Robinson Crusoe, colonizer or pioneer of change?
Robinson Crusoe, colonizer or pioneer of change? Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe stormed the world with a spirit of adventure new to its era, quickly becoming a classic piece of European literature that even today grasps the attention of both young and old. The tale, as told by a shipwrecked man on his own on an isolated island, allows us to vicariously experience an excitement and discovery that almost does not exist in our modern world, and is surely a large factor in the novel’s popularity. At the same time, the book offers an entire other side of depth to a more mature level of reading; behind the adventure, there s much to delve into, both historically, socially and literarily, including aspects such as imperialism, colonialism, slavery and religion. This paper will discuss some of these ways of analyzing the book in historical context, comparing it with other works relevant to the time period and the changes that took place.
The time period that both Defoe and his character Robert Crusoe (the story is set to before Dafoe’s own lifetime) lived in was that of expansion and exploration, where the still unknown areas of the world were being discovered. Consequently, it was also one of colonization and mperialism, where the major European countries of the time – England, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal – extended their power by taking over these newly discovered lands in the name of nationalism and God. The goal of expansion became an obsession and the colonizing countries fought amongst themselves for leverage and land. The greed and lust for more power drove many of the settlers and military occupants to exhibit horrible atrocities towards the local inhabitants, atrocities that eventually surfaced and created a need for explanation and mass acceptance.
The ruling powers thus set in motion a system of propaganda that painted the natives of these colonies as uncivilized savages in order to stagger the opposition and doubters. While it would seem that Europeans were naturally attracted to, or able to, see the beauty of these darker complexions, their fine physiques and cleanly ways, any such admiration was quickly hushed when the darkness of their skin was explained as being a trait of their evil, hellish nature. This set them naturally apart from the purity of the white man, even to the extent that they were abeled as animals or the missing link between humans and beasts. Based on the way history unfolded, one can only say that this way of thinking made sense to the majority of commoners at the time; the strongest should rule, through the will of nature and more importantly God.
It was seen as the white man’s burden to take these creatures under tow and guide them onto the path of Christianity. As described by a noble white woman by the name of Janet Schaw, in response to the flogging of slaves: “…when one comes to be better acquainted with the nature of the Negroes, the horrour of it must wear off” .Yet by carefully analyzing the literature and dramatic works of the era, we can see a
parallel development of doubt, morality and soul searching. Even the world of science was trying to prove or disprove how true claims of Africans being a completely other race were.
Aside from the slave issue, the age of Imperialism was an age most volatile and uncertain for the West, but even more so for the colonized natives. Vast empire building, expansion and extensive trade-routes were exposing the west to new cultures and eventually new ways of thinking, creating the conflicts and challenges that brought about change.The colonized had little experience in dealing with the hostility presented to them by the English and other armies, leaving them with little choice but to succumb to foreign control and occupation. Some natives would adapt to the new situation, like the characters Oronooko, Friday and Othello, but others proved to be more unruly like Caliban.
Travel literature about the West’s dealings with the colonized people and cultures, portrays some of the true racial and spiritual arrogance embodied in European powers. Within the story of Robinson Crusoe, Defoe entwines many of the dilemmas arising through the olonial period, making it possible to view it as an analogy of colonization in the actions and thoughts of the white hero. Crusoe is representative of the ideals of the western explorer, claiming everything yet “untouched” (that is, by the west) as his in his own name, leaving a personal mark upon everything he sees and adapting to the surroundings and situation with relative ease.
James Joyce described Crusoe as “the true prototype of the British colonist…The whole Anglo Saxon spirit is in Crusoe: the manly independence; the unconscious cruelty; the low yet efficient intelligence; the sexual apathy; the practical, well balanced religiousness; the calculating taciturnity”. The island in effect becomes his own little colony, with him as its king and any he encounters his subjects: “My island was now peopled, and I thought myself very rich in subjects…First of all, the whole country was my own mere property, so that I had an undoubted right of dominion. Secondly my people were perfectly subjected. I was absolute lord and lawgiver; they all owed their lives to me, and were ready to lay down their lives. or me”. This way of thinking, considered in a modern light, is a very arrogant and inconsiderate assumption, yet fits perfectly into the Imperialistic age. Another trait of the imperialist man that Crusoe also exhibits is determination and domination.
During his years on the island, he is forced to learn everything necessary for his survival from scratch, subduing his surroundings to his will. Metaphorically, Defoe can be viewed as portraying the western domination over everything that stands in his way. Even as a product of colonialist England, Crusoe’s isolation from anything nown to him forces him to reevaluate his thoughts on life accordingly; as he finds, not everything fits comfortably into his view of the world. Yet any change in his attitude and awareness is evolving at a slow pace, as all the theories, moral clarifications and restrictions of his homeland are deeply engrained in him. The same doubts
mentioned earlier that appeared amongst the citizens of the colonial powers eventually show themselves present in the character of Crusoe, subtly masked in the story of survival. They begin as Crusoe becomes more of an individual, and less a product of his country.Crusoe ends up in his precarious situation because of his rebellion to society and class structure.
Descendant from an immigrant family (his first “flaw”), and never having felt that he quite fit in, he denies his safe and established position amongst the upper middle class, throwing it aside in defiance of his father in order to experience adventure. A true individual spirit awakens in him, demanding that he not simply receive everything on a basis of privilege, but rather through achievement and experience. Even in the face of disaster, Crusoe shows his resourcefulness, and hrough repeated success in all he attempts he proves his worth and ability to survive. Crusoe is no longer completely dependent on western society, and while he replicates the English model on his own little colony, he adapts it to his needs and his inner reflections on life, making it a product of his individualism.
Colonialist urges and the growing of the individual were at the same time naturally linked and conflicting elements. Colonialism was essentially dependent on a certain degree of individualism, as the people going out and claiming these new lands had to be independent, able o face the challenges presented and make tough decisions on their own. Yet the danger of individualism, in the eyes of the colonial powers, was the free-thinking that came hand in hand with it. Suddenly, it was no longer a given that kings and countries were infallible in their way of thinking, and the beginnings of doubt and disagreement started to appear.
According to very prominent figures in Europe during the 18th century, “…Negroes were by nature incapable of freedom…”. Yet there was something that did not feel correct about this assumption to many, and onflicting feelings arose around the issue of slavery, which in its core went against everything that had to do with being a free and self-made man. In the case of Crusoe, he automatically expects that the natives he encounters are his property, and should be “saved” by accepting his cultural values, something we see in Crusoe’s treatment of the character Friday. For example, rather than teaching his name to Friday, he makes a point of using the word “master”, never once considering to ask what Friday’s real name was or to learn his native tongue, which he did ot even recognize as a proper language.
This same methodical disregard for any culture was seen in the history of England and the other major colonist powers of Defoe’s time, where entire nations of people were forced to accept ways completely foreign and in no way decisively better than their own. The developing relationship between Friday and Crusoe over time becomes an example of individual thought. While Crusoe is still a true European in that he views his culture as far superior, he begins to see that even these
“lesser” beings are worth more than the status of animals.
Besides the pleasure of talking to him, I had a singular satisfaction in the fellow himself. His simple, unfeigned honesty appeared tome more and more every day, and I began really to love the creature; and, on his side, I believe he loved me more than it was possible for him ever to love anything before”. Friday in truth becomes his companion and friend by the end of the novel, even if it is not explicitly stated; this is a large step from the status of servant, and is symbolic of an acknowledgement of their humanity.
This same train of thought can be seen in other literary works from this era.For example, in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Prospero views the natives of the island he is stranded on as his subjects rather than equals. Their land is his for the taking, in the spirit of colonialism, and everything that existed before can be erased. The characters of Caliban and Ariel represent the wild, inhuman savage, an image that many Europeans had developed of the African natives, making it so easy to accept their inhumane treatment. Yet by the conclusion of the drama, Prospero seems to have undergone a realization, where both the potential for good and evil is a art of human nature and is shared by all; Prospero is just as guilty for his unfair treatment of Caliban as Caliban is for this treachery, and Prospero owns up to this when he says “This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine”. If we interpret Shakespeare’s play as a metaphor for colonization, it would seem that Shakespeare too was having independent thoughts on the situation of both the oppressors and the oppressed.
While he does not outright state it, there seems to be an element of post colonialist thought in the text; all human being capable of error, and thus share a flaw and purpose that brings us together regardless of boundaries or ackground. The emergence of the individual and the humanizing of the subdued races is also an important theme in Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko. A prince in his own land, Oroonoko is taken as a slave to Surinam and forced to leave his identity behind. Even through the hardships he has to face, even with a new name and status in society, he refuses to forget who he is; resisting through rebellion and revenge and death, he holds true to his princely identity, never quavering or showing weakness even through torture.
While Behn was never directly against slavery (even Oroonoko old his prisoners into slavery), she stirs up a great deal of thought around the issue. Behn was a staunch supporter of the monarchy, believing that a true king had divine right; in her eyes, it was natural that the strong would overpower the weak. Yet she does not seem to limit who can or cannot be a king, rather allowing a person’s natural qualities decide. Oroonoko is such a leader, noble in appearance and manner, regardless of his race or origin. As described by the
narrator: ”…the most famous statuary could not form the figure of a man more admirably turned from head to foot.
His face was …a perfect ebony or polished jet…His nose was rising and Roman instead of African and flat…The whole proportion and air of his face was so noble and exactly formed that…there could be nothing in nature more beautiful, agreeable and handsome…Nor did the perfections of his mind come short of those of his person; for his discourse was admirable upon almost any subject, and whoever had heard him speak would have been convinced of their errors that all fine wit is confined to the white men, especially to those of Christendom… ”. As Oroonoko stands as an example of, it is the qualities of the individual that determine their orth, rather than their status attained through birth. The concept of the noble savage is born, where the essence and spirit of a human being is in focus, not the civilization around them. In Shakespeare’s Othello we see a kind of opposite telling of the account of Oroonoko. Like Oroonoko, Othello is a well spoken, “exemplary” Moor, perfectly assimilated into the European culture. As a result of treachery, he meets a tragic end when he gives into his rage and kills Desdemona. After this, we see a broken down, wordless Othello, a stark contrast to the well-spoken man we meet in the beginning act.
Even for a small relapse into his “savage nature,” he must forever stand apart from the rest of the Europeans. “O, thou Othello, that wert once so good / fallen in the practice of a cursed slave…” they exclaim upon finding Desdemona killed, as if he can never be honest or true again. Yet even through his tragic end, the reader cannot help but sympathize with his downfall; he is no more than human, regardless of color, and capable of the same emotions and faults as everyone else. Othello even begs the audience to remember him for who he really is and not for his one mistake: Soft you, a word or two before you go.
/ I have done the state some service, and they known’t:/ No more of that. I pray you, in your letters,/ When you shall see these unlucky deeds relate,/Speak of me as I am. Nothing extenuate,/ Nor set down aught in malice.
Then must you speak / Of one that loved not wisely, but too well; / Of one that not easily jealous, but, being wrought, / Perplexed in the extreme;…” Again like Oroonoko, Othello kills himself before he can be brought to a western justice; where in another culture his act might be considered honorable, he could only face shame through the ustice he would receive. One might even consider that those of non-European origin are more in touch with their emotions than westerners, who have chosen to bottle them up rather than face them. We must also consider that it is the white Iago who carries a large part of the blame, as it is he who pushes Othello to the tragic actions he takes.
While there is debate around how far the matter of Othello’s race had anything to say on Iago’s actions, the equally dubious actions of both sides erases the boundary of race. Each individual must be judged on the merits of his or her haracter and actions, and not on stereotypes that follow. This realization is the same that Crusoe goes through during his time away from western civilization.
He understands in his own way that nobility and honor is not something innate to the European white man, but something all human beings are capable of showing. Relative to their culture and set of values, the natives too can have these traits. Friday, as his most intimate example of a non western man, surprises Crusoe on more than one occasion with his skill and bravery, despite the fact that he comes from an “inferior” culture.
For example, Crusoe is quite impressed by the way Friday’s people kill a bear, giving him leave to put on a show so to speak. This contradicts with the imperialistic method, where he should rather show Friday his method of doing the same, regardless of which one is better or more impressive. Just as those with dark skin were capable of goodness and nobility, so were the white men capable of atrocities. As discussed earlier, many accounts of the torturous treatment of slaves began to trickle back to the people.
“And when abolitionists finally began to comb through the travel literature, ystematically recording the evidence, they were able to show that the cruelties and barbarities of the most depraved Africans could not be gin to match the horrors for which Europe and America were directly responsible”. To any willing to look at the world situation objectively, the actions of the imperialists were a contradiction to everything they claimed to stand for. Crusoe in fact admits this when he comments on the Spanish colonists: “…the Spaniards, whose cruelties in America had been spread over the whole countries, and was remembered by all the nations from father to son” .
Though never explicitly written, if we read between the lines, we can see that Crusoe understands the same conclusions we must reach from the stories Oroonoko and Othello, that the individual is the only thing that can be judged, in contrast to the imperialists’ judgement of entire groups of people. Religion in the scope of imperialism is another challenge that Crusoe must work through to restructure his new experiences in life. He came to the island raised as a Christian, though not truly a devout or religious person. His survival when all others died made him conscious of a igher power, a guiding force that was there to reward and/or punish him for his actions. He views his life thereafter as a time for repentance for the evils he has done, and goes through many ups and downs in his relationship to God. Eventually, through self meditation and becoming one with nature and himself, this relationship becomes quite personal, and Crusoe sees God’s hand in everything around him. His God fearing view on the world, the
one that has followed with him from his upbringing, develops into a more individualistic interpretation, against the institution of the church that has gone hand in hand with the imperial age.
While God has the power to punish and reward, he does not control Crusoe’s fate completely; Crusoe is a self made man and can make his own choices, without losing his faith. Another challenge to this newfound faith comes with the entrance of Friday into his life. The general conception Europeans had of Africans and their capability of religion is summed up in this quote: “The Negro was either an idolator who lacked any sense of piety, or he worshipped one Creator and grasped the essential truths of natural religion”. No consideration was given to the complexities f their mythology and supernatural world. Suddenly, Crusoe has to apply all of these private realizations to a person who, according to everything he has been told, is subhuman and not worthy of God’s love. Yet as their relationship develops, Crusoe sees that Friday, representative of all the subjugated races, is capable of the same range of emotions and thought that was previously categorized as limited to white Christians. “This frequently gave me occasion, to observe…that He has bestowed upon them the same powers, the same reason, the same affections, the same entiments of kindness and obligation, the same passions and resentments of wrongs, the same sense of gratitude, sincerity, fidelity, and all the capacities of doing good, and receiving good, that He has given to us; and that when He pleases to offer to them occasions of exerting these, they are as ready, nay, more ready to apply them to the right uses for which they were bestowed than we are.
” Ironically, it is also Friday that puts Crusoe’s faith under scrutiny, questioning the logic of the basics that previously were simply accepted as being so. When Crusoe tries to explain to Friday he basic principles of his religion, Friday is eager to understand, yet questions where he feels things do not add up. Crusoe is forced to seriously consider the details of his faith, as well as the indoctrination of his religion onto him. While he is a devout man until the end of the story, it is not certain that his version of faith would be quite accepted in imperialist Europe if put to scrutiny.
Crusoe develops a very intimate, natural take on Christianity through his studying of the scriptures and discussions with Friday: “As to all the disputes, wranglings, strife, and contention which has happened n the world about religion, whether niceties in doctrines, or schemes of Church government, they were all perfectly useless to us; as for aught I can yet see, they have been to all the rest in the world. We had the sure guide to heaven, viz. the Word of God… and I cannot see the least use that the greatest knowledge of the disputed points in religion, which have made such confusions in the world, would have been to us if we could have obtained it”. With this
naturalistic version of Christianity and Friday highly capable of all the traits that upposedly made the white man superior to all other races, religion in the imperialist sense also falters. Crusoe can no longer view Friday as a soul doomed to hell, as he admits to himself that Friday is often a better Christian than himself. Again, guilt develops, as Crusoe begins to reevaluate the colonialist morals that he is brought up with: “And this made me very melancholy sometimes, in reflecting, as the several occasions presented, how mean a use we make of all these, even though we have these powers enlightened by the great lamp of instruction, the Spirit ofGod, and by the knowledge of His Word added to our understanding; ” Oroonoko’s experience with the white man and his morality also paints a contrasting view to religious norms in Crusoe’s time.
From his point of view, it is the white man who lacks honor, as they have lied and cheated him from the start. They use their religion as a cover for their immorality, it is their weakness that causes the need to control and push down others. “But Ceaser told him, there was no faith in the white man or the gods they adored who instructed them in principles so false that honest men could not ive amongst them; though no people professed so much, none performed so little; that he knew what he had to do when he dealt with men of honour, but with them a man ought to be eternally on his guard and never to eat and drink with Christians without a weapon of defence in his hand, and, for his own security, never to credit one word they spoke. ” Crusoe would never accept the actions of Ooonoko, nor would most Europeans of his time, on the basis of principle, but the issue of cultural relativism arises, where one can only judge another’s actions with understanding of their own culture and values.
As Crusoe considers, one cannot blame cannibals for eating human flesh if no one has ever told them that it is wrong, even if he takes it for a given that the action is a sin. He even refuses to kill them unless they threaten his life, feeling that it is not his place to judge God’s creatures. In the same way, Oroonoko’s actions are noble in his own way of seeing things, rather than horrendous as seen by the colonizers. Taking this even further, the colonizers feel that it is in their right to enslave and torture other races, and only many years of critical debate could change this “given. Ultimately, Crusoe’s faith prevails but not in the manner that it began; rather than having a clear cut good and bad, as the imperialists would have it, it is based on a fluctuating, relative set of morals, with the Creator being the only judge and only one to answer too. No longer do the imperialist powers have ultimate say as to who should suffer and who should be praised, and Crusoe is freed of one more chain
holding him to his homeland.
The adventures of Robinson Crusoe, in the time period they were written in, gave a glimpse into the far reaches of the world that wasn’t so well known at that time.Even today, the deeper adventure of a man against nature, God and himself entertains readers of all ages. While never directly the major purpose of the novel, Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe cannot avoid some of the more pressing issues of that era, issue that reveal themselves through the mindset of the characters we encounter. In his development as a character, Crusoe must deal with his inner imperialist, and change his views as he experiences isolation and despair, and encounters other races. First, he must not only become an individual in the imperialist light, but also a true individual, unattached o any nation or goal.
Secondly, he must reassess his values and morals by reworking the parts that through experience no longer fit with the imperialist, European model. This begins in the changing relationship between him and God where, without any institution to guide him, he is forced to analyze his beliefs and God’s role in his life. He is further challenged by the appearance of Friday, who not only changes his view on racism and what it means to be human, but who tests his religious faith even further. It is this issue of racism and slavery that is perhaps the most elling issue for this time period, as we see it repeatedly explored in other works of the era. Shakespeare’s Othello and The Tempest both explore our humanity, our prejudices, and our capability to make tragic errors, regardless of race. Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko creates a martyr out of an enslaved African prince, putting the European man’s cruelty directly on display for its readers. Together, these works and many others began to question the imperialist methods and morality, reevaluating their right to so dominate and enslave millions of people in the name of country and God.
Crusoe is representative of this doubt and insecurity, and though he perhaps never comes to any true ephiphany – he does, after all, continue to hold Friday as his slave – he helps set the ball rolling. We cannot criticize the pace in which these realizations come to these characters; after all, we are still not completely over these issues ourselves in the modern world. It is a huge task to rip oneself from the only home and culture one knows. Yet Crusoe never quite feels at home again and sets out on new adventures in the end, which may be the biggest clue as to his state of mind by the end of the novel. References 1