Daniel Defoe
ROBINSON CRUSOE (1719)
Robinson Crusoe is probably the most famous adventure story in English literature. It tells the story of a men who was
shipwrecked off a desert island where he spends the next 28 years before being rescued. The story is divided into 3 parts:
1) We are told briefly about Crusoe's early life. After a series of adventures, Crusoe finds himself in Brazil, where he
becomes a plantation owner, a job that he doesn't really like. From there he sets off for Africa with some other
plantation owners to procure slaves to work for them. Its on this journey that he is shipwrecked. Washed ashore on a
desert island, he is the only survivor.
2) This part of the book is in the form of a journal in which Crusoe writes about life on the island, how he uses his
strength and intelligence to overcome difficulties, and how he eventually becomes master of the island. In this part
he encounters a savage, who he calls Friday and who he converts to Christianity.
3) The third part of the book tells of their rescue and of Crusoe's return to England with Friday as his servant.
→ Robinson Crusoe is written in the first-person, in the form of an autobiography. Defoe adds a preface, which states 'The
editor believes this things to be just a History of fact; neither is there any appearance of fiction in it'. So we are led to believe
that this is the story of a real man, and that Defoe is merely the editor.
We are given little or no access to Crusoe's inner thoughts or feelings; he generally tells us only about his action and about
what physically happens to him. Occasionally he reflects on religious questions; indeed, one of the themes of the book is the
Puritan idea that man's redemption on earth can only be attained through hard work and industry . Another interesting
feature is the organisation of the story: there is no real novelistic plot. Instead, Crusoe's journal merely tells the reader the
things that happen to him in a diary-like sequence.
→ Robinson Crusoe is open to several interpretations:
1) THE RELIGIOUS ALLEGORY: The novel has been interpreted as a religious allegory, a Puritan tract about men's
redemption from sin. The Puritans had a very uncomplicated view of religion. Their view was that man must save
himself from original sin on Earth. The island on which Crusoe is shipwrecked is an “island of despair”. But
gradually, through his virtues of intelligence and hard work, he transforms it into a paradise of which he is master.
Crusoe doesn't ask God for salvation, but relies only upon his own labours.
2) THE ECONOMIC ALLEGORY: The novel also functions as an allegory of merchant capitalism: the mini-
civilisation, which Crusoe establishes on the island, is similar to the society from which he comes. After he has
arrived on the island, he begins to regard it as his property. He builds himself an improvised house with a fence
round it. He gathers wealth in the form of stocks of food and supplies.
3) THE IMPERIALIST ALLEGORY: Robinson Crusoe can be considered as an allegory of British imperialism
because it attempts to demonstrate the white, Christian, Crusoe's inherent superiority over the native Friday, who
must be civilised and converted to Christianity. Robinson sees it as his right to be lord and master of the island,
despite the fact that people he calls “savages” were there before him. In Robinson Crusoe Friday isn't given a voice
of his own: he speaks only when Crusoe teaches him English. The master-slave relationship is reminiscent of that
between Prosper and Caliban in “The Tempest”.
Jonathan Swift
GULLIVER'S TRAVELS (1726)
1) The hero describes his shipwreck off the island of Lilliput. The Lilliputians, he discovers, are tiny people. During
his stay, he learns about the local customs and culture, and about the country's political system.
2) Gulliver sets off for India, but finds himself abandoned on the island of Brobdingnag, whose inhabitants are alle
giants. The situation of Part 1 is reversed, as Gulliver is now regarded as something like a living doll that children
can play with.
3) Gulliver lands on the amazing flying island of Laputa with its capital Lagado, which is populated by philosophers
and scientists, all involved in bizarre and futile scientific research ad speculations. The inventions in this part of the
book though designed to ridicule scientific invention. From here Gulliver journeys to another two island,
Glubbdubdrib and Luggnagg, each with their own absurdities.
4) Gulliver arrives in a land ruled by intelligent horses who call themselves the Houyhnhnms. They are served by a
filthy and subhuman race called the Yahoos. Again, Gulliver spends his time trying to learn the language and the
ways of the Houyhnhnms.
→ Gulliver's travels has for a long time been considered a children's classic because of the wonderfully absurd at the
beginning of the novel that “the style is very plain and simple”. Gulliver is a matter-of-fact man who records the marvels he
sees with careful detail, in the language of the traveller who speaks with great seriousness about what he has seen and wants to
be believed. However, the novel's dense mixture of fantasy, political satire, moral fable and playfulness renders it a highly
complex work.
→ Gulliver's travels is open to several interpretations:
1) FIRST JOURNEY: The diminutive Lilliputians can be seen to represent cruelty, pettiness and provincialism.
Critics have suggested that the politicians in the story were modelled on leading political figures of Swift's time.
Though they are initially kind to him, the Lilliputians see Gulliver as a giant baby, a huge body controlled by its
physical needs.
2) SECOND JOURNEY: The giants of Brobdingnag represent human vanity and self-love. Gulliver's descriptions of
their bodies reveal a mixture of fascination for, and disgust and repulsion towards the human body, which may be
seen as an obstacle to spiritual growth. In a way Gulliver is able to see how the Lilliputians saw him.
