Robinson Crusoe Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Robinson Crusoe - Research Paper Example Robinson Crusoe is a story of any common man who has a capability of getting transformed in his mind, in his body and in his soul when he is left in a situation that he had never imagined before or was never trained to survive. Critics have seen Daniel Defoe’s work as a message for Englishmen. Jeremy Hubbell says that through ‘Robinson Crusoe’, Defoe was giving an idea to England that psychological tools like reason, ethic and protestant faith can make them successful in colonialism. And also, the author was trying to suggest how important labor is when one is trying to please God [1] . Twentieth century critics are little confused over what is Defoe’s exact message on human needs of security, economics and moral values [2] . According to another review, the story carries the theme of individual versus society [3] . It says that Robinson Crusoe’s desire to go on a sea journey was his individual desire and his father’s refusal was an outlook of the ‘society. So it was as if trying to suggest a theme of self against the ‘others’. But the question is, was this the only message? Was Daniel Defoe’s story a tool to tell people how they can be successful in their political ambition or was it a journey into a mind of a human being, no matter what background he is from? Daniel Defoe has written a story of young man called Robinson Crusoe who listens to his heart and instead of taking a conventional path of work, he goes on a sea journey. Robinson Crusoe, as a young man, is fatalist, weak, and timid. These qualities are evident from the fact that he becomes disturbed with the disastrous prophecy that his father makes when he expresses to set