Colonialism in Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe

Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, a classic in English literature, and regarded by many as the first English
novel, has been interpreted in different ways. First it is a religious and moral allegory as stressed by Defoe
himself in the Preface. Also, Rousseau was inspired by it to “Return to Nature”. Again Marx regarded it
as a meretricious model of economic independence. And above all, the recent studies regard Crusoe as the
first colonialist in English literature. Even J.M. Coetzee’s novel, Foe is a re-imaging of Robinson Crusoe
on grounds of gender, race and colonialism. On the whole, the colonial approach is one of the major
concerns of Robinson Crusoe to the critics and readers: the try to analyze the theme of colonialism in
Robinson Crusoe, post colonialism in Robinson Crusoe, Robinson Crusoe colonialism and imperialism or
Robinson Crusoe colonialism quotes.

The first part of the story of Robinson Crusoe begins with Crusoe’s being stranded and marooned in an
inhabited island, far from the rest of the world. This happens for their ship’s being wrecked in a storm,
and only he being left. In such a condition, he begins his struggle for existence and consequently
succeeds.

In a sense, Crusoe attempts to replicate his own society or colony on the island. This has been achieved
through application of some qualities of Crusoe, and some instruments, and proper handling of different
situations.

First, the qualities by dint of which Crusoe has been able to change the island inhabitable to habitable, are
his courage, hard struggle with situation, determination, devotion, creativity.

Then, in order to make his colony inhabitable and cultivable, he applies European technology and
agriculture. He brings, from the stranded ship, a large number of articles and corps which are useful to
him in his desolate condition on the island. These things include several items of food, several weapons
e.g. guns and pistols, considerable ammunition including gunpowder, such tools as saws, and axe, a
hammer, several bottles of rum, a box of sugar, a hammock, some clothing, some bedding, some money,
though useless at that situation, a bag full of chicken feed, a bag full of nails, some corps and a number of
other things. Using these things, day after day for a long time Crusoe establishes a society of his own in
which there come some other men by accident.

Crusoe establishes “a rudimentary political hierarchy” in the land. Crusoe, several times in the novel,
refers to himself as the ‘king’ of the island. In his own word –

“a secret kind of Pleasure... to think that this was all my own, that I was king and lord of all this country
indefeasibly, and had a right of Possession.”

Whilst the captain describes him as the “Governour” to the mutineers.

“The idealised master-servant relationship Defoe depicts between Crusoe and Friday can also be seen in
terms of cultural imperialism. Crusoe represents the ‘enlightened’ European whilst Friday is the ‘savage’
who can only be redeemed from his supposedly barbarous way of life through the assimilation of
Crusoe’s culture.”
Crusoe saves, for his own purpose, a prisoner who was running away from the clutches of some
cannibals. When he sees it, he thinks,

“It came now very warmly upon my thoughts, and indeed irresistibly, that now was my time to get me a
servant, and perhaps a Companion, or Assistant.”

Crusoe names the prisoner Friday, introduces himself to him as ‘Master’, and teaches him language
actually for his own benefit like the colonists. He says –

“I was greatly delighted with him, and made it my Business to teach him every thing, that was proper to
make him useful, handy, and helpful; but especially to make him speak, and understand me what I speak.”

The colonialists come to colonies with some mission with them. Similarly Crusoe’s mission is to preach.
To make it easy and to communicate with Friday he taught him language. When Crusoe knows from him
about their false God, Beramucke, he begins preaching –

“I began to instruct him in the knowledge of the true God”

The English sea-captain, having prayed Crusoe to recover his ship from the hands of the mutineers,
Crusoe raises two conditions which indicate his colonial attitude of making contact. His conditions are:

“That while you stay on this island with me, you will not pretend to any authority here;”

and

“That if the ship is, or may be recovered, you will carry me and my Man to English passage free.”

Though Crusoe leaves his island for England, he leaves an unseen control over the land. Instead of his
being settled in England, he longs for going to adventure again. He makes a voyage to East Indies and to
the island which he explicitly calls his “Colony”. He says –

“In this voyage I visited my new Colony in the Island, saw my successors the Spaniards, had the whole
story of their lives, and of the Villains I left there.”

We see here, Crusoe is very kind of Friday but there is of course difference between ‘we’ and ‘they’,
between my ‘Man’ and my ‘Master’. Actually the relation between the colonizer and the colonized is here
soft become both of them are at stake and in initial stage where there is no revolt between them. But we
can look into The Tempest where Shakespeare shows the aftermath of teaching language, while there is
no aftermath or consequence of colonization in Robinson Crusoe. Caliban complains to his master,

“You taught me language; and my profit on..

Is, I know how to curse: the red plague rid you

For learning me your language!”

“Nevertheless, within the novel, Defoe also takes the opportunity to criticise the historic Spanish conquest
of South America.” Crusoe thinks that if he attacks the cannibals who have come to the shore of his
island, it would not be just for him. Rather,

“This would justify the conduct of the Spaniards in all their Barbarities practised in America, and where
they destroyed Million’s of these people, who... were yet... very innocent people.”

On the issues of gender, race and colonialism, J.M. Coetzee presents Foe which re-images Robinson
Crusoe which lacked female character. Here Coetzee adds a woman, Susan Barton, cast away on the same
island as Robinson Crusoe (here called Crusoe) and Friday. “After their rescue by a passing
merchantman, Crusoe dies aboard the ship and Susan and Friday are left to make their way in England.”

In this novel, Friday is an ugly Negro and mutilated: none knows who has mutilated him. Actually “the
pertinence of Friday to black history is not in question: the inaccessibility of his world to the European
world is a consequence of colonialist oppression and racism. The mutilation in his mouth is emblematic
of Black-African cultural castration operated by the white invaders.”

In fine, we agree with James Joyce that “the true symbol of the British conquest is Robinson Crusoe”:

“He is the true prototype of the British colonists... The whole Anglo-Saxon spirit is in Crusoe: the manly
independence # the sexual apathy, the calculating taciturnity.”

Defoe has shown the idealized colonialism of initial stage, but not the after fall stage, as in the Tempest,
nor the barbarous result of colonialism, as expressed in Foe.