Robinson Crusoe
September 10, 2009
jennleonard
A fairly short read once you get past the first 30 or so pages. It took me a while to get back into the mind frame of reading this style of writing.
So, Im about a third of the way through and I feel like this poor guy can’t get a break, and although he sometimes implies he has brought it all on himself for ignoring his fathers warnings, I can sympathize with his yearning for adventures and to travel the world and step outside of the ‘middle class’ lifestyle.
I was a bit put off by him selling Xury away as a slave and then later on does not reminisce about him as an old friend, but rather about how much he could use him as a slave in his present situation as a planter.
Also, I noticed that once he was on the island he once again proceeded to declare that his shipwreck was a punishment for his pursuit of riches..etc…however he tends to contradict himself when he makes a dozen or so trips back to the ship to get supplies. Now, Im not saying he didn’t get some useful things, but really…why on earth would he need “a dozen good knives and forks” when he is alone on an island. Also, he says he has no use for the coins he finds but he ends up taking them anyway…maybe this will be a pattern throughout the novel??
OK, thats enough babbling for now…more reading to do!
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1.
Miriam Jones |
September 10, 2009 at 7:54 pm
You have hit on some interesting points. How can we explain Crusoe’s attitude towards Xury, particularly as Crusoe was at one point a slave himself? What are we to make of the contradiction you point out between his religious rhetoric and his focus on material goods? Take these questions a little further …
2.
Hayley |
September 12, 2009 at 12:14 pm
I do not think it is fair to say that Crusoe wanted Xury as a slave. He wanted Xury as a worker, and there is a difference. Their entire relationship seemed to be a sort of ‘professional’ relationship- they worked together to kill and skin the lion, kill the leopard, and they talked through situations and made decisions together (for instance, to go ashore or not). They never have a heart to heart on a personal level, everything is related to their survival and the work they are engaged in.
Crusoe is unwilling to sell Xury into slavery; he is “very loath to sell the poor boy’s liberty who had assisted [him] so faithfully in procuring [his] own” (34). He allows the captain to have him only after the captain agrees to grant him freedom in ten years (albeit only if he turns Christian), and because Xury voluntarily agrees to work for the captain.
Crusoe proves himself to be a hard worker, even at this point in the novel, and he wanted Xury as a co worker, not as a slave. He does not suggest that he wants Xury so he can relax and do nothing; instead he “want[s] help” (35).
At the end of the “I Become a Brazilian Planter” chapter, there is the discussion of Negroes and slavery, and Xury is not discussed at all during this section. Furthermore, Crusoe is not a keen supporter of slavery; it is not his idea to go to Guinea to get slaves but rather the other planters who come to Crusoe with “a secret proposal” and have “a mind to fit out a ship to go to Guinea” (38). The other planters appeal to Crusoe’s adventurous personality; he “could not more resist the offer than [he] could restrain [his] first rambling designs” (39). It is not the prospect of procuring slaves that interests Crusoe, but the chance for travel and adventure. He agrees to “go with all [his] heart” (39).
Thus far in the novel Crusoe does not appear to be a supporter of slavery, and his relationship and treatment of Xury does not suggest a inequality in power – oppressor-opressed relationship – but rather one of equality and respect for another hard working individual.
3.
Hayley |
September 12, 2009 at 12:20 pm
I should note, I have only read 1/5 of the novel thus far therefore this comment is based solely on this section and I am sure my opinion of the slavery topic will have changed by the end of the novel.
I should also note that my page citations are not from the version of the text found in the UNBSJ bookstore, as I have a different version.
4.
mattyg3000 |
September 30, 2009 at 10:36 pm
Avoiding the debate above me I mut say your background is quite pretty