Monday, September 9, 2013

Crusoe and Sin

Did Robinson Crusoe truly commit the ultimate sin?

Throughout this last passage of reading, Crusoe seems to really contemplate why he was placed on the island and why he was able to survive for so long. There is one line that truly drops the bomb on the entirety of his journey thus far. 

"for not to look back upon my primitive Condition, and the excellent Advice of my Father, the Opposition to which, was, as I may call it, my ORIGINAL SIN; my subsequent mistakes of the same kind had been the Means of my coming into this miserable Condition." (141)

Throughout the book he had been talking about how he had been so productive and had created this wonderful life for himself on the island but now it seems that his psychological falsities are coming to life. He is realizing that he might be struggling mentally and doesn't really know what is morally correct or even what is correct within his life. He is realizing that his state of mind was not stable and now he knows that he must plan an escape.

Not only are these thoughts mentally driven, but he also feels as though God is somehow playing with him. He focuses so much on the idea of his own "original sin" because he did not listen to his father or his friend. He continued on with his travels and disregarded any advice that was given to him. Crusoe plays this off as, "the Fate of Young Heads." (141) This being the idea that he was young and rebellious and was compelled to prove that he was able to make his own decisions. Because he had chosen to prove himself in that fashion, he had sealed his fate through this idea. 

Francis Bacon touches upon this point that there is the fighting of psychological issues or the presence of God in a way. "There is no soundness in our notions whether logical or psychological." (Bacon 40) Logically, a religious being would feel that God is controlling their fate and deciding what will become of one's being because of a simple decision or sin. Psychologically, Crusoe is feeling strange about the island because he has mentally been sucked into the life on the island. He has created this strange world for himself and nobody else was let into that. He might be going a little bit mentally crazy because of his poor decision making some twenty-three years ago. 

Although I don't believe that everything that has happened to Crusoe was because of this one sin that he may have committed, he definitely did seal his fate by taking a risk and adventure. 

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