A Comparison Of Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe

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The novel Robinson Crusoe, originally written by Daniel Defoe, is known for its epic tale of adventure and the mighty heroine that is Robinson Crusoe. There have been many revisions of this famous novel, and it is interesting to compare these revisions to the original, especially that of Elizabeth Bishop’s poem Crusoe in England. What I find intriguing about this revision in particular in comparison to Defoe is how minimized it is in terms of adventure and heroistic character qualities. Crusoe being stranded on a deserted island experiences and reacts to solitude in two different ways within Defoe and Bishop’s versions. These differences go to show that each story is a direct reflection of the time period in which it was written as well as the authors experiences, which teaches us separate values and …show more content…

Although his actions reflect him to be materialistic and self centered, we can see a change in his behavior once he acknowledges that he is alone on an island and will be for a long time. Crusoe comes to realize that he is grateful for being alive and having the things he does, looking “more upon the bright side of [his] condition, and less upon the dark side” (Defoe 156). Much of his gratitude was in recognition of god. Admitting that “never had once the Word Thank God” in his life previously, there is a dramatic change in his attitude, or at least an attempt at one (Defoe 157). The presence of God is one of the biggest differences in the revision. Bishop makes no reference to God or fate in Crusoe in England. God in Defoe is the savior of Crusoe’s sanity and confesses, “I work’d my Mind up, not only to Resignation to the Will of God in the present Disposition of My Circumstance, but even to a sincere Thankfulness for my condition, and that I who was yet a living Man, ought not to complain”(Defoe

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