Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Daniel Defoe (1660–1731), Robinson Crusoe, The Journal, Man friday -…
Daniel Defoe (1660–1731)
Early Life
-
Studied languages, economics, geography
Worked in business, went bankrupt
Journalism & Politics
-
Arrested by Queen Anne, survived pillory
-
Novels
-
Famous works: Robinson Crusoe, Moll Flanders, Captain Singleton, Colonel Jack, Roxana
Focused on middle-class life, survival, and work
Style
First-person narration, pretend “true” stories
-
-
-
Robinson Crusoe
Plot
-
Captured by pirates, escapes, owns a plantation.
-
Meets cannibals, rescues Friday, returns to England rich.
Themes
-
God guides him, but human action matters.
-
Setting
-
Friday → native, learns Western culture and Bible.
Hero
Middle-class, restless, wants identity.
-
Symbols
-
Friday → colonised native, symbol of teaching and civilisation.
The Journal
Crusoe shows survival instincts → finds food, builds shelter, secures goods.
Experiences fear and despair, but gradually adapts.
Demonstrates planning and rationality → fortification, rafts, fence.
Diary style = practical, detailed, chronological → shows daily struggle and self-reliance.
-
Man friday
Friday = loyal, submissive, teachable companion
Crusoe = teacher, authority figure, morally guiding him
-
Highlights themes of obedience, civilization, and colonization
Friday becomes symbol of the colonised, learning Western ways and religion