Examine Robinson Crusoe as a spiritual
autobiography.
Critics
described Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe as a “spiritual journey.” J. Paul Hunter
claimed that Defoe took a spiritual biography approach when crafting Robinson
Crusoe by “tracing a rebellion-punishment-repentance-deliverance sequence”
(Hunter, 252). Daniel Defoe wrote Robinson Crusoe using a spiritual biography
approach, which ultimately leads the reader to spiritually follow the
adventures of Crusoe. The first component of a spiritual biography consists of
the protagonist experiencing a situation of rebellion or sin. In Robinson
Crusoe, the act of rebellion is introduced very early in the novel.
Although Crusoe’s parents do not agree, he dreams of living a life
at sea. His father describes, “that if [he] take this foolish step, God would
not bless [him]” (Defoe, 6). Crusoe, understanding that he is rebelling against
both his parents and God, embarks on his journey in September 1651. It is clear
that Crusoe acknowledges that he is going against his parents and God when he
claims, “without asking God’s blessing, or my father’s, without any
consideration of circumstances or consequences, and in an hour, God knows, on
the first of September 1651 I went on board a ship bound London” (7).
Although
he knows he is rebelling, he continues to embark on his journey at sea.
Defoe
has established the first piece of creating a spiritual biography
by\introducing the concept of rebellion. It is not until many years later in
Robinson
Crusoe
when Defoe introduces the punishment for Crusoe’s actions. Although
Crusoe
experiences hardships during his journey, such as encountering wild beasts and
becoming a slave, he is ultimately struck with his punishment when he is the
sole survivor of a shipwreck. Crusoe finds himself stranded on a remote island
alone.
Crusoe’s
first reaction is negativity and self-pity. Crusoe “consider[s] the next day
what death [he] should die” (36). Later when Crusoe takes up journaling he
writes, “I poor Robinson Crusoe, being shipwrecked during a dreadful storm, in
the offing, came on shore on this dismal unfortunate island, which I called the
Island of Despair” (52). Crusoe is experiencing a time of self-pity, in which
he does not accept his situation of being stranded. At one point during the
novel, Crusoe attempts to understand why he is stranded.
