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One Preacher's Thoughts on "Robinson Crusoe" 8/20/2016 7:19:51 PM
"Robinson Crusoe" is one of the legendary novels of western literature. It tells the story of a young man who defies the wishes of his parents and the benefits of middle class life and sets off on adventures at sea. He encounters more than he expected. He survives shipwreck and spends almost three decades alone on an island in the south Caribbean Sea. He learns that he can fend for himself and builds a life that becomes quite tolerable.
As I reread it recently, I found several reasons for this old novel's continued popularity.
Defoe's skill is one. He'd had years of practice as a writer before he became a pioneer in the annals of English fiction. He wrote crisply and clearly and filled his story with details that reveal a powerful imagination at work.
He offers readers a demonstration of the human ability to contend successfully with difficult circumstances. Crusoe works hard, doesn't quit, and learns how to get his environment to work for him. He is an early example of enterprising man building his world.
Christians must like that he returns to the God of his heritage during his time of trial. He repents of his neglect, reads the Bible, prays, and comes to trust that Gold will look out for him.
Defoe draws his character with the psychological acuity of a skillful writer. Crusoe's years of solitude have an effect on the state of his mind. He is afraid of being attacked. He arms himself and builds a fortress-like shelter to live in. He appears to lose his joy in life, at least for a time. The sight of a single footprint in the sand sends him into a state of terror. Fear is his constant companion.
Crusoe's survival skills are impressive, but he is susceptible to delusion. He conceives of himself as the king of his island, the lord of everything he sees. When his famous friend-helper Friday enters the story late in the novel, Crusoe thinks it natural that he himself will be the dominant partner in their relationship. And when other seafarers arrive on the island, Crusoe contrives to be the leading personality. In a way, Defoe sums up the colonial frame of mind in one imaginary character.
At the end of the novel, Crusoe's fortunes improve enormously. He goes home to Europe. Money comes his way -- a fortune. He acts generously toward people who helped him. He draws a comparison between his case and the biblical account of Job, who lost his wealth, suffered physically, and had his good fortune restored two-fold. Crusoe's story ends happily as well and like Job, it has relevance beyond the main character.
As I re-read the book, I came to see Crusoe as a character formed under the influence of the philosopher Descartes: "I think, therefore i am." The archetypal solitary man, Crusoe lives in his thoughts. He has no other company for years other than his thoughts except for the presence of God in his life. In this way, Defoe's story is both an example and a warning. Once in a while, the news brings us a story about a hermit who has lived in a jungle or a mountaintop for years. Crusoe's story isn't unimaginable in today's world. There's a deeper point, however. There must be numberless people in our towns and cities who live day by day with Crusoe-minds, even though they are never far from other humans. I'm thinking of people who by choice or circumstances or the cold indifference of society live isolated lives without much communication, for whom their own thoughts are the essential feature of their days. It sounds like a dreadful situation, but not necessarily calamitous, for the loving God whom Defoe portrayed as looking out for his character and kept him from madness likewise offers companionship to solitaries in our world today and reassures and brightens sombre, fearful, overwhelmed brains.
