS BETWEEN MASTER AND
SLAVE. SOMETIME WE AS MASTER
AND SOMETIMES AS A SLAVE.