Robinson Crusoe Free Essays

Robinson Crusoe was born in a town called York in the seventeenth century, the youngest son of a merchant of German origin. Crusoe’s father wanted him to become a lawyer but he expresses his wish to go to sea instead because he was adventurous. His family was against Crusoe going out to sea, especially his father. We will write a custom essay sample on Robinson Crusoe or any similar topic only for you Order Now Initially, Robinson is committed to obeying his father, but he eventually gives in to temptation and embarks on a ship bound for London with a friend, without his family’s consent: â€Å"but if he goes abroad he will be the miserablest wretch that was ever born: I can give no consent to it†(p. ) However he decides to runaway: â€Å"I resolv’d to run quite away from him†(p. 6) His character seems resourceful because whenever he feels that he has to do something, he manages to find the resources to complete what he wants to do. This is a theme as this continuous in the novel, he obviously manages to go to sea without any hassle, his friend gives him a free ticket and so therefore he makes a use of it. The first thing that caught my eye when reading this opening of the novel was that it has been written from a first person’s narrative. â€Å"I† is the first word of the ovel, presenting what he himself observes usually, he favours a more factual narrative style and focuses more on events and actions. Crusoe is the narrator and also the main character of the tale, everything is described in his own words and as mentioned earlier, he expresses a factual and detailed narrative style. It goes on to talk about himself, the main character and his brother and father. This shows that his family had a big influence on him, this familiarization of his fam ily brings the readers closer to the character and shows that Crusoe an ordinary man. Having read the novel ‘Robinson Crusoe’, I will now comment on how the opening scenes to introduce themes which will be important to the novel as a whole. The first theme I have noticed from the opening is betrayal because he disobeyed his father even though his father did not want him to go on an adventure. He then regrets this and wishes he were at home: † I would go directly home to my father and never set it in a ship again while I lived. â€Å"(p. 8) Crusoe says this long before the adventure has started, this quote gives a sense of egret and therefore makes the readers curious about what is going to happen next and therefore gives a sense of enigma. Regret meaning that whatever is going to happen, is not going to be good so therefore Crusoe is already unhappy with the adventure, so from this we, as the audience know that there is more to come. He prepares us for the adventure and makes it seem that at that time, he didn’t think much of his father’s advice. Now that he has experienced and found out he did the wrong thing he is on his father’s side: My father, a wise and grand man, gave me serious and excellent council against what he foresaw was my design†(p. 4) There is an also religious element being portrayed here because religious people usually believe in a plan that has been designed by god. He becomes more religious due to being isolated on the island and starts communicating with god, so religion becomes a theme in the novel. Even though he seems to be religious later on, he still accumulates money from all his adventures and he also manages to make a profit out of his loss. This makes him an conomical man and this all comes down to his family background and the way he been brought up from what we gather in the first few paragraphs: â€Å"prospect of raising my fortunes by application and industry, with a life of ease and pleasure†(p. 4) His father always reminded him about the middle class people and told him that it is the best station of life and to be grateful of what he already has. You can tell that Crusoe is very fond of money because of the way he has been brought up, he thinks about raising his fortunes by application and industry, so we know that he has an educated background (father. He also sees money as ease and pleasure: â€Å"That the middle Station of life was calculated for all kind of Virtues and all kinds of Enjoyment; that Peace and Plenty were the Hand-Maids of middle Fortune. â€Å"(p. 5) The first few paragraphs are highly specific and detailed which fully informs the reader about every situation Crusoe goes through (his family’s definition and his escape from home). This also makes the novel an eyewitness account and gives the sense of truthfulness, this makes the readers more connected to the character and therefore are able to relate more to the novel. This shows that Defoe is quite good at creating a sense of realism. Finally, Crusoe seemed to be in control of his life where he didn’t want to listen to his father but later on in the novel manages to have success in mastering his situation, overcoming his obstacles and controlling his environment. So Crusoe wanting to be in control and independent of his life and rebellious against his father in the first few paragraphs seemed to help him later on in the novel and taught him to take control of his life. Every reader can in some way identify with Crusoe and his situation. His inner conflicts are obvious in the first few paragraphs, which are duty and independence, the duty being that he had to stay home and study law as his father wished, and the independence being the fact that he wanted to be independent and that happened to him. Hope and despair is another inner conflict because when he left home, he realised what he has done is not what he expected so therefore regretted the runaway which made him quite desperate but he had hope. His hope shows that he is an optimistic person. When he was at home, he was not happy with what he had, we know this by his haracter, always looking for something he didn’t have, but later on in the island, he made himself happy with what he had and made the most of everything. This shows a change in his character to be a more mature man rather than a little immature boy with unrealistic dreams. The themes of religion, resourcefulness, independence, betrayal, management and economics are definitely important in the novel as a whole. They are emphasised on later when gets stuck on the island and I would say that the two most important themes would be religion and economy management. How to cite Robinson Crusoe, Papers