Secondo me, the most convincing interpretation of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe is that of colonialism, Christianity, and civilization.
By the time Robinson Crusoe was written, various European nations, including England, had acquired for themselves well-established (and in some cases, vast) empires Asia, Africa, and South America. There were also many written records of the experience of various colonizers by that time, which, no doubt, Defoe would have been familiar with.
The English settlers in North America were attempting to create something new, something different from the old world in Europe. This would have been possible only if the settlers were in absolute control of the place. In the novel, Crusoe realizes the same about his role in the island and goes about attempting to become its governor, ruler, authority, and sole power. With this, the well-established colonial image of the white man, establishing rule and dominion over the natives, comes to the fore. Trader becomes potentate in a strange, faraway land – a colonial story that has repeated itself over and over again in history.
Just like European colonialism in real life, Defoe’s dominion over the island originated as a fantasy of power and control, in a daydream, as we can see in the following excerpt:
It’s noteworthy that Crusoe chooses to name the man that he meets, and acquires as servant, as he sees fit. Friday is called Friday because that’s what Crusoe decided his name would be, regardless of what Friday might have called himself in the past. This was domination in its most complete form. Crusoe doesn’t stop there, however. He goes on to give Friday a new identity altogether, a Christian one. The so-called civilizing mission of the white man is on full display here. The images of the cannibalistic natives who need to be either killed off or subjected to a civilizing mission completes the picture of European colonialism.
After Crusoe has completely conquered the island, and subjugated the natives, he views himself as the sole wielder of power and authority, and dispenser of rule and justice. In the eleventh year of his stay on the island, he speaks of himself thusly:
By the time Robinson Crusoe was written, various European nations, including England, had acquired for themselves well-established (and in some cases, vast) empires Asia, Africa, and South America. There were also many written records of the experience of various colonizers by that time, which, no doubt, Defoe would have been familiar with.
The English settlers in North America were attempting to create something new, something different from the old world in Europe. This would have been possible only if the settlers were in absolute control of the place. In the novel, Crusoe realizes the same about his role in the island and goes about attempting to become its governor, ruler, authority, and sole power. With this, the well-established colonial image of the white man, establishing rule and dominion over the natives, comes to the fore. Trader becomes potentate in a strange, faraway land – a colonial story that has repeated itself over and over again in history.
Just like European colonialism in real life, Defoe’s dominion over the island originated as a fantasy of power and control, in a daydream, as we can see in the following excerpt:
My island was now peopled, and I thought myself very rich in Subjects, and it was a merry reflection which I frequently made. How like a King I look’d….My People were perfectly subjected: I was absolute Lord and Law-giver; they all owed their Lives to me, and were ready to lay down their Lives, if there had been such an occasion for it, for Me.Again, just like European colonialism in real life, Defoe worked hard to make his dream come true. Crusoe, who had just dreamt of himself as a potentate, proceeds to dominate the whole island and his newly-acquired servant, Friday.
It’s noteworthy that Crusoe chooses to name the man that he meets, and acquires as servant, as he sees fit. Friday is called Friday because that’s what Crusoe decided his name would be, regardless of what Friday might have called himself in the past. This was domination in its most complete form. Crusoe doesn’t stop there, however. He goes on to give Friday a new identity altogether, a Christian one. The so-called civilizing mission of the white man is on full display here. The images of the cannibalistic natives who need to be either killed off or subjected to a civilizing mission completes the picture of European colonialism.
After Crusoe has completely conquered the island, and subjugated the natives, he views himself as the sole wielder of power and authority, and dispenser of rule and justice. In the eleventh year of his stay on the island, he speaks of himself thusly:
Lord of the whole Manor, or, if I pleased, I might call myself King, or Emperor over the whole country which I had possession of. There were no rivals. I had no competitor, none to dispute sovereignty or command with me.The language of dominance is loud and clear, similar to the real-life European colonizers who brooked no dissent. Crusoe, like the colonizers, believed he had an undoubted right to govern and dispose of the natives as he thought fit, by any means and measures necessary.
1 comment:
Yes, colonialism, Christianity, and civilization these three were the parts of the set of colonial ideologies which they used as media for subjugation_
Colonialism in Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe
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