2. Background
Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) was born in London. As a young
child, he experienced some highly unusual historical events.
In 1665, the Great Plague killed nearly 25% of London's
population.
In 1666, the Great Fire of London ravaged much of the city.
Defoe's parents were dissenters—they did not follow the
Church of England. This influenced Defoe's upbringing and
later his career.
English Dissenters disagreed with the Church of England and
separated from it in the 17th and 18th centuries, forming new
Protestant churches. Many branches of Christianity can trace
their history back to dissenters, including today's Baptists,
Presbyterians, and Quakers.
3. Daniel Defoe:
Books and Characters
Daniel Defoe certainly made an impact on English literature.
He broke out of the mold in his inventive style of storytelling,
and because of this, he is often credited as being one of
English literature's first novelists.
Daniel Defoe wrote many works related to his religious views
as well as his political views, which were influenced by his
religion. Defoe frequently wrote in support of freedom of
religion and separation of church and state.
Daniel Defoe wrote some of the first books in English
literature to be about wholly original characters and stories
rather than retellings of old legends or historical events.
4. Robinson Crusoe : genre
Daniel Defoe is widely recognized as an innovator of fictional
prose forms, and Robinson Crusoe is often credited as the first
novel in the English language. Like the novel tradition that
would develop in England throughout the 18th
century, Robinson Crusoe is a long work of prose fiction with
an ordinary person for a protagonist and a wealth of life-like
details.
Unlike other contenders for the title of the first
novel, Robinson Crusoe does not take marriage or family life
as one of its central themes, dealing instead with the exotic,
the extraordinary, and the exciting. If its claim to be the first
novel is uncertain, its claim to be the first adventure novel is
not.
5. Robinson Crusoe: themes
A key theme in Robinson Crusoe is the place of religion
in human affairs, with Robinson Crusoe's biography
intended to illustrate the existence of a benevolent and
all-powerful God.
Individualism, the place of chance and God in human
affairs, and the nature of colonialism are among the
most interesting and important themes developed in the
novel.
6. Individualism
Part of Robinson Crusoe’s enduring appeal is its
depiction of individual self-sufficiency and autonomy. For
the bulk of the 28 years that Crusoe spends marooned on
his island, he is entirely alone. He decides what to do
and how to do it. Through his own hard work and skill,
he's able to recreate many of the comforts of civilized life.
Even when he does encounter others towards the end of
his stay, Crusoe always comes out on top as a master of
slaves or a leader of others. The story of Crusoe’s
adventure is a fantasy of total independence and control.
7. God and Chance
A large part of Defoe’s motivation in writing Robinson Crusoe
was to impart a religious message. Crusoe becomes
increasingly religious as the story progresses, realizing that
God had given him ample warning in the form of storms,
pirates, etc., that disaster would strike him if he didn't follow
his father's advice. He further realizes that his luck in
surviving the shipwreck, in having access to the supplies of
the ship, and in being on an island with water, food sources,
and no dangerous animals could not have happened by
chance. His luck continues after he returns home to England
and finds himself a rich man. Crusoe concludes that only a
loving, forgiving, all-powerful God could account for these
facts.
8. Colonialism
Robinson Crusoe was written at the high-water mark of
British colonialism and the slave trade. Crusoe’s decision
to trade toys for gold in West Africa, his ability to set up
a plantation in Brazil, and his nonchalance about getting
involved in the slave trade are all signs of the times. His
own occupation of a deserted island can also be said to
mirror the colonial process at the individual level:
Crusoe brings agriculture and modern technology to the
island. He even gives one native inhabitant an English
name, makes him his servant, teaches him English, and
converts him to Christianity.
