Nov 10, 2003 06:08 PM
13895 Views
(Updated Nov 10, 2003 06:08 PM)
Contrary to popular notions, there is nothing heroic about the famous protagonist of Defoe’s extremely popular novel. The readers during Defoe’s time praised the novel because of the element of adventure in it. They also found it touching that Crusoe left all his luxuries to be stranded on a lonely island for almost three decades.
But if we see this novel from a post-colonial perspective, we find that Robinson Crusoe is an epitome of the White European Capitalist Coloniser. Before coming to the island he sells off Xury to the Captain of a ship engaging in slave trade; when he (Crusoe) himself was recently released from slavery. He is also an extremely materialistic man & his mercantile instincts are very strong. He was a successful merchant in Brazil before he was stranded on the island. After landing on the island, he strips the ship of every useful commodity (showing his ‘grab while grab can’ mentality) & builds two houses for himself – a summerhouse & a beach-house – and fills them with all amenities like the cellar for his wine & grains. He brings his skills to this island & begins to ‘use’ the nature for his benefits. He becomes a farmer & has pets to obey him, cattle to serve him & he trains parrots too. He also writes journals & maintains a calendar. In this way, he creates a quasi – modern civilization on the desolate island. Since he has no value for money, he hoards gunpowder, grain, cattle & creates various luxuries for himself.
Crusoe goes on explorations in the island to satisfy his wanderlust as well as to expand his demesne or domain. His use of language reeks of imperialism. He denotes the island as his ‘sovereign’ territory/kingdom & imagines himself to be its king. Even when the cannibals come on the island, he is more worried about losing his domain than losing his life. He is particularly protective about his grains, wine & gunpowder.
Crusoe even keeps as a slave a cannibal he has saved from the other cannibals. He calls him ‘Friday’. Crusoe goes out of his way to ‘civilize’ Friday by teaching him to speak English (some of the early words being ‘yes’, ‘no’ & ‘Master’). He teaches him to substitute goat meat for human flesh. Through this, Crusoe becomes a symbol of the European coloniser – depicting the prevailing reality of colonialism & imperialism during those times. Crusoe thus becomes an allegory. Through Crusoe, Defoe proves that when man is isolated in nature, he tries to rule over it.
Thus, very poignantly, Defoe depicts Robinson Crusoe’s efforts for building an empire on the island. When I was in school, we had an abridged version of this novel as part of a subject called ‘Rapid Reader’. In it, we were taught how brave & great Crusoe is. I think many students like us are being taught misinterpretations of this novel. I realised this now, when in my TYBA (English Literature) we have an unabridged version of this novel. Reading of many critical essays on this novel & guidance from my professors has helped me to grasp the right perspective. I feel that even the author Defoe meant to criticize the colonialist mentality of his protagonist & not glorify it. I may be wrong in my opinion, and bouquets & brickbats are expected from my critics.
