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Robinson Crusoe--"True" or "Convenient" Convert?
Often, one finds oneself in a difficult situation. Many times, the situation ia entirely caused by the individual, and therefore, easily understood. However, situations often arise that are not easily explainable. It is in these situations that many turn to religion for answers. Using religion to solve, or help solve problems, though, does not necessarily entail a "true conversion." Oftentimes, the individual becomes a transient or "convenient convert," whose faith lasts for the duration of the problem, and no longer. In Daniel Defoe's eighteenth century novel, Robinson Crusoe, Crusoe is faced with many problems. These problems force Crusoe to look to God for help. The reader is left to decide, though, as to whether Crusoe undergoes a "true" religious conversioin or whether he simply becomes "conveniently religious."
Crusoe makes his religious "conversion" while shipwrecked on a desolate island and mired in the throes of an ague. Upon awakening from a sleep, Crusoe recollects and reflects upon his past wicked life. Crusoe decides his detainment on the island is God's punishment for his past foolish life in which he had "not... the least sense ... of the fear of God in danger or of thankfulness to God in deliverances." Crusoe then remembers his father's warning that if he embarked on his "seaward journeys" God would not bless him. Realizing that he had rejected God's counsel in his father's advice, Crusoe says his first prayer,"Lord be my help, for I am in great distress." This marks the beginning of Crusoe's religious life, in which he draws hope for, his deliverance from the island.
Crusoe's faith in God has a positive function in his life on the deserted island. He Found hope in the words of God, manifested in his Bible. "Call on me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver, and thou shalt glorify me," are the words of Crusoe"s inspiration. Hope of deliverance gives Crusoe a reason to live. Instead of despairing about his situation, Crusoe, with the hope of eventual deliverance in the back of his mind, is able to make the best of his situation on the island. He puts his energy to use, instead of gloating about his situation, and he is able to "furnish himself with many things" by using raw materials an the island. On a deeper level, Crusoe's faith in God provided him with something even more urgently needed than hope.
Faith in God gave Crusoe a means through which to communicate his thoughts. Granted, God is an abstract entity, but God is an abstraction that requires belief or imagination, in order to exist as an abstraction. Through the communication of ideas and hopes, coupled with the mind power that was needed in order to conceptualize God, Crusoe's mind was therefore kept active. God kept Crusoe from insanity. Without God, Crusoe's loneliness probably would have "driven him over the edge." Crusoe's faith in God then, not only provided him with hope for deliverance, but God also functioned as an intangible "something" that functioned as a replacement for a tangible "Communicator" (person).
Crusoe's faith is dealt a severe blow, however, when Robinson discovers a man's footprint on the beach of "his" island. Fear raged through Crusoe's mind at the sight of the footprint. He wondered if the devil had contrived the image of a human's foot in order to scare him. Then, when reason sets in, Crusoe decides that the footprint must be the remnant of a cannibal tribe's visit to the island. He was terrified of the cannibals! In wake of this new found fear, Crusoe says:
..Fear banished all my religious hope, all that former confidence in God, which was founded upon such wonderful experience as I had of His goodness, now vanished.
Crusoe's faith seems to be "paper thin" here, and one must wonder about the validity of his conversion. Then, however, Crusoe accepts the "invasion" of his island as just punishment from God. Crusoe decides that "'twas my unquestioned duty to resign myself ...to His will; ... and my duty to hope...pray...and attend to the dictates...of His providence."
Crusoe's resignation to the will of God does not necessarily mean that he has truly converted. His resignation could be interpreted as a final desperate effort to placate God. Crusoe certainly didn't want to anger God any more than he had already. Maybe Crusoe saw the foot-print as a temptation to abandon his faith (he already intimated the workings of the devil in creating the footprint). Therefore,when he resigns himself to God's will, Crusoe might be simply saying, "God, I don't want to anger you anymore, if you're even listening, and I'll accept this as part of my fate." Also, by accepting the footprint, and the possibility of "foreign cannibalistic invasion," as a work of God, and part of his fate, Crusoe frees himself from having to take any action. Once Crusoe resigns himself to God, he is happy, signifying a great load (worry, fear) having been lifted off his shoulders.
The next time that Crusoe uses his moral reasoning is not long after he sights the footprint on the beach. One day, Crusoe finds the beach littered with human bones, obviously the remnants of a cannibal feast. Crusoe abhors this sight, forgets about the cannibal's presence as being God's punishment for him, and decides to put an end to the cannibalistic feasting. He sets about making elaborate plans to murder some of the cannibals, all of them if necessary. Then however, Crusoe decides that he has no "authority ... to be judge and executioner" of the savages. Crusoe reasons that the cannibals had committed what he decided were crimes for so long and had gone unpunished by God so that HE the sinner)" had no right to harm them. This may signify the birth of Crusoe's morality, for the remainder of his detainment on the island. Through Friday, Crusoe fulfills an unwritten obligation to God. The words upon which Crusoe made his initial conversion, "Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver, and thou shalt glorify me," function as an agreement between God and Crusoe. Crusoe needed a companion and God furnished Friday. Crusoe responded to this by glorifying God's name to Friday; he converted Friday to Christianity.
This "contract" is merely a symbolic interpretation. Crusoe never explicitly mentions the already mentioned words of God as the motive for Friday's conversion, nor does he cite a contractual obligation to God. Maybe the fact that Crusoe DOESN'T mention an obligation or contract signifies that Crusoe actually DID undergo a very strong religious conversion while he was detained on the island. Now, perhaps Crusoe considers glorifying God "matter-of-fact." At any rate, Crusoe did convert Friday to Christianity and this conversion seems to have rested favorably with God. Not too long after, Friday is converted. God "delivers" Crusoe home, after Robinson had spent thirty-five years detained on the island.
Crusoe's behavior when he returns home is a testament of his religious ambivalence. It is evident that Crusoe is a changed man. However, he doesn't really attribute his change to God. As a matter of fact, God seems to have become a secondary factor in his life. Crusoe affirms his belief in God, and won't be shaken from his belief. This is evident in his selling of his plantation in Brazil. He sold it because he feared religious persecution. Brazil was in the midst of the Spanish Inquisition, and Crusoe had no intentions of converting from Protestant to Roman Catholicism in order to escape the Inquisition. Here, one sees Crusoe's belief in God, but what does this belief mean?
Does his belief mean faith and devotion to God? It appears not. When Crusoe arrives in England, he doesn't go to Church to thank God for his safe homecoming. He rather inquires about his financial situation. Crusoe is generous when he returns to England(he supports the widow), but how much of this generosity does Crusoe attribute to God's workings? None. Crusoe's "generosity motives" are clearly secular. He responds to kindness. Crusoe's actions aren't controlled by spiritual obligations. In short, it seems that Crusoe has gained a true, underlying belief in God through his experiences on the island, but that this belief becomes secondary to his own life once his detainment on the island is over.
Now, can one term Crusoe a "true convert"? Before he was detained on the island, Crusoe had no belief or fear of God. During his detainment on the island however, Crusoe "finds" God, and returns to England with a belief in God. In this sense, one can say that Crusoe has converted. Whereas he had no belief in God before he was detained on the island, Crusoe returns with a very strong belief, a belief that even caused him to sell his rich plantation. How far does this belief take Crusoe though? On the island, Crusoe set aside parts of every day in order to pray to God. Back in England however, Crusoe hardly communicates with God at all. By the end of the novel, the reader sees Crusoe returning to his old self. He ignores the warnings of the old widow and sets out to find "his" island. Even with a belief in God, then, Crusoe is ruled by impulse.
One can conclude then that Crusoe experienced a "partial" conversion. He is a convert in the sense that he at least gained a belief in God while detained on the island, but this is where the conversion ends. The remainder of the faith that Crusoe displayed while on the island evaporated once he returned back home. His faith on the island was convenient. Crusoe, in this case, is the epitome of the "convenient convert." His great faith and devotion to God expired once his problematic situation was alleviated. The combination of Crusoe's belief, but shallow faith in God, then, makes him a "Partial convert."
Often, one finds oneself in a difficult situation. Many times, the situation ia entirely caused by the individual, and therefore, easily understood. However, situations often arise that are not easily explainable. It is in these situations that many turn to religion for answers. Using religion to solve, or help solve problems, though, does not necessarily entail a "true conversion." Oftentimes, the individual becomes a transient or "convenient convert," whose faith lasts for the duration of the problem, and no longer. In Daniel Defoe's eighteenth century novel, Robinson Crusoe, Crusoe is faced with many problems. These problems force Crusoe to look to God for help. The reader is left to decide, though, as to whether Crusoe undergoes a "true" religious conversioin or whether he simply becomes "conveniently religious."
Crusoe makes his religious "conversion" while shipwrecked on a desolate island and mired in the throes of an ague. Upon awakening from a sleep, Crusoe recollects and reflects upon his past wicked life. Crusoe decides his detainment on the island is God's punishment for his past foolish life in which he had "not... the least sense ... of the fear of God in danger or of thankfulness to God in deliverances." Crusoe then remembers his father's warning that if he embarked on his "seaward journeys" God would not bless him. Realizing that he had rejected God's counsel in his father's advice, Crusoe says his first prayer,"Lord be my help, for I am in great distress." This marks the beginning of Crusoe's religious life, in which he draws hope for, his deliverance from the island.
Crusoe's faith in God has a positive function in his life on the deserted island. He Found hope in the words of God, manifested in his Bible. "Call on me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver, and thou shalt glorify me," are the words of Crusoe"s inspiration. Hope of deliverance gives Crusoe a reason to live. Instead of despairing about his situation, Crusoe, with the hope of eventual deliverance in the back of his mind, is able to make the best of his situation on the island. He puts his energy to use, instead of gloating about his situation, and he is able to "furnish himself with many things" by using raw materials an the island. On a deeper level, Crusoe's faith in God provided him with something even more urgently needed than hope.
Faith in God gave Crusoe a means through which to communicate his thoughts. Granted, God is an abstract entity, but God is an abstraction that requires belief or imagination, in order to exist as an abstraction. Through the communication of ideas and hopes, coupled with the mind power that was needed in order to conceptualize God, Crusoe's mind was therefore kept active. God kept Crusoe from insanity. Without God, Crusoe's loneliness probably would have "driven him over the edge." Crusoe's faith in God then, not only provided him with hope for deliverance, but God also functioned as an intangible "something" that functioned as a replacement for a tangible "Communicator" (person).
Crusoe's faith is dealt a severe blow, however, when Robinson discovers a man's footprint on the beach of "his" island. Fear raged through Crusoe's mind at the sight of the footprint. He wondered if the devil had contrived the image of a human's foot in order to scare him. Then, when reason sets in, Crusoe decides that the footprint must be the remnant of a cannibal tribe's visit to the island. He was terrified of the cannibals! In wake of this new found fear, Crusoe says:
..Fear banished all my religious hope, all that former confidence in God, which was founded upon such wonderful experience as I had of His goodness, now vanished.
Crusoe's faith seems to be "paper thin" here, and one must wonder about the validity of his conversion. Then, however, Crusoe accepts the "invasion" of his island as just punishment from God. Crusoe decides that "'twas my unquestioned duty to resign myself ...to His will; ... and my duty to hope...pray...and attend to the dictates...of His providence."
Crusoe's resignation to the will of God does not necessarily mean that he has truly converted. His resignation could be interpreted as a final desperate effort to placate God. Crusoe certainly didn't want to anger God any more than he had already. Maybe Crusoe saw the foot-print as a temptation to abandon his faith (he already intimated the workings of the devil in creating the footprint). Therefore,when he resigns himself to God's will, Crusoe might be simply saying, "God, I don't want to anger you anymore, if you're even listening, and I'll accept this as part of my fate." Also, by accepting the footprint, and the possibility of "foreign cannibalistic invasion," as a work of God, and part of his fate, Crusoe frees himself from having to take any action. Once Crusoe resigns himself to God, he is happy, signifying a great load (worry, fear) having been lifted off his shoulders.
The next time that Crusoe uses his moral reasoning is not long after he sights the footprint on the beach. One day, Crusoe finds the beach littered with human bones, obviously the remnants of a cannibal feast. Crusoe abhors this sight, forgets about the cannibal's presence as being God's punishment for him, and decides to put an end to the cannibalistic feasting. He sets about making elaborate plans to murder some of the cannibals, all of them if necessary. Then however, Crusoe decides that he has no "authority ... to be judge and executioner" of the savages. Crusoe reasons that the cannibals had committed what he decided were crimes for so long and had gone unpunished by God so that HE the sinner)" had no right to harm them. This may signify the birth of Crusoe's morality, for the remainder of his detainment on the island. Through Friday, Crusoe fulfills an unwritten obligation to God. The words upon which Crusoe made his initial conversion, "Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver, and thou shalt glorify me," function as an agreement between God and Crusoe. Crusoe needed a companion and God furnished Friday. Crusoe responded to this by glorifying God's name to Friday; he converted Friday to Christianity.
This "contract" is merely a symbolic interpretation. Crusoe never explicitly mentions the already mentioned words of God as the motive for Friday's conversion, nor does he cite a contractual obligation to God. Maybe the fact that Crusoe DOESN'T mention an obligation or contract signifies that Crusoe actually DID undergo a very strong religious conversion while he was detained on the island. Now, perhaps Crusoe considers glorifying God "matter-of-fact." At any rate, Crusoe did convert Friday to Christianity and this conversion seems to have rested favorably with God. Not too long after, Friday is converted. God "delivers" Crusoe home, after Robinson had spent thirty-five years detained on the island.
Crusoe's behavior when he returns home is a testament of his religious ambivalence. It is evident that Crusoe is a changed man. However, he doesn't really attribute his change to God. As a matter of fact, God seems to have become a secondary factor in his life. Crusoe affirms his belief in God, and won't be shaken from his belief. This is evident in his selling of his plantation in Brazil. He sold it because he feared religious persecution. Brazil was in the midst of the Spanish Inquisition, and Crusoe had no intentions of converting from Protestant to Roman Catholicism in order to escape the Inquisition. Here, one sees Crusoe's belief in God, but what does this belief mean?
Does his belief mean faith and devotion to God? It appears not. When Crusoe arrives in England, he doesn't go to Church to thank God for his safe homecoming. He rather inquires about his financial situation. Crusoe is generous when he returns to England(he supports the widow), but how much of this generosity does Crusoe attribute to God's workings? None. Crusoe's "generosity motives" are clearly secular. He responds to kindness. Crusoe's actions aren't controlled by spiritual obligations. In short, it seems that Crusoe has gained a true, underlying belief in God through his experiences on the island, but that this belief becomes secondary to his own life once his detainment on the island is over.
Now, can one term Crusoe a "true convert"? Before he was detained on the island, Crusoe had no belief or fear of God. During his detainment on the island however, Crusoe "finds" God, and returns to England with a belief in God. In this sense, one can say that Crusoe has converted. Whereas he had no belief in God before he was detained on the island, Crusoe returns with a very strong belief, a belief that even caused him to sell his rich plantation. How far does this belief take Crusoe though? On the island, Crusoe set aside parts of every day in order to pray to God. Back in England however, Crusoe hardly communicates with God at all. By the end of the novel, the reader sees Crusoe returning to his old self. He ignores the warnings of the old widow and sets out to find "his" island. Even with a belief in God, then, Crusoe is ruled by impulse.
One can conclude then that Crusoe experienced a "partial" conversion. He is a convert in the sense that he at least gained a belief in God while detained on the island, but this is where the conversion ends. The remainder of the faith that Crusoe displayed while on the island evaporated once he returned back home. His faith on the island was convenient. Crusoe, in this case, is the epitome of the "convenient convert." His great faith and devotion to God expired once his problematic situation was alleviated. The combination of Crusoe's belief, but shallow faith in God, then, makes him a "Partial convert."