İNGİLİZ/AMERİKAN EDEBİYATI I

Robinson talks about a dream he had after recovering from his illness. He dreams of a man coming from the sea and questioning him of his religious beliefs. Robinson realizes that he has never prayed wholeheartedly, and even when he prayed it was just for a short time and was not in deep religious ecstasy. He realizes that he thanked God from time to time, but that was all. He also recalls his father’s words that he would never be blessed if he acts against the will of his father. Reflecting upon the misfortunes he endured and all his sufferings, he realizes that it is God who created all and ruled them.

There are three important things that inspire religious thoughts in this part:
1. Robinson discovers barley and rice growing up on the ground. - He cannot believe this
and thinks God has provided these.
2. Robinson survives a severe earthquake. - He prays God to be delivered.
3. Robinson has a dream. - He is directly warned by an angel like man to follow God’s
order.

During his third year on the island Robinson is busy with his rice and corn, which he tries to preserve against several attacks by goats and fowls, but he finally makes his harvest and spends the next six months to produce tools that he would help him turn his corn into bread

It is believed that with the approach he has with having a county house and a home, he behaves as a member of the upper class which is a sign of Robinson’s ambitions.

The time that Robinson finds a footprint on the island is very significant in that Robinson’s first reaction is of fear. Robinson first thinks that it is the footprint of Devil. When he realizes that the footprint indeed belongs to a man, he is equally scared.

Robinson’s discovering the wreck of the Spanish ship is very important for him because for the first time in twenty three years on the island he feels terribly in need of company. This time he is not scared as he was when he saw the footprint.

Moreover, Robinson’s physical description of Friday signals his racist tendencies. Friday’s skin color naturally makes him inferior to Robinson, but Robinson is sure that his “slave” is superior as his skin color is not so dark as the Africans nor as tawny as the Brazilians. This indicates that Robinson is not only a racist bu also nation conscious.

Soon, Robinson names the savage Friday because he saved the life of the savage on a Friday. Moreover, he teaches him to speak. The first word that he teaches Friday is “Master” which he uses as his name. He also teaches him to say “yes” and “no”. I

After the arrival of the Spanish Captain and Friday’s father the life on the island changes. Robinson now does not need to work on his plantation as he used to before, and he makes a division of labor among the new inhabitants which he calls his subjects. The people whose lives he saved become naturally inferior to him, but he makes sure that there is a class distinction among them as well. For instance, he makes Friday and Friday’s father cut trees and attend the handy work, while he makes the Captain supervise them. This is very much like the so called civilized world where there are rulers, the white collars who do the office work, and the blue collar workers who deal with laborious tasks. Robinson also acts as a racist since he places the white Spanish man in a superior position to Friday and his father.

The last part of the novel is important in portraying human relations which have been absent from most of the novel.

There are three important things that inspire religious thoughts for Robinson:

1. Robinson discovers barley and rice growing up on the ground. - He cannot believe this and thinks God has provided these.

2. Robinson survives a severe earthquake. - He prays God to be delivered.

3. Robinson has a dream. - He is directly warned by an angel like man to follow God’s order.

These three things that happen one after another make Robinson read the Bible that he finds in the remains of the ship. It is notable that the first lines that he reads from the Bible just answers his needs at that time and compensate for the terrible loneliness and helplessness he feels. After reading these lines, Robinson can sleep soundly and without being disturbed by any evil thoughts. This spiritual enlightenment makes Robinson a whole new man.

On the anniversary of his arrival on the island, he spends the whole day for religious practice.

A noteworthy point is that Robinson tries to make a boat to escape the island. Although he does not know whether he will be able to manage to take the boat to the sea and use it for his escape, he does not give up working on it. This is important for two reasons. First, Robinson is never a lazy man and he always finds something to be busy with. He works dexterously and devotedly on this boat, and manages to finish it despite the fact that he cannot take it to the sea. Next, although he has improved his conditions on the island, and seems to be happy living there, he never gives up the thoughts of escaping the island. He does not idly wait someone to rescue him, but tries to create opportunities to save his own life.

Robinson is thankful for the abundance of food and is pleased that he has his own subjects (the animals) that he would rule as he wishes. He calls his dog and the two cats his family, and the parrot his servant.

One noon when going to his boat, Robinson recognizes a footprint of a man. He searches the place but cannot find the man. In the morning he searches the place once more, but he cannot find a sign of neither any other man nor a vessel that might have brought the man. He concludes that the footprint belongs to one of the savages living on the other island. Robinson investigates the place once more and does not find any sign. Having been on the island for fifteen years, Robinson thinks once more that whoever was on the island is not an inhabitant of the island but someone who was driven on shore accidentally and left immediately.

In the middle of May, one stormy night Robinson hears a gun fired close to the shore, and thinks that it comes from a ship in distress and is hopeful that they can save him. He burns a fire at the top of the hill to signal his presence. Although he keeps the fire all night long, no one comes and in the morning Robinson realizes that there are no signs of any ship except the wreck of it. For the very first time in twenty four years on the island, he needs the company of another man, and feels isolated and very lonely.

Another point that he notifies during the early pages of his journal is the first time he prayed to God. Being very ill for the first time on the island, Robinson prayed to God but does not really remember how he has prayed.

Reflecting upon the misfortunes he endured and all his sufferings, he realizes that it is God who created all and ruled them. He repents and searches for a Bible in one of the chests he has brought from the ship and finds one. The first words that he reads from the Bible are “Call on me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver, and thou shalt glorify me.”. Upon reading this Robinson prays this time willingly, and after this he sleeps for about two days. When Robinson finally wakes up he is revived both physically and spiritually. He begins to read the Bible regularly and realizes that he “is delivered” from his sickness because he turned to God.

The beginning of the journal is indeed a repetition of what Robinson has already reported before, but what makes the journal quite different is Robinson’s explanation of details about his spiritual revival on the island as well as his physical delivery.

On the anniversary of his arrival on the island, he spends the whole day for religious practice.