An
impressive aspect of DeFoe's is the change Crusoe undergoes. He is first a
young man of the comfortable middle class; then a slave; a wealthy man of
commerce (and slave owner); next he lives fearfully and alone on a desert
island; and finally, he is a man who experiences a true awakening on several levels.
The catalysts for change are his isolation, his survival, and his eventual relationship
with a man he saves from deathwho he names Fridaya native from a nearby island. This
"autobiographical " was written when slavery dominated Europe. We cannot assume that
DeFoe's story is meant to challenge the practice of slavery. However, it is difficult to miss
Crusoe's changing regard for human beingsas people, not
title="chattel">chattel.
Crusoe is a member of the
middle classthe son of a retired merchant. The young man's parents plan to send him to school to
be a lawyer, but Crusoe runs away to be a sailor.
At the start, Crusoe sees
nothing wrong with slaverybut then he is pressed into slavery. Freed, he is
deeply saddened by the eventual sale of Xury, the young black man that helped him.
He offer'd me also 60 Pieces of Eight more for my
Boy Xury, which I was loath to take, not that I was not willing to let the
Captain have him, but I was very loath to sell the poor Boy's Liberty, who had assisted me so
faithfully in procuring my own.
However, his concern over
personal freedom is obviously not challenged enoughCrusoe eventually
purchases land and a slave, becoming a successful plantation owner in Brazil. Planters and
merchants ask him to sail a ship to Guinea and take on a cargo of slaves for their
plantations. Though Crusoe worried over Xury's loss of freedom, he is
not concerned about taking the freedom of others at this
point.
After Crusoe is stranded on a deserted island for many
years, he saves a native about to be sacrificed by others indigenous to the area. Crusoe has
been very lonelywishing another sailor had survived:
O
that there had been but one or two; nay, or but one Soul sav'd out of this Ship, to have escap'd
to me, that I might but have had one Companion...
Rather
than making Friday his slave, Crusoe is satisfied when their relationship is like that of father
and son.
...for never Man had a more faithful, loving,
sincere Servant, than Friday was to me; without Passions, Sullenness or
Designs, perfectly oblig'd and engag'd; his very Affections were ty'd to me, like those of a
Child to a Father.
Crusoe sees Friday in a way
reminiscent of his fondness for Xury. Crusoe also finds a closer connection with God, an
appreciation for the power and plenty of the natural world, and he conquers his fears. He cares
about Friday as a person.
When the natives return with
another sacrificial victim, Friday and Crusoe save the man. Friday looks into the victim's face
and realizes it is his father. Crusoe responds in a deeply caring way...a
new Crusoe:
...when Friday came to
hear him speak, and look in his Face, it would have mov'd any one to Tears, to have seen
how Friday kiss'd him, embrac'd him, hugg'd him, cry'd,
laugh'd...
Crusoe finds the value in things that never
before mattered. He is a man much more aware of, and compassionate for, others in the world
around himhaving suffered and been delivered himself. We cannot say with
certainty that this was DeFoe's intentthe plot development increased sales
of his stories! But it is hard to miss the serious changes in Crusoe.
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