Review of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n By PAUL D. MILLER<\/strong><\/p>\n I love this book. The practical parts were fun. I loved seeing Crusoe\u2019s inventiveness and industry. I would certainly have perished. After the part about Crusoe domesticating the goats and getting milk, butter, and cheese out of them, I asked Google how to make cheese: I am tempted to try to make homemade cheese just to see if I could. It was fascinating seeing what use he could make of different things, and what things he found useless.<\/p>\n The spiritual aspects were even better. Crusoe is Job, crushed by his circumstances until he recognizes God\u2019s sovereignty. This is a novel in the most classical sense, in which the plot is a bunch of stuff on which the characters reflect, from which they derive lessons. It is almost a morality-play, expect that it is more plausible and realistic. You could almost write the novel over again with the same circumstances but a different character and get a whole new book, a character who is bitter and resentful, who takes his marooning as proof that there is no God, and who perishes from despair.<\/p>\n I wanted the book to end a bit differently: I wanted some profound reflection on the human need for society, or a conclusion to Crusoe\u2019s spiritual quest, instead of an extended treatment of his business affairs \u2013 but the ending does fit. The story in the main is not about Crusoe becoming a saint or a philosopher, but a king, a husbandman, and a producer. His ability to transfer those skills to the civilized world and become a successful businessman there is a crucial conclusion to his long germination in isolation as a farmer, carpenter, animal breeder, food processor, and the like.<\/p>\n I also wanted something about Friday\u2019s reaction to the western world and his integration into that society, but Friday becomes more and more of a prop and less of a character after his initial introduction into the story. I recognize that the Crusoe-Friday relationship is controversial and probably has been criticized because of Crusoe\u2019s assumption of authority and superiority; the proselytizing; and Crusoe\u2019s designation of him as a \u201csavage.\u201d It is those kinds of readings of texts that make literature so boring and political.\u00a0 But they have a point:\u00a0 Friday never really gets his due, and never grows into his own.\u00a0 DeFoe could have done so much more with his character.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Review of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe By PAUL D. MILLER I love this book. The practical parts were fun. I loved seeing Crusoe\u2019s inventiveness and industry. I would certainly have perished. After the part about Crusoe domesticating the goats and getting milk, butter, and cheese out of them, I asked Google how to make […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1123,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[39],"class_list":["post-127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-classics","tag-daniel-defoe"],"yoast_head":"\n