We could hardly find somebody who wouldn‘t know D. Defoe‘s novel Robinson Crusoe in the civilized world. It is one of the first novels written in the realm of English literature. In our short essay we would like to focus on the characteristic of Robinson Crusoe and on the development of his personality in the novel. We think, that nor all the situations and events in his life did change the basis of his personality. Although after his arrival from the island, he did see the life differently, his desire for adventure, the adventurous aspect of his character stayed unchanged.
The best way, how to tell something about a literally work, is to show our suggestions in the text itself. That‘s why we will use quotations to support our most important suggestions.
Before we get to the main point of this short essay, we would like to introduce shortly Defoe‘s novel Robinson Crusoe. It was written in 1719 when Defoe was about sixty years old. As we have already mentioned, it is one of the first novels in English literature. Moreover, it is probably the first realistic novel in English literature. It is based on the real life story of John Selkick, who was the prototype for Robinson Crusoe and spent four years on an island. The novel is written in 1st person narration (Ich-Erzählung). Because of this, there is no explicit characteristic of the hero. So we will have to deduce Crusoe’s character from his behaviour. There is one strong centre character in the novel. The narration is put in chronological order (the plot is identical with the story).
Let us now reach our aim and characterize our hero. As it is good known, the main aspect of the personality of Robinson Crusoe is his adventurous spirit. Crusoe was of good origin: „(…) that mine was the middle state, or what might be called the upper station of low life (…) was the best state in the world (…)“ He had a bright future in front of him. His father tried to persuade him to stay at home. He said: „(…) I might be well introduced, and had a prospect of raising my fortune by application and industry, with a life of ease and pleasure.“ On father‘s words he first decided to obey him: „and I resolved not to think of going abroad any more, but settle at home according to my father‘s desire.“ But after a few days his adventurous spirit won. He decided to run away. From the beginning on, he had to face many dangers. He decided to return home several times because of them, but he never obeyed his good intentions.