The Character and Attitudes of Robinson Crusoe

魯濱遜的性格和態度——解讀《魯濱遜漂流記》

摘 要：《魯濱遜飄流記》的主人公魯濱遜在文學史上已經成為了一個經典符號。小說的迷人之處在于主人公屢次

遭遇海難、荒島余生、拯救禮拜五、自封孤島總督、協同御敵、發財歸來的故事劇情。除此之外，整個故事中折射出魯濱遜的性格和態度也是值得深入研究的部分。在此背景下，筆者從一個新的視角解讀《魯濱遜飄流記》，即：由他的言行反映出的性格和態度。

關鍵詞：《魯濱遜飄流記》；魯濱遜；性格；態度

It is said that he social class which embodies the spirit of British Puritanism is termed as British merchant class. Daniel Defoe who is a member of the merchant class does not believe in the Church of England. Instead， he holds views close to those of a Puritan (Richetti， J. 2000: 192). His first work was received pillory punishment in public for its satirical content on the then administration. However， this did not stop him from criticizing religious oppression. In 1719， Defoe wrote a novel entitled Robinson Crusoe[] which instantly swept the whole of Great British upon publication. In the novel of Robinson Crusoe， Robinson is a Christian who challenges the Catholic Church. He shows deep appreciation to the words in Bible which are useful to him. He challenges God’s authority from time to time while he is a laborious worker full of energy. In this essay， it is mainly to analysize the advantages and disadvantages of Robinson's characteristics at that period of time. The advantage part will be analysed form four perspectives， namely， Robinson as a man of virtue， individualism， perseverance and reaason. However， in the disadvantage part the his lacking care to the family， vanity， racial prejudice， keeping slave will be criticised.

It can not be denied that Robinson is a hero in many people's mind. This is not only because of his bravery， moreover， he is a man of virtue at first. Robinson is kind hearted. For this point， he has won people’s concern， respect and best wishes. He is also gracious and merciful. Furthermore， his charitable deeds to his benefactors made him a more shining figure: the first thing after he had become a rich man was to recompense his original benefactor who had been kind to him at the beginning of his adventure. In addition， Robinson is a modest man. He was never interested in portraying himself as a hero in his narration. He didn’t boast of his courage in settling down， working， exploiting and quelling on the island alone， and he was always ready to admit his feelings of fear or panic.

Secondly， he is a man of individualism. He is typical of the English bourgeoisie. He pursued a free life and valued individualism in the middle age. Robinson was not willing to stick to the old doctrines and lived a life of leisure and ease. His restless nature made him always fight for a better life and the things he wanted to possess.

Thirdly， he is a man of perseverance. Robinson had shown his marvelous capacity for work， his boundless energy and persistence in overcoming obstacles. His perseverance in spending months making a canoe， and in practicing pottery making until he got it right， is praiseworthy. He struggled hard against nature and made it bend to his will.

The last but not the least， he is a man of reason. This is alone with the development of people's mind and scientific research. The fact that Robinson could go out to sea and build his plantation in Brazil is because of the development of navigation techniques and ship making. When facing difficulties， Robinson did not always pray for the God’s blessing but used his wisdom and tools to fight against all the obstacles and created a necessary and comfortable life for himself. In the production procedure， he experienced from collecting， fishing， hunting， raising animals and making some tools and necessaries to life， in which he made full use of his knowledge and was willing to learn more.

The second part of this essay is the pitfalls of Robinson's characteristics. Firstly， he is a man without plenty of care to his family. As he told us， “I would be satisfied with nothing but go to sea， and my inclination to this led me strongly against the will and the commands of my father， and against all the entreaties and persuasion of my mother and other friends (Defoe， D. 2003: 212)”. In the end， he went out to the sea without saying goodbye to his family. Secondly， he is vainglory. After the first sea voyage failed， he was swaying between two choices: whether he should go home， or go to sea. He chose the latter. Though he had ever considered of returning home， it is the sense of vanity that accounts for this decision， as illustrated in “it occurred to me how I should be laughed at among the neighbors， and should be ashamed to see， not my father and mother only， but even everybody else” (Defoe， D. 2003: 109). On this point I don’t agree with Robinson， for he is too strongly affected by vanity. Thirdly， it is claimed that he is racial prejudice. In his deep mind， he divided human beings into the Europeans who were civilized and the others savages. Lastly， Due to Robinson’s bourgeoisie character， he would do something that a typical bourgeoisie would do. For example， he supported slavery and thought it was a profitable trade.

In a word， Robinson's characteristics is the production of that complicated society at that period of time. Reading or thinking his behaviour， it is sensible to bear in mind the features of that time.

Bibliography :

[1]Defoe， D. Robinson Crusoe [M]. 西寧：西藏人民出版社， 2003.

[2]Jean—Jacques R. The Social Contract[M]. 北京：商務印書館，2003年版.