Robinson Crusoe

“My father, who was very ancient, had given me a competent share of learning, as far as house-education, and a country free-school generally goes, and design’d me for the law; but I would be satisfied with nothing but going to sea, and my inclination to this led me so strongly against the will, nay the commands of my father, and against all the entreaties and perswasions [sic] of my mother and other friends, that there seem’d to be something fatal in that propension of Nature tending to the life of misery which was to befall me.”

Defoe characterizes Crusoe as a man determined to do what he pleases and go to sea whatever the cost, straying from his parents teachings and the teachings of his community. At the same time, this quote foreshadows the role of nature in Crusoe’s life, in that nature will create storms that heavily affect the rest of Crusoe’s life. The quote sets the stage for all that’s to come.

“The middle station of life was calculated for all kind of vertues [sic] and all kind of enjoyments; that peace and plenty were the hand-maids of a middle fortune; that temperance, moderation, quietness, health, society, all agreeable diversions, and all desirable pleasures, were the blessings attending the middle station of life; that this way men went silently and smoothly tho’ the world, and comfortably out of it, not embarrass’d with the labours [sic] of the hands or of the head, not sold to the life of slavery for daily bread, or harrast [sic] with perplex’d circumstances, which rob the soul of peace, and the body of rest; not enrag’d with the passion of envy, or secret burning lust of ambition for great things; but in easy circumstances sliding gently thro’ the world, and sensibly tasting the sweets of living.”

Here, Crusoe recounts his father’s advice to follow the middle station in life in order to find peace and happiness. It’s these teachings Crusoe’s father uses in the hope of taming the young Crusoe’s ambitious, adventurous, seafaring mind. Crusoe’s father tells his son that experience has taught mankind these lessons. And it’s these teachings that Crusoe forsakes pages later, when Crusoe departs on his first journey, against his parents’ wishes.

“I expected every wave would have swallowed us up, and that every time the ship fell down, as I thought, in the trough or hollow of the sea, we should never rise more; and in this agony of mind, I made many vows and resolutions, that if it would please God here to spare my life this one voyage, if ever I got once my foot upon dry land again, I would go directly home to my father, and never set it into a ship again while I liv’d; that I would take his advice […] I would, like a true repenting Prodigal, go home to my father.”

On his first journey, Crusoe experiences a severe storm that throws the ship around, causing Crusoe to beg for his life and promise to abandon any ideas of life as a sailor, should he survive. The boat wrecks and Crusoe does survive, but he does not return home. Despite his promises, Crusoe continues his journeys; later, he will see his actions as selfish and greedy, and vow to change his ways again, though it can be argued that he, again, does not.