Trace the spiritual progress of Robinson Crusoe

 

Crusoe's adventure is his spiritual one"-Amplify.

Or,

Trace the spiritual progress of Robinson Crusoe?

Or,

Give an account of the psychological development of Robinson Crusoe.

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What changes do the mind and soul of Robinson Crusoe undergo through the novel?

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"Robinson Crusoe is as much the story of a man's spiritual development as story of action and adventure."--Discuss.

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Narrate the circumstances that led to the spiritual regeneration of Robinson Crusoe.

 

Ans. Robinson Crusoe is a story of suspense, action and adventure. But it is not merely a thriller for the school boys. It is a book for grown up persons as well. Outwardly, it may appear as a tale of adventure in the physical sense, but inwardly, it is very much the story of a man's psychological development and spiritual progress.

 

A Spiritual Biography: Robinson Crusoe is a record of the spiritual development which takes place in the mind of the protagonist. Crusoe is overtaken by fear and remorse during his first  wage when his ship is caught in the storm. He thinks that the storm has been sent by Heaven as a punishment for his disobedience to his parents. His conscience reproaches him and he vows to go back to his parents and never to think of going to sea. But soon afterwards, as he finds  himself safe in London, he forgets all his vows and goes aboard vessel bound for the coast of Africa.

 

Crusoe's Spiritual Development: Crusoe leads a prosperous life in Brazil. He is blessed with good fortune there. But he is not happy with his middle station in life. He wish to make huge properties in hast. He designs to go on another voyage. This voyage ends in worst disaster. All of his companion perish and he finds himself a lone survivor on an uninhabited desolate island. Firstly, he feels very dismayed and disappointed finding himself alone and helpless on a desolate island. Yet he thanks God for having been narrowly escaped from death. He is grateful to God that he is cast in a island where he gets his food water and all other necessary things nearby. There are not wild beast to harm him. Comparing his blessing with misfortune, Crusoe finds that the blessing outweighs misfortune.

 Crusoe's prayer to God: The real transformation in Crusoe occurs when he falls ill. He develops high fever with sever headache. One day in his high fever Crusoe sees a frightening dream in which a man descends from a cloud and threatens to kill him with a spear. On waking up from his dream Crusoe recalls that during the last eight years his life was sunk in wickedness. He had hardly expressed his gratitude to God for His blessing in every step. He had never realized that his miseries had been a just punishment to him for his disobedience to his parents. Crusoe now begins to remorse for his last eight years of wickedness. Tears begin to flow from his eyes. He cries out. "Lord, be my help, for I am in great distress. This was the first prayer which he had ever addressed to God for many years.

 

A Turning Point in Crusoe's Spiritual life: Here we see a turning point in the spiritual life of Crusoe. His illness has made him a more introspective kind of man. His conscience now asks him to look back upon his good and bad of his past life. Crusoe now opens his Bible and read the following words: "Call on me on the day of trouble, and I will deliver, and thou shalt glorify me." He says aloud. "Jesus, thou son of David give me repentance". Here occurs a crisis in Crusoe's inner life which leads him to a true spiritual awakening.

 

Crusoe observes the first day of his arrival on the desolate island with religious ceremony. He keeps fasting on the day every year. Crusoe is now a devout Christian, an ardent believer in God and Christ. One morning Crusoe opens the Bible and reads the following words of Christ. "I will never, never leave thee, nor forsake thee." After reading these words he feels that he can be the happiest man of  the world in this solitary condition. Now it becomes his routine works to read Bible thrice everyday. He learns to look more upon the bright side of his condition and less upon the dark side.

 

There are occasions when his faith is somewhat shaken. On seeing a footprint in the sand, he is filled with such fear that all his religious faith vanishes. However, this mood of scepticism does not last very long. Soon, he picks up his Bible, reads it and regains his faith on the grace of God.

Reluctance to Kill Cannibals: One day Robinson Crusoe discovers that his island is sometimes visited by cannibals He hates cannibals so much that he would like to destroy them. But he is restrained from doing so because of his spiritual enlightenment that he cannot destroy those whom God has saved so long.

 Crusoe's Spiritual development in mystical tendency: Crusoe starts believing in a kind of communication between the human spirit and the spirit of God. We see him often entering into a dialogue with his soul. He now realises that his failure to act upon the advice of his father is the original sin. He convert heathen Friday into a Christian. Here Crusoe plays the role of a Christian missionary.

 Crusoe's spiritual adventure is the important theme of this novel. The whole novel is the puritan drama of the spiritual agony of the Christian soul left alone in the desert of the life.