[Robinson Crusoe]
Discuss Robinson Crusoe as a novel.
Or
How far is “Robinson Crusoe” a novel?
To begin with "the novel's serious concern in the daily life of ordinary people seems to depend
upon two important general Conditions; the society must value every individuals highly enough
to consider him the proper subject of its serious literature and there must be enough variety of
belief and action among ordinary people for a detailed account of them to be of interest to other
ordinary people, the readers of the novel", according to Ian Watt. If we follow Ian Watt’s point
then, “Robinson Crusoe” definitely qualifies as a novel.
First of all the novel “Robinson Crusoe” is not a story of a king, knight or mythological hero,he is
an ordinary middle-class man, the son of a merchant. The whole story revolves around his
personal experiences, thoughts, struggles which we also see in the novels like " Tom Jones”,
“Pamela” and “Jane Eyre”. Before the rise of the novel, the earlier prose narrative which called
the Romances, was full of marvels, wish-fulfillment and fairy tales. It is the novel that pointed
out that individual life is important and precious. Before novel religions mattered most.
One of the most defining characteristics of a novel is its realistic portrayal of life. In this novel we
see how Defoe fills his novel with practical and realistic accounts of Crusoe's daily work on the
island after the shipwreck - building shelter, growing food, domesticating animals, making tools,
that makes the story believable and it also shows the real life struggles of survival. On the
island, Crusoe records the events using exact dates and measurements and he also uses a
diary which gives the impression that the story is based on true events not fantasy. It is worth
pointing out here that Defoe wrote this novel by inspiring the adventure of Alexander Selkirk.
Another point to be noted here is that unlike romances or earlier religious allegories, “Robinson
Crusoe” doesn't contain the elements of magic, miracles or mythological figures. Everything
happens in a logical and plausible way. It is humanism and individualism that makes it a novel.
The novel shows that human life is worth talking about.
Robinson emerged from an ordinary individual to an extraordinary individual.
Discuss Robinson Crusoe as a novel.
Or
How far is “Robinson Crusoe” a novel?
To begin with "the novel's serious concern in the daily life of ordinary people seems to depend
upon two important general Conditions; the society must value every individuals highly enough
to consider him the proper subject of its serious literature and there must be enough variety of
belief and action among ordinary people for a detailed account of them to be of interest to other
ordinary people, the readers of the novel", according to Ian Watt. If we follow Ian Watt’s point
then, “Robinson Crusoe” definitely qualifies as a novel.
First of all the novel “Robinson Crusoe” is not a story of a king, knight or mythological hero,he is
an ordinary middle-class man, the son of a merchant. The whole story revolves around his
personal experiences, thoughts, struggles which we also see in the novels like " Tom Jones”,
“Pamela” and “Jane Eyre”. Before the rise of the novel, the earlier prose narrative which called
the Romances, was full of marvels, wish-fulfillment and fairy tales. It is the novel that pointed
out that individual life is important and precious. Before novel religions mattered most.
One of the most defining characteristics of a novel is its realistic portrayal of life. In this novel we
see how Defoe fills his novel with practical and realistic accounts of Crusoe's daily work on the
island after the shipwreck - building shelter, growing food, domesticating animals, making tools,
that makes the story believable and it also shows the real life struggles of survival. On the
island, Crusoe records the events using exact dates and measurements and he also uses a
diary which gives the impression that the story is based on true events not fantasy. It is worth
pointing out here that Defoe wrote this novel by inspiring the adventure of Alexander Selkirk.
Another point to be noted here is that unlike romances or earlier religious allegories, “Robinson
Crusoe” doesn't contain the elements of magic, miracles or mythological figures. Everything
happens in a logical and plausible way. It is humanism and individualism that makes it a novel.
The novel shows that human life is worth talking about.
Robinson emerged from an ordinary individual to an extraordinary individual.
