What changes in
Crusoe that allows him to question God’s motives in keeping His “knowledge”
from the savages?
“even though we
have these Powers enlighten’d by the great Lamp of Instruction, the Spirit of
God, and by the Knowledge of his Word, added to our understanding; and why it
has pleas’d God to hide the like saving Knowledge from so many Millions of
Souls, who if I might judge by this poor Savage [Friday], would make a much
better use of it than we did.” – Robinson
Crusoe p.151
“The Idols of
the Cave are the idols of the individual man. For everyone (besides the error
common to human nature in general) has a cave or den of his own, which refracts
and discolor the light of nature;” Bacon (PE) p.42
The reason I chose Bacon’s Idols of
the Cave, and not the similar Idols of the Tribe, is that the Idols of the Cave
account for a subjectivity stemming from an individual’s core beliefs in the
mechanics of his world around him. Idols of the Tribe arise from a more natural
tendency of human beings to exaggerate facts. Crusoe’s ability to get past his
initial notions that the natives are sub-human – in other words, realize and
refute his own Idols of the Cave – is what allows him to contemplate upon the
natives in a more objective manner.
Crusoe,
a devout protestant, did not see the native people as his equal in nature, but
often referred to them as savages or creatures. This stems from the fact
that, much like the wild-beasts in the beginnings of the novel, the cannibals
ate human flesh. Exactly because he is an English protestant man, his Idols of
the Cave cause Crusoe to consider the natives as animals. He was very
persistent in his mission to convert Friday into Christianity.
Going
back to the selected passage, it is not until Friday showed Crusoe that he was
a good Christian, that he questions why God had selected his people, who
corrupt the word of God and use it to their own advantage, to receive His
Knowledge, instead of the millions of native-Americans, who may use God’s
teachings in a more positive and exemplary fashion – as Crusoe investigates
Friday’s metamorphosis into a devout protestant. I would argue that Crusoe
never considered the natives as his equal, or equal to any other European,
until his experience with Friday.
Friday’s
conversion from cannibalism to Christianity successfully elevates his status
from slave into more of a companion in Crusoe’s eyes. Crusoe’s Idols (of the
Cave) has always clouded his judgment upon the native people of the land. He
perceives all of the natives as savage cannibals that will eat him as soon as
he steps foot onto the mainland. In reality, this is of course only half true,
as, according to Friday, his people and those of surrounding nations only eat
enemies. It is also revealed that the survivors of the more recent Spanish shipwreck
have been rescued by Friday’s people – in other words, not merely uncivilized
animals.
Whether
Crusoe’s personal assumptions, and consequently his actions based on said anticipations,
that all natives are savages and uncivilized was beneficial in terms of his
long-term survival is not what is up for debate. What is is the exact fact that
he has preconceived notions of non-Christian people, such as the natives, as
inherently sub-human and animal. What changes in him is that sometime during
his nurturing of Friday, Crusoe acknowledges the equality of men regardless of
origin. Consequently, this is the reason he questions his Lord, asking why is
it that God would purposefully keep his “saving Knowledge” from millions of His own creatures.
No comments:
Post a Comment