Was Robinson Crusoe a Novel or Political Pamphlet?

Unveiling the political and racial undertones of a literary classic

Robinson Crusoe was first published on 25 April 1719. The book follows the lead character, Robinson Kreutznaer after being cast away on an island. Here, he spends twenty-eight years and encounters cannibals, captives and mutineers.

The first issue, when released, stated the author's name as Robinson Crusoe, leading many to believe the book was a work of non-fiction written as a memoir.

The book, which received wide literary praise, marked the beginning of realistic fiction as a genre and is widely considered the first English novel written. It, however, is not without its critics.

Alexander Selkirk

Many readers have likened the story of Crusoe to that of Selkirk. Selkirk lived in the 16th century, and for four years, he was famously a castaway on an uninhabited island.

Selkirk lived in the age of pirates and became involved in several buccaneering expeditions. In 1703, he joined the company of notorious explorer and privateer William Dampier, who was captain of the Cinque Ports, a sixteen-gun, ninety-ton vessel. Privateers were effectively pirates who operated under license from the government.

After several encounters with Spanish vessels, the Cinque Ports dropped anchor at an uninhabited island 400 miles from the coast of Chile. The idea was to restock with water and provisions.

At the time, Selkirk had argued with Dampier over the ship's seaworthiness due to the damage caused by the battles. The fight was so fierce that Selkirk opted to stay on the island rather than reboard the ship.

He spent four years alone on the island. During his time there, two ships docked, but both had Spanish crews, so Selkirk hid. Then, on a February morning in 1709, the Woodes Roger's docked at the island captained by William Dampier. He had come to rescue Selkirk.

It appears that Selkirk had been right. The Cinque Posts had sunk with its crew after leaving the island. Dampier and seven other sailors were the only ones to survive. Selkirk returned home and made his fortune.

Although Daniel Defoe never confirmed or denied the link to Selkirk, many have made the comparison.

Controversy

Many critics will state, though, that the book is mainly political and racist. In the book, Crusoe is described as the King of the island. At the novel's end, the island is referred to as a colony, both factors that refer to the British Empire.

Throughout the book, Crusoe is projected as the enlightened European, whilst Friday is called savage. Terms that are connected with both the empire and racism. Do not forget that Crusoe, at the end of the book, is made rich from a slave plantation he has in Brazil.

Some will claim that the book was more a promotional prospectus for potential investors than a novel. Two months before the book's publication, Defoe wrote in a journal that the South Sea Company should oversee the founding of a British colony at the mouth of the River Orinoco near present-day Venezuela.

Defoe chose to locate the fictional island that Crusoe is stranded on 40 miles from the mouth of the Orinoco. He furnished the island with a kinder climate to encourage people to invest in the new colony.

Sequels and Success

Robinson Crusoe did not suffer from this negativity. It has been republished over 700 times. Defoe published a sequel to the book The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, and a third volume followed in 1720.

Defoe experienced both literary success and ongoing personal challenges. The novel became immensely popular and established Defoe as a significant figure in English literature, but his life after the publication continued to be marked by financial difficulties and political controversy.

He published famous novels such as Moll Flanders, A Journal of the Plague Year, and Roxana. Despite this, his financial troubles continued. He was plagued by debt all his life, mainly due to failing businesses and political conflict. Defoe had to live cautiously to avoid creditors; at times, he worked under pseudonyms to avoid public attention.

Defoe's health deteriorated in his later years, and he spent much of his time hiding and writing; his later works never achieved the same level of success as Robinson Crusoe. He died in 1731 at around 70, reportedly in hiding to avoid arrest for debt. His death was somewhat obscure, and details about his final days are uncertain.

Inspiration

Robinson Crusoe may fail to be the first English novel. Several female writers have been discovered who wrote novels before. It did mark the beginning of the realistic fiction genre and inspired many other classics.

Many books were written in this genre afterwards. Most have fallen into obscurity, but some have been established as classics, such as The Swiss Family Robinson, a childhood favourite of mine.

Seven years after Crusoe, Jonathan Swift published Gulliver's Travels, which is seen as a criticism of Defoe's over-optimistic story. In Treasure Island, Stevenson parodies Crusoe with the character Ben Gunn.

My favourite connection, though, is one that drew me back to Robinson Crusoe and was the inspiration for this article. In the Wilkie Collins novel The Moonstone, Gabriel Betteredge, one of the main characters, puts all his faith in the book, using it almost to tell the future.

Historical literature will always spark controversy, be it the language used or the topics discussed. I do not think that these novels should be banned. These stories tell us a great deal about the development of language and society.

What do you think?