Daniel Defoe is credited with writing the first long fiction novel in literary
history. Drawing from established literary genres such as the guide and
providence traditions and the spiritual biography, Defoe endeavored to
illustrate the life of a man who "tempted Providence to his ruine (Defoe
13)" and the consequences of such actions. While stranded alone on an
island the character of Robinson Crusoe seems to have a religious epiphany about
the role of Providence in his life and resolves to live in accordance with God's
will. However, Crusoe's internal reflections throughout his narrative and his
actions do not correlate, causing the reader to question the validity of this
conversion. By examining the plot and the process of psychological change Crusoe
undergoes, it becomes apparent that "he experiences and accepts divine
control but that control can only be realized in the free context he has himself
created (359)." When push comes to shove, Crusoe reverts to human instinct
and his own impulses rather than what he perceives to be the will of Providence.
Crusoe uses his newfound religion only when convenient and as a means to justify
his actions and an acceptable reason for everything unfortunate that happens.
When he finally does leave the island and returns to society, Crusoe's faith is
tested and fails miserably, with practically no mention of Providence towards
the end of the story. At the beginning of the novel, Crusoe introduces himself
and establishes that his narrative is a memoir of sorts, and is told while
looking through more experienced, wise eyes than when he originally experienced
his story. This is important to note, because his discourse is shaded with
hindsight and interpreted through a mind that has come to accept Providence's
hand in his life. For example, when the Turks capture Crusoe and he is enslaved,
he reflects by saying, "now the Hand of Heaven had overtaken me, and I was
undone without Redemption. But alas! This was but a Taste of the Misery I was to
go thro' (15)." Because Crusoe is recalling the events from memory, as well
as the lack of input from any other characters, his reliability can be
questioned as a narrator. An unreliable narrator is one who may be in error in
his or her understanding or report of things and who thus leaves readers without
the guides needed for making judgements. For this reason, the reality of
Crusoe's "religious conversion" later in the novel can be questioned
as well as his interpretation of events. Crusoe begins by telling about his
defiance of his father's wishes and advice. Crusoe's father advises him not to
go to sea and suffer the same fate as his brother, now dead, and pursue a life
"in the Middle of two Extremes, between the Mean and the Great…to have
neither poverty or riches (5)." This ideal is reminiscent of Puritanism and
its doctrine that discouraged the pursuit of wealth and power. Crusoe was
"sincerely affected with this Discourse, which was truly Prophetick
(6)," but its effects "wore all off" of him and he goes to sea
anyway, seeking fortune and adventure. This action proves later to be very
consistent with Crusoe's character, as he repeatedly is affected by the great,
life-changing events in a spiritual sense, but with time these effects seem to
"wear off." This event is also colored as Crusoe's "original
sin," as none of the terrible events that happen later would have occurred
if he had followed his father's advice. After an interesting chain of events,
Crusoe finds himself shipwrecked upon an island while making a voyage to buy
slaves. While trying to make sense of his condition, he falls very ill and cries
out to God, "Lord look upon me, Lord pity on me, Lord have Mercy upon me
(64)." Crusoe makes this first attempt at a relationship with God while in
a very dire situation, not during his everyday life, making his religion that of
convenience. Crusoe has a dream while ill and after experiencing an earthquake,
seeing a terrible man descend from the heavens, declaring, "Seeing all
these Things have not brought thee to Repentance, now thou shalt die (65)."
This passage sounds quite like a Puritan sermon, with its ministers preaching
fire and brimstone. The vision spurs a mortal fear of damnation within Crusoe
and causes him to search for an explanation with Providence. He reflects upon
his previous years by saying: "In relating what is already past of my
Story, this will be more easily believ'd, when I shall add, that thro' all the
Variety of Miseries that had to this Day befallen me, I had never had so much as
one Thought of it being the Hand of God, or that it was a just Punishment for my
Sin; my rebellious behavior against my Father, or my present Sins which were
great…I was meerly thoughtless of a God, or a Providence; acted like a meer
Brute from the Principles of Nature, and by the Dictates of common sense only,
and indeed hardly that (65)." The phrase "this will be more easily
believ'd" is interesting, as if Crusoe consciously knows that his audience
would question the reliability of his story. Ironically enough, it seems his
descriptive passages are much more trustworthy than his reflections. Crusoe now
perceives his actions as a cause and effect relationship with his sins causing
Providence to punish him and damn him to the island. His disobedience becomes
his "original sin" and the misfortunes that follow stem from it.
Crusoe states that he acted out of common sense rather than from the will of
Providence. This statement, however, holds true for the rest of the novel, with
this vision "wearing off" when he is faced with the external world.
Crusoe continues his life on the island and endeavors to practice the will of
Providence after his epiphany during his illness. He asserts this by saying,
"It was now that I began sensibly to feel how much more happy this Life I
now led was, with all its miserable Circumstances, than the wicked, cursed,
abominable Life I led all the past Part of my Days…I sincerely gave thanks to
God for opening my Eyes (82-83)." While Crusoe does maintain his solitude
on the island, he does to some extent practice what he now preaches. He begins
to read the Bible and reflect upon its meanings. He incorporates religion into
his life, shown by his statement, "by a constant Study, and serious
Application of the Word of God, and by the Assistance of his Grace, I gain'd a
different Knowledge from what I had before (93)." Crusoe, in effect,
"pats himself on the back" for his change of heart and persistence
with it, when often times he let his declarations "wear off." He
continues his statement with, "I look'd now upon the World as a Thing
remote, which I had nothing to do with (93-94)," not realizing that his
faith is never really tested in his solitude. The reader cannot believe in the
genuineness of this conversion without some kind of actions to prove it. The
test does not come, indeed, until Crusoe encounters other humans on the island.
The disparity becomes apparent between his thoughts and actions first when he
encounters the "savages" who cannibalize on the shores of the island.
Crusoe first resolves to kill them all for their sin of eating other humans.
After carefully composing a plan to exterminate them the next time they visit,
he later thinks, "What Authority, or Call I had, to pretend to be Judge and
Executioner upon these Men as Criminals, whom Heaven had thought fit for so many
Ages to suffer unpunish'd (124)?" However, when Crusoe is rescuing Friday,
an escaped prisoner of the savages who was about to be eaten, he shoots two
savages dead, in cold blood, without any thought of Providence. Crusoe rescues
Friday and makes him his own servant, perceiving him to be inferior and
"without the Light of Providence." Crusoe even bids Friday to call him
"Master," clearly establishing himself as the superior and Friday as
an unequal. He uses Providence as justification for this, as Friday is not a
Christian and without the "light" of understanding. Crusoe reflects
the notion of "the white man's burden," namely, that it is the duty of
"civilized" Anglo-Saxon Christians to instruct the "uncivilized
savages." He finds difficulty in Christianizing Friday, however, and when
Friday asks why God does not simply kill the devil to eliminate evil, Crusoe
pretends not to hear him and desperately tries to avoid answering him.
Providence becomes inconvenient, and Crusoe "diverts the present Discourse
hastily (158)." He does not, however, fail to "pat himself on the
back" once again by saying, "I reflected that in this solitary Life
which I had been confin'd to, I had not only been moved my self to look up to
Heaven, and to seek to the Hand that had brought me there; but was now to be
made an Instrument under Providence to save the Life (159)." Crusoe
perceives himself to be Friday's savior, and therefore may be his master. He
does not realize that he mentions the solitary nature of his conversion, and
when he comes to deal with the external world and other people, he runs into
problems and his faith fails. A ship that by chance comes to the island later
delivers Crusoe. The ship's crew was in mutiny, and Crusoe rescues its captain
and his followers. He immediately asserts authority over everyone and
effectively regains control of the ship, but only by violence, a very
un-Christian method. As an afterthought, Crusoe mentions, "I forgot not to
lift up my Heart in Thankfulness to Heaven (197)." This is the last time
the reader will hear any mention of Providence or God's will. Crusoe returns to
his homeland like the Prodigal Son, but there is no reunion or reconciliation
with the father. Crusoe's wealth had increased readily from his previous tobacco
farming, and travels around to settle his financial affairs. The novel turns
anecdotal and a stacking of events, with no final assertion of his Faith in the
world he earlier "had nothing to do with." He does not gain any sense
of place as he had upon the island, and ends the novel with an allusion to a
sequel. When faced with the danger of the wolves while traveling in Spain, he
relies upon his instinct and common sense and does not credit Providence for any
sort of deliverance as he did previously on the island. These problems that are
not resolved at the end are due to many factors in Defoe's authorship. Firstly,
Crusoe can be described as a "hack" writer, his writing being his
profession and source of income. Most likely he leaves things unresolved in the
end of Robinson Crusoe in hopes of publishing another book and in turn, making
more money. Also, Defoe pioneered the genre of long fiction and lacked a model
to base his writing upon. There is no logical coherence, demonstrated most
clearly by the lack of chapters. Leopold Damrosch, Jr., confirms these ideas
with, "This primal novel, in the end, stands as a remarkable instance of a
work that gets away from its author, and gives expression to attitudes that seem
to lie far from his conscious intention. Defoe sets out to dramatize the
conversion of the Puritan self, and he ends by celebrating a solitude that
exalts autonomy instead of submission (374)." It is the solitude which
impedes Crusoe's conversion, as not only does it happen in solitude, but can
only be maintained in solitude. When tested by external forces, his actions
reflect more someone "meerly thoughtless of a God, or a Providence; act[ing]
like a meer Brute from the Principles of Nature, and by the Dictates of common
sense only," what Crusoe thought he was steering away from. Also, the
reader has no standard to measure Crusoe's word with, yet another reason to
question the reliability of Crusoe as a narrator. Ultimately, his conversion
comes in light of tragedy and leaves when things go right.