The role of religion in Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe
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.
