Robinson Crusoe Discussion Pages: 242-304

Things that I thought were interesting:

• Since this is a blog I'm going to be blunt at times and for that I apologize in advance. Anyway, by the time I got to this part of the book I started to get bored with Crusoe. In the beginning of it and in the middle I thought that it was entertaining and interesting but I felt like the story died off and became predictable. I say that because (as we have mentioned in class) Crusoe is a character that seems to be unable to develop on a human level. If you look at his religiosity you'll see that yes it does start to become more prevalent in his life but in key points in his story he quickly reverts back to his old ways. The example I'll use is in the aftermath of the battle with the cannibals I heard no mention of God or his religion (maybe I overlooked it) or thanking him for sparing his life. I thought that that was kind of ironic but if I think about it more, in a way it makes the story more believable because the human element that we all make mistakes and aren't perfect comes in. I just expect more development from a person who is stranded on an island for decades.
• Another thing that caught my attention immediately was how smug, arrogant, entitled and douche-like Crusoe was. He constantly refers to anybody that isn't from what he would call a 'civilized country' as a "savage" or another term that insinuates their inferiority. You would think that towards Friday and his father Crusoe would show more respect but he doesn't and that is very infuriating at times. I understand that that could be accurate of the attitudes of that era but to somebody who has helped you and has been a loyal companion to you, you would think that he would give him a little more respect. He also refers to himself as King of the island at times and that's also extremely irritating.

Possible Discussion Questions:

1. Does anyone else get the sense that Crusoe has not changed as a person too much? I ask this because when you look at the way he talks to Friday he speaks to him with an air of arrogance & entitlement which is frustrating at times because you would think that he would have grown as a person during his solitude. What do you guys think? Examples of his arrogance: pg.243
2. I thought that it was very odd that right after their battle with the savages there was no mention of God at all. It was like he had elevated himself and not his deity. Did yall notice that? his religion seems to have been temporarily lost.
3. Given the times, do you think that it was ever possible for Crusoe to view somebody from a 'less civilized' society as an equal?