It is a
curious happenstance that when a youth rebels against the "pulpits" of his father and
society, and becomes so far removed from the comforts of his own environment that he finds
himself endangered, he often reaches back for the lifeline of his family culture and faith as a
means of sustaining his spirit. Having ignored the "serious and excellent counsel" of
his father, Robinson commences a seafaring career in the hope of satisfying his "wandering
inclination." Acting as a prodigal son, Crusoe departs from home without having
... sent them [his parents] Word of it; but leaving them to hear of
it as they might, without asking God's Blessing, or my Father's, without any Consideration of
Circumstances or Consequences and in an ill Hour, God knows. On the first
of September 1651 I went on Board a Ship bound
for London.
After Crusoe's first
shipwreck, he alludes to theof the Prodigal Son:
Had I
now had the sense to have gone back to Hull, and...home, I had been happy, and my father, an
emblem of our blessed Saviour's parable, had even killed the fatted calf for me....But my ill
fate pushed me on now with an obstinancy that nothing could resist....
Crusoe then boards another ship which meets an ill fate also as
Crusoe is captured by Turks, who make him a slave. Nevertheless, he is fortunate enough to make
an escape with Xury as he commanders a boat from a Moor, whom he throws overboard. A Portugese
ship comes along and Crusoe gives Xury to the captain and selfishly goes on to Brazil where he
makes a fortune. But, as he later writes, Crusoe is punished for his sins and ignoring the
advice of the captain, who represents the wisdom of Providence, as he, once again, is
shipwrecked, but this time he is the sole survivor bereft of anything but what he can salvage
from the ship.
Alone and dependent upon his own survival skills, Crusoe
finally draws from his spiritual past and the upbringing of his father. When he begins to
despair, his faith in God returns to his heart and restores his spirits:
All Evills are to be consider'd with the Good that is in them, and
with what worse attends them.
Much like Job of the Old
Testament,realizes that he has scorned his father's wisdom. In the biblical story of Job, a
friend named Elihu tells Job that God speaks to human beings in two ways: with visions and with
physical pain, a pain which provides an opportunity for the sufferer to truly acknowledge God's
forgiveness and love once he is well again. For, then he comprehends that God has
"ransomed" him from an impending death (33:24). Thus, Crusoe sits in humiliation of
his rejection of God's teachings of honoring one's father and mother and of ignoring the signs
from God after he has survived previous danger. So, like Job, Crusoe, having read from the Bible
on the island, regains his faith in God.
After his return to England,
although he learns his parent have died so he cannot return as has the Prodigal Son of the
Bible, Crusoe yet finds much religious significance in what happens to him:
I might well say, now indeed, the latter End
of Job was better than the Beginning. It is impossible to express here the
Flutterings of my very Heart, when I look'd over these Letters, and especially when I found all
my Wealth about me; for as the Brasil Ships come all in Fleets, the same
Ships which brought my Letters, brought my Goods; and the Effects were safe in the River before
the Letters came to my Hand.
Having never completely lost
his faith in God--certainly, having restored it while on the island--Crusoe perceives himself as
a likeness of Job, albeit one who is rewarded with
wealth.
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