Robinson Crusoe, colonizer or pioneer of change?
Robinson Crusoe, colonizer or pioneer of change?
Defoe 's novel Robinson Crusoe stormed the world with a spirit of adventure new to its era, quickly becoming a classic piece of European literature that even today grasps the attention of both young and old. The tale, as told by a shipwrecked man on his own on an isolated island, allows us to vicariously experience an excitement and discovery that almost does not exist in our modern world, and is surely a large factor in the novel 's popularity. At the same time, the book offers an entire other side of depth to a more mature level of reading; behind the adventure, there is much to delve into, both historically, socially and literarily, including aspects such as imperialism, colonialism, slavery and religion. This paper will discuss some of these ways of analyzing the book in historical context, comparing it with other works relevant to the time period and the changes that took place.
The time period that both Defoe and his character Robert Crusoe (the story is set to before Dafoe’s own lifetime) lived in was that of expansion and exploration, where the still unknown areas of the world were being discovered. Consequently, it was also one of colonization and imperialism, where the major European countries of the time – England, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal - extended their power by taking over these newly discovered lands in the name of nationalism and God. The goal of expansion became an obsession and the colonizing countries fought amongst themselves for leverage and land. The greed and lust for more power drove many of the settlers and military occupants to exhibit horrible atrocities towards the local inhabitants, atrocities that eventually surfaced and created a need for explanation and mass acceptance. The ruling powers thus set in motion a system of propaganda that painted the natives of these colonies as uncivilized savages in order to stagger the opposition and doubters. While it would seem that
Defoe 's novel Robinson Crusoe stormed the world with a spirit of adventure new to its era, quickly becoming a classic piece of European literature that even today grasps the attention of both young and old. The tale, as told by a shipwrecked man on his own on an isolated island, allows us to vicariously experience an excitement and discovery that almost does not exist in our modern world, and is surely a large factor in the novel 's popularity. At the same time, the book offers an entire other side of depth to a more mature level of reading; behind the adventure, there is much to delve into, both historically, socially and literarily, including aspects such as imperialism, colonialism, slavery and religion. This paper will discuss some of these ways of analyzing the book in historical context, comparing it with other works relevant to the time period and the changes that took place.
The time period that both Defoe and his character Robert Crusoe (the story is set to before Dafoe’s own lifetime) lived in was that of expansion and exploration, where the still unknown areas of the world were being discovered. Consequently, it was also one of colonization and imperialism, where the major European countries of the time – England, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal - extended their power by taking over these newly discovered lands in the name of nationalism and God. The goal of expansion became an obsession and the colonizing countries fought amongst themselves for leverage and land. The greed and lust for more power drove many of the settlers and military occupants to exhibit horrible atrocities towards the local inhabitants, atrocities that eventually surfaced and created a need for explanation and mass acceptance. The ruling powers thus set in motion a system of propaganda that painted the natives of these colonies as uncivilized savages in order to stagger the opposition and doubters. While it would seem that
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