Examine Robinson Crusoe as a spiritual autobiography.

Examine Robinson Crusoe as a spiritual autobiography.

Critics described Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe as a “spiritual journey.” J. Paul Hunter claimed that Defoe took a spiritual biography approach when crafting Robinson Crusoe by “tracing a rebellion-punishment-repentance-deliverance sequence” (Hunter, 252). Daniel Defoe wrote Robinson Crusoe using a spiritual biography approach, which ultimately leads the reader to spiritually follow the adventures of Crusoe. The first component of a spiritual biography consists of the protagonist experiencing a situation of rebellion or sin. In Robinson Crusoe, the act of rebellion is introduced very early in the novel.

Although Crusoe’s parents do not agree, he dreams of living a life at sea. His father describes, “that if [he] take this foolish step, God would not bless [him]” (Defoe, 6). Crusoe, understanding that he is rebelling against both his parents and God, embarks on his journey in September 1651. It is clear that Crusoe acknowledges that he is going against his parents and God when he claims, “without asking God’s blessing, or my father’s, without any consideration of circumstances or consequences, and in an hour, God knows, on the first of September 1651 I went on board a ship bound London” (7).

Although he knows he is rebelling, he continues to embark on his journey at sea.

Defoe has established the first piece of creating a spiritual biography by\introducing the concept of rebellion. It is not until many years later in Robinson

Crusoe when Defoe introduces the punishment for Crusoe’s actions. Although

Crusoe experiences hardships during his journey, such as encountering wild beasts and becoming a slave, he is ultimately struck with his punishment when he is the sole survivor of a shipwreck. Crusoe finds himself stranded on a remote island alone.

Crusoe’s first reaction is negativity and self-pity. Crusoe “consider[s] the next day what death [he] should die” (36). Later when Crusoe takes up journaling he writes, “I poor Robinson Crusoe, being shipwrecked during a dreadful storm, in the offing, came on shore on this dismal unfortunate island, which I called the Island of Despair” (52). Crusoe is experiencing a time of self-pity, in which he does not accept his situation of being stranded. At one point during the novel, Crusoe attempts to understand why he is stranded..............................................................

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