The role of religion in Robinson Crusoe

The role of religion in Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe

by Omar García Pérez

In this essay, I will talk about how Daniel Defoe (c. 1660-1731) illustrates the role of religion in his original work Robinson Crusoe (1719); a novel of historical fiction which marked the beginning of realistic fiction as a literary genre, and is now widely considered as the classic of survival narrative.

Like countless of other works in literature, this novel has been object to many different, and sometimes contrary interpretations. Some interpreters – like some classmates in my literature class – have affirmed, without clarification, that the novel merely deals with the topics of colonialism, a “do-it-for-yourself” philosophy, and the struggles of travel and colonial adventure (Novak, 1968). The topic of religion, they argue, should be diminished in this novel because that was just a cultural aspect, common in the books produced in the epoch, but unimportant or “irrelevant” for the plot and the author. Is that interpretation fair to Defoe’s motives? or is it actually a short-sighted misinterpretation? Does religion plays a decisive role in the plot? or is it just a scenical aspect of the story? and, moreover, what can help us understand the message the author wanted to give?

Clearly, no other person can answer these questions better than the very author, who since the Preface of the first volume, expressly wrote that one of the main reasons his book had been written for was “to justify and honor the Wisdom of Providence in all the Variety of our Circumstances, let them happen how they will” (Defoe, 1815:IV). This cannot be but a confirmation of Defoe’s desire to deal with a spiritual message in Robinson Crusoe, and it serves us to approach this book expecting a depiction of the author's religious beliefs.

Defoe was a protestant who was no sympathizer of the high-church, nor of the Dissenters (IXIX. Review, VII. 245, 246). In fact he was more in line with the low-church (evangelicalism) as he was a deeply religious presbyterian in denomination, who treasured John Bunyan’s famous Pilgrim’s Progress (Hazlitt, 1840: CXLII; Roberts, 1995:XV; Stocks, 2002:5; Books, LLC, 2010). With this influence, it is no surprise that both Bunyan and Defoe have sometimes been considered among the fathers of the modern English novel (Chapman, 1892:610), and as we notice in certain declarations of faith, Defoe was definitely influenced by Bunyan’s idea of writing an “allegorical” novel in its nature, where he could represent “Meaning in every Circumstance of Life, in every Event; to learn to understand the End and Design of Providence in every thing that happens, what is the Design of Providence in it, respecting our selves and what our Duty to do upon the particular Occasion that offers” (Defoe, 1720: 206-211).

Indeed, whoever reads the original version of the novel, can realize how much it is full with religious symbolisms, biblical allusions, Christian moral messages, and theological perspectives. 

This is why, a number of authors have interpreted it as a spiritual biography (Starr, 1965) or, like Juan Antonio Ortega y Medina, as a Puritan allegory in which “God's hands are manifested everywhere; providential and mysterious decrees operating all around, urging Robinson to undertake his duties and letting each action being properly judged and rewarded if applicable” (1976:6).

As we begin the analysis of the story in its entirety, Robinson Crusoe’s brief life in England, somehow resembles the biblical Adam, inasmuch as he had experienced felicity, safety and rest in a paradise where he had at hand everything he needed. Like Adam too, Robinson was  disobedient to his father’s warnings, and this brought the fall as a result. In Chapter XIV, Robinson would recall this: “my original sin, my subsequent mistakes of the same kind had been the means of my coming into this miserable condition”. He was tempted by the idea of reaching higher benefits and profit through sailing and trading, pursuing colonial prosperity on board of "a slave-gathering expedition to West Africa”. But as a result, Robinson was punished with vicissitudes and his fate was to be thrown into places where, ever after, he had to win his food through painful toil and win the food by the sweat of his brow, (all as in Genesis 3:18-19).

Reaping what he sow, Robinson was enslaved for 24 years, until he escaped (Ch. II). In those moments he was not concerned with God, since we are told that had a “wicked and hardened life past”, never having thanked God or mentioned his name “unless it was to swear by, and blaspheme it“(Ch. IX). His current situation, however, moves him to pray for the first time in his life (Ch. VI), and he did so because he was spiritually and physically shipwrecked. Robinson had been warned in a dream that he had to repent, or die, and the castaway was convicted of his past’ wickedness and cried out to God asking for help. He later comments that thanks to this retired part of his life, he began to read The Bible like never before, and only then was he “capable of understanding enough his duty of sincere repentance for his sins” before God (Ch. XV).

He comes to experience “thankfulness for [his] condition” because in his adversity, he had been kept alive even though he did not deserve it. In this way, Crusoe perceives God’s mercy and gradually experiments a serious religious conversion. Thenceforth the focus of the book, like that of Pilgrim’s Progress, turns to "describe the difficulties attending a Christian convert before he reaches final deliverance” (Hunter, 1966:178).

First he saves a “savage” that was about to die eaten by his enemies. The victim as a result submits himself to Crusoe in gratitude for his deliverance. Crusoe names him Friday; and takes him as his servant. (But note that he is taken as a servant, not as a slave). The difference is important as several editors have pointed out (Evans, 2010:28; Carey & Festa, 2009:125; Owens, 2009:42). Slaves were forced to work, they were violently treated, and they were kept as “property” by coercion, whereas servants were voluntary employed, they retained their certain freedom, they received payment, and humane treatment. Robinson never hurts or disparages Friday and he refuses to force him to do things without his consent (Defoe, 1840:361). He governs him with respect and concern for the state of his soul. In the novel, Crusoe first sought colonial prosperity in a ship of slavery, but then the ship sank and he was punished for that. After his conversion, he kept Friday as a servant, but there is a moment of reflection when he realizes that, on the inside, natives are equal to the civilized people inasmuch as they have “the same powers, the same reason, the same affections, the same sentiments of kindness and obligation, the same passions… the same sense of gratitude, sincerity, fidelity, and all the capacities of doing good, and receiving of doing good that God has give to us.” (Ch. X). All this certainly reflects a position impressed in the poem "Reformation of Manners" (1702), where Defoe protested against the mistreatment of people kept in slavery and said: "I abhor the principles of slavery, let them come form, or be professed by, whom they will." (Devis, 2010:26). Notably, Friday will not only be referred to as a faithful servant but as a good “companion”, and even a friend, who ends up going home with Crusoe.

The conversion of Friday to Christianity himself is also of great importance. Modern versions have greatly misrepresented or taken away this essential element of the novel (See the Appendix). However, Friday’s openness and inquiries about Robinson’s religion in the novel, mark more the beginning of a change especially for the native, who is moralized and civilized, an evangelist duty Defoe almost unmistakably wanted to depict for the civilized man.

The way in which Robinson overcomes the tests of Providence and his struggles (with faith, gratitude and hard work) resembles the manner in which the biblical Job was tested and strengthened; so much that Robinson, states: “indeed, that the latter end of Job was better than the beginning” (Ch. XIX), ends up with a former fortune kept by a widow, and he was blessed with prosperity in the colonies. 

In conclusion, Robinson Crusoe contains religious references because the story itself is deeply based on religious concepts. One of this is the symbolism of the cross, impressed in the identity of the protagonist, who is named Robinson Kreutznaer, (a German word which resembles the word “Cross”). In the Christian religion, this symbol captures the sacrifice of Jesus, but also implies the death of the human’s sinful nature, and the beginning of a death to this world. By linking this symbol with the last name of the protagonist, Defoe suggests that it was part of Robinson’s destiny to be redeemed, and by erecting the cross on the island the date of his arrival, Robinson’s act seems to mark a symbolical beginning of such a change, even though Robinson’s conversion seems to have been progressive, rather than immediate.

Other books deal with the role of religion in society, but by setting all events in an island near Trinidad – or near the Trinity -, this novel deals instead with the personal impact of religion in an individual’s domain. Not of any individual, but of someone who have been lost and shipwrecked. This is why, in my very view, Robinson’s Crusoe does not embodies an apology of colonialism whatsoever, but instead, an religious illustration or spiritual journey -- of repentance, conversion, change and search -- of a civilized colonial man, and his black native faithful servant. 

Bibliography

• Books, LLC, (2010). English Presbyterians:. General Books LLC
• Carey, Daniel, Festa Lynn (2009). The Postcolonial Enlightenment : Eighteenth-Century Colonialism and Postcolonial Theory. Oxford University Press.
• Chapman, J. (1892). The Westminster Review, Volume 138.
• Defoe, Daniel. (1815). Crusoe, written by himsel. Oxford University.
• Defoe, Daniel. (1720). Serious Reflections During the Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe With his Vision of the Angelic World. W. Taylor.
• Defoe, Daniel; Ed. by Davis, Evan (2010). Robinson Crusoe. Broadview Press.
• Defoe, Daniel; Ed. by Hazlitt, William (1840). The Works of Daniel Defoe: With a Memoir of His Life and Writings. Volume 1. J. Clements,
• Defoe, Daniel. Ed. by Prince, David. (1996). The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. London. Seeley, Service & Co. Limited. Access date: September 2014. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/521/521-h/521-h.htm
• Defoe, Daniel; Ed. by Roberts, Doreen (1995). Robinson Crusoe. Wordsworth Editions.
• Defoe, Daniel; Ed. by Grandville. The life and adventures of Robinson Crusoe: With a memoir of the author. Willoughby
• Josbd.com (2013). Robinson Crusoe is a religious or spiritual allegory.
• Access date: September (2014): http://josbd.com/robinson_crusoe.html
• Hunter, J. Paul. (1966). The reluctant pilgrim: Defoe's emblematic method and quest for form in Robinson Crusoe. Johns Hopkins Press.
• Infinity Plus One. (2004). Does Robinson Crusoe Improve as a Person?. Fiction Press. Acces: September 2014
• https://www.fictionpress.com/s/1769850/1/Does-Robinson-Crusoe-Improve-as-a-Person
• Maximillian E. Novak. The Journal of English and Germanic Philology. Vol. 67, No. 1 (Jan. 1968). Access date: September 2014
• http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/27705499?uid=3738664&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21104717122113
• Ortega y Medina, Juan Antonio (1976).  Discurso de Recepción. Academia Mexicana de la Historia. Access date: September 2014
• http://www.acadmexhistoria.org.mx/pdfs/discursos/SILLON_11_ORTEGA_MEDINA.pdf
• Owens, W.R. (2009). London: Pickering & Chatto. The Novels of Daniel Defoe. London. Pickering & Chatto
• Shmoop University (2014). Robinson Crusoe: Themes: Religion. Access date: September 2014
• http://www.shmoop.com/robinson-crusoe/religion-theme.html
• Starr, George A. (1965). Defoe & Spiritual Autobiography. Gordian Press, Inc. Princeton University Press
• Stocks, Tiphanie N. (2002). Daniel Defoe and the Reform of the English Nation: An Examination of His Moralistic Writings. ProQuest. ISBN 9780549726012
• Todd, Dennis; Wall, J., Cynthia; Hunterm, Paul. (2001). Eighteenth-century Genre and Culture. University of Delaware Press.

Appendix 

Many modern retellings of Robinson Crusoe have taken some religious aspects away, and added some contrary elements instead. This appendix takes as an example the 1997 film version of the story. If we only compare this contemporary remaking to Defoe’s original book, we see these major differences that alter the meaning of the story and completely change the approach towards religion in general, and Christianity in particular.  

Daniel Defoe’s novel (1719)	1997 movie
Robinson is enslaved for 24 years (Ch. II).	Robinson is never enslaved.
Robinson experiences a religious conversion, a vision dream in which he is told to repent.	Robinson does not experience a conversion whatsoever.
Friday escapes and Robinson shoots his persecutors, injuring one and resultantly killing the other. Friday kills the injured native.	Robinson kills the natives with a gun and only then can Friday escape.
Friday willingly vows in gratitude to Robinson.	Friday is forcibly chained by Robinson.
Robinson takes Friday as a servant.	Robinson takes Friday as a slave.
Robinson’s attitude toward Friday is loving, monitored and fatherly (Ch. XIV). Friday is loyal to him.	Robinson’s attitude towards Friday is first rude, irritate, and harsh. Friday leaves him because of it.
As Robinson instructs Friday “in the knowledge of the true God”, the native shows himself cheerful and deeply interested. He “listened with great attention, and received with pleasure the notion of Jesus Christ being sent to redeem us” (Ch. XV).	Robinson fanatically and intolerably preaches to Friday about the Creator. Friday seems rather puzzled and confused by Robinson’s preaching, and he informs from the beginning that he dislikes Robinson’s religion.
Friday concludes the Christian God must be “a greater God than their Benamuckee”, since pagan priests say the cannibal’s god is not supposed to listen in the ground unless they climb to the mountain.   Nature assists Robinson’s arguments to evidence to Friday “the necessity of a great First Cause” (Ch. XV).	Friday reacts negatively to Robinson’s idea of God and he conclusively states “I don’t like your God.”    He informs he prefers the cannibal’s pagan crocodile god who is said to hear cannibals even in the trees and in the water.
Friday becomes a Christian and ends up accepting Robinson’s lifestyle. Robinson comments: “this savage was now a good Christian, a much better than I” (Ch. XVI).	Robinson ends up accepting Friday’s cultural lifestyle and somehow forsakes his Christianity.
Robinson ponders whether killing natives goes against the principles of his religion. Friday tries to convince Robinson to Christianize and civilize other cannibals in the island, asking him to “teach wild mans be good… tell them know God, pray God, and live new life” (Ch. XVI). Friday shows himself enthusiastic about it.   They both end up in England.	Robinson and Friday go against the enemy cannibal tribe. Robinson fanatically appears to  believe himself to be superior, he becomes a Lord, a swordman and kind of a warrior against natives. He also fights Friday and, at the end, Friday is murdered on the island.

“The writing of history reflects the interests, predilections, and even prejudices of a given generation” said John Hope Franklin, and the writing of this story is not the exception. In the space and time in which Defoe lived, Christianity was more favored and was generally viewed with more public sympathy, whereas today, it is approached with contempt by many circles in mainstream media. This movie version greatly misrepresents the original story especially in what concerns to the role of religion: it disfavors what Defoe wanted to favour, and replaces his religious sentiment with elements adverse to it, turning a justification of “the Wisdom of Providence in all the Variety of our Circumstances”, into an attack against it.