“The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner, Written by Himself”, written by Daniel Defoe in 1719, is the novel that can be examined from various aspects such as imperialism, capitalism, or colonialism; or some terms such as master-slave relationship, patriarchal thought, homo-economicus, terror and so on.
Primarily, it is required that a brief information should be given about Daniel Defoe and his era to explore the novel properly. 1660, a year Daniel Defoe born, is the beginning of Restoration Age which is known as a strong reaction against Prutan. When Charles II (1630-1685) came to throne, he restored the monarcy in 1660. Thereafter, Spain and Portugal were the main European powers in the seventeeth century; however, this power changed hands at the end of the seventeenth century, as a result, France and England became the dominant powers in the world. England was prosperous and tolerant in seventeeth century and there were low unemployment, and wages were high. Middle Class was on the rise in the early of eighteenth century, and there was class discrimination sharply and it was divided into ‘higher middle class’ and ‘lower middle class’. Daniel Defoe represents lower middle class in his all works as it can be also seen in the novel Robinson Crusoe. Daniel Defoe was a Puritan and a member of Dissenter Family, (Nonconformists), the protestants against Anglican church, so there can be seen influences of Prutanism in the novel.
When it comes to analyse the Robinson, protagonist of the novel, in terms of various aspects as it is mentioned above, imperialism is the first point as colonialism and imperialism are often used interchangeably. It is the fact that both words refer different meanings although both two words mean political and economical domination. Why is it thought that the novel Robinson Crusoe has colonialist codes? According to many scholars, Robinson Crusoe makes a reference to English explotation undirectly. Slave or slavery, for instance, is not an immoral but moral according to Defoe here. Robinson sees Friday not as a friend but a slave. He is master of Friday and his little continent. He thinks that to see Friday as a slave is his natural right as Friday is negro. This reflects the English mandatory in itself. In this imperial, colonialist ideology, characters are motivated not only to make correspond to the nature but also they try to change the situation. In other words, he desires to civilize the Western Civilization out of the West with their tools that he has. This approach refers to capitalism in itself. According to Karl Marx, the novel Robinson Crusoe is a capitalist propaganda as his all economics and political activities to survive. By means of capitalism, there were two economists, Adam smith and David Ricardo, claimed that Robinson is a model of micro-macro economic theory and deemed him as a homo-economicus as Robinson always calculates what will be saved, how much, when and how, or how will be they consumed during the novel such as the quantity of his bread, meat or so on. “I am thinking of breeding some domestic animals to have milk, butter, or cheese, and keeping them in a short distance to reach them easily. (Defoe 2010, p.338)
Indeed, all aspects bond to each when it comes to explain the relationship of the of the book with colonialism. As it is mentioned above, Robinson behaves the same way that the colonialist powers do where they exploited. Friday represents colonised people while Robinson represents colonizer in the novel. There is a master-slave relationship between Friday and Robinson here as Hegel claimed in his dialect. In the master-slave relationship, one is either a master or a slave. Hegel explains this dialect one who has consciousness desires to make himself accepted to the others where he is or where he lives. Therefore, in this battle for being master, one has to accept being a slave inevitably. In other words, the conscious is divided into two parts, recognized freedom or unfreedom. If it is examined from historical perspective, throughout the centuries all experiences that human communities have overlap with the master-slave dialect. This dual dialectic exists in war persistently until one of them abandon voluntarily. As it can be seen in the novel, Friday accepts being a slave voluntarily as he owes his life to his master Robinson.
There is some Lockean elements in the novel that must be analyse in order to comprehend the novel implicitly as there are many speeches that Robinson uses in the novel such as “It is my continent, or I own it”. Locke examines Robinson in the context of the “war and terror”. ‘Terror’ is a metaphor here and Robinson uses fear to get the crows and winged enemies to accept his supremacy. Robinson employs terror in the same way the English rulers do as it can be seen in the novel, Robinson hangs the dead crows he shot to fear the other birds not to come and disturb him again, therefore, any bird visits in his island again. Locke also believed that social interaction is necessary for children’s education, so when child was on proper age, s/he should be educated, in connection with this idea, J.J.Rousseau recommended Robinson Crusoe should be given to children to make them teach how to survive whatever they experienced.
As a novel, Robinson Crusoe is a fictional and picaresque novel narrated by the main character Robinson Crusoe. The story takes places between Europe, Guinea and West Africa, around the Atlantic Ocean. The characters consist of Robinson Crusoe, the narrator and protagonist; and the secondary characters, Mr. And Mrs. Kreutznaer, Comrade in Hull, The Comrade’s Father, Captain of the Guinea Trading Ship, Captain’s Widow Friday, Xury, Mr. Wills, Spaniard, Portuguese Captain, Old Savage. Mr. Kreutznear, Robinson’s father, is typical solid middle-class man and he is strict Prutan. Plot schema begins with the birth of Robinson and ends backing London in June 1687 after twenty-eight isolated years.
The chapters for the novel can be categorized like this on a plot diagram:
Chapter 1: Exposition (Part 1)
Chapter 2-7: Rising Action (Part 2)
Climax 8-13: Climax (Part 3)
Chapter 14-19: Falling Action (Part 4)
Chapter 20: Conclusion (Part 5)
When it comes to themes of the novel, fear is the most important theme of the novel as Robinson’s trial begins with fear. He acts like a madman first and is scared from every shadow he sees. However, he realizes quickly that he should overcome his fear to survive and by the time passed, he focused on his work. In other words, he turns his fear into productivity and survival in this isolated island. The other themes such as human condition, money, religious and industrialisation were mentioned in the context of the analysing part of the novel deeply above. To touch the verisimilitude style is required in the novel because although the novel is heavily influenced by the religious motifs, Defoe used realistic elements such as lists, time scale, diary, or repetition in the novel. In one sense, Robinson Crusoe was the forerunner of the Realism. Before ending the article, it is required that to say although Robinson Crusoe is accepted the first English novel by many schoolars, Mina Urgan claims that Robinson Crusoe is a picarasque novel rather than a novel as it has no plot, written indiscriminatingly and he did not put emphasis into understanding the inner world of the characters in his works.
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REFERENCES
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bookworm. (2012, 8 18). THEMES IN LITERATURE. Retrieved 4 26, 2020, from Literary Articles: https://literacle.com/literary-themes-alienation/
Milne, I. M. (2009). LITERARY MOVEMENTS FOR STUDENTS (Vol. 2nd edition). Gale.
The British Empire Imperialism Post-Colonialism Literature. (n.d.). Retrieved 4 27, 2020, from https://sites.udel.edu: https://sites.udel.edu/britlitwiki/the-british-empire-imperialism-post-colonialism-literature/
Joyce Appleby, Capitalism and a New Social Order: The
Republican Vision of the 1790s, New York University Press, 1984.
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