How far is Robinson
Crusoe in the ‘Picaresque’ tradition?
The word ‘picaresque’ is derived from the Spanish word ‘Picarons’ and
the English word ‘Picaroon,’ meaning a cheat, an adventurer, or one who lives
by one’s wits. Accordingly, the picaresque novel is the tale of adventures or
misadventures of a picaro or rogue who wanders from one place to another, from
one setting to another, from the town to the country, and from the country to
the town. In the words of Edwin Muir, “the
picaresque novel is the tale of hard- worked travelling hero, posting from inn
to inn, now in the country, now in London, knocking at the doors of the great,
mixing with rogues and thieves, languishing prison, or on board the ship
suffering every vicissitude, good or bad, and enduring them all, not because
the novelist has any tender regard for his hero’s sufferings or fortunes, but
because he is in need of variety, and is determined to get a pass to as great a
number of scenes as he can.” The object of the picaresque novel then is to
take a central figure through a succession of scenes, introduce a great number
of characters, and thus build up a picture of society. This is exactly the
pattern which the story of Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe follows. The hero is
taken through a succession of scenes and situations, and has a number of
adventures on the seas and the islands. He meets persons of different types and
tempers. In this way a picture of society is gradually built up. Thus this
novel confirms to the design of a picaresque novel.
A novelist gains some advantages through the use of the ‘picaresque’ mode of writing. It does not demand a well-organized or closely knit plot. The plot of Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe is loosely constructed. It is episodic and picaresque. One episode in the novel leads to another episode. If one episode is dropped out, the story will go on smoothly without any loss or disturbance. The events do not issue from one another and are not interwoven W.H Hudson has remarked that no attempt is made in the novel towards the organization of the material into a systematic plot.
