Wednesday, July 11, 2018

What aspects of religion are revealed in Robinson Crusoe?

The novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, which tells the story of a man who becomes a castaway on a remote island for 28 years, is full of religion and religious references. Defoe was a Puritan who wrote guidebooks on how to be a good Christian, and he wrote the book as a fictional account of a sinner who has a conversion experience.
In the beginning of the story, Crusoe leaves home and goes to sea against his father's wishes—despite his father's warning that God will not bless him if he does this. Crusoe pays for this deed (which he later considers to be a sin), first by being enslaved and later by being cast away on the island. He eventually repents that he disobeyed his father. In misery and sickness, alone on the island, he prays for God's mercy, and he has a dream that he will die because he has not repented of his sins. He begins to read the Bible and look to God for deliverance from his situation.
After this, Crusoe converses with God in prayer and sees God's providence in the food he is able to obtain and in his protection from danger. When he rescues the prisoner Friday from cannibals, he teaches Friday about the Christian faith. When Crusoe helps to rescue an English ship captain from mutineers—and the captain in turn helps Crusoe leave the island—they both see the hand of God in these deeds. After his conversion, Crusoe frequently writes about God's influence on his life and even quotes from the Bible.
We can see, then, that Robinson Crusoe reveals many aspects of the religion of Christianity in its language and story.

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