Defoe: Robinson Crusoe

Daniel Defoe: Robinson Crusoe (1719).

Introduction.

My personal experience with Robinson Crusoe dates back to my preteen years, when I read a colourful abridged Dutch version, borrowed from the local library. It appealed to the sense of adventure and faraway places, as I guess it has done and still does for zillions of youngsters. Only much later, when I read the full text in English, did I discover that the kids’ versions I had read had not only been abridged, but also truncated. These versions almost completely eliminated the spiritual element, which comes to the fore quite conspicuously in the unabreviated text Defoe wrote when he was almost 60 years old. Defoe’s best-known work is to a large extent autobiographical in how he depicts the spiritual thoughts and dramatic conversion of Robinson (Masters, 2003, p. 155). The writer led a rather eventful and arguably rambustious life, even though he outwardly adhered to and defended non-conformist Presbyterian beliefs. This changed late in life, when he was confined to his bedroom and came to repent his sins and was personally converted to Christ (Masters, 2003, p. 153). He described this experience in Robinson Crusoe (ibid.). However, in the Dutch versions I read as a kid and the Dutch sources consulted now this important perspective is lacking completely (e.g. “Daniel Defoe nl ”, 2018). So, should Robinson Crusoe, the first-ever novel written (“Robinson Crusoe”, 2018), be interpreted primarily as an adventure story, as an allegory, or rather as an account of Defoe’s conversion with defensive and evangelistic overtones? How should it be interpreted?

Discussion.

The question of the interpretation of Robinson Crusoe should probably be approached from various angles. As ’the father of modern journalism’ (Masters, 2003, p. 137), a prolific writer (allegedly more than 500 titles (“Daniel Defoe en”, 2018)) and a political pamphleteer (ibid.), Defoe must have had a keen idea about what the public at large would be interested in and how they could be drawn into whatever story he wanted to tell. He had travelled across the globe in his younger years and knew firsthand about the experiences sailors could have. Therefore, both the topic and the writing skill were at his disposal. But certainly, that only makes writing Robinson Crusoe possible. That something is possible does not make it a motive for actually doing it.

According to Masters, ‘Crusoe’s was nothing other than Defoe’s spiritual autobiography’ (2003, p. 153). He gives several quotes from the book which highlight Robinson’s conversion and how he came to read the Bible, repent his former life, pray, and believe in Christ. These quotes support Master’s claim that Robinson Crusoe is more than just an adventure story and indeed that the conversion is one of the central threads. He does not mention his sources of Defoe’s own life and conversion. There are, however, additional clues to be found to assess to what extent the purported correspondence between the real Defoe and the fictitional character of Crusoe indeed exists. Indications include that Defoe, for all his writing, had never before written a book like this, that he started writing it soon after his own conversion, and that the remainder of his life was indeed spent in accordance with this conversion (Masters, 2003, p. 153ff). While Masters could be seen as biased as he wants to promote the Christian faith, Ross, a Defoe expert, in his introduction to an annotated version of Robinson Crusoe,asserts that ‘the character of Robinson Crusoe, the persona with which Defoe as a narrator invests himself, is elaborated to give the action significances relating the story to a world of religious belief, and to the inner life of the self’ (1965, p. 13; cf. “Robinson Crusoe”, 2018).

In sum, though the adventure element is certainly there, isolating this ‘mangles’ (Ross, 1965, p. 12) the story and does not do full justice to the work. Any answer to the questions posed above, should include the relevance Defoe’s conversion had for himself and his wish to relay that to his readers, for which he used all the skills he had developed over such a long time as a traveller, a writer and a journalist.

References.