crusoe savage man
The book Robinson Crusoe1 written by Daniel Defoe is about a young man who learns about the real world by "traveling the seas," in doing so he skips the "middle station" of his life and away from the safety nets of his parents. Jean-Jacques Rousseau author of, The First and Second Discourses2, describes the savage man as he perceives him to be. In "Robinson Crusoe," Robinson in one of his travels leaves him stranded on a deserted island. This is the setting where some may consider that Robinson Crusoe becomes a model of Rousseau's savage man. Both of these books were published in the Eighteenth Century, with less than thirty years between them. The time period of which these books were written coincide with each other. The basis, which Robinson Crusoe was written, was the idea of capitalism and discovering the New World. The First and Second Discourses was written with the idea of the New World's people, for example the "Caribs" of Venezuela. Rousseau refers to the savage man as having desires for food, physical needs, to be at ease, and not to be in pain. When Robinson owned his own plantation he only produced the quantity he needed to survive. That fact coincides with Rousseau's idea of the savage man, but after tw
Robinson Crusoe is not a model of Rousseau's "savage man." Robinson remains sane and keeps planning for the future. Even though Robinson is stranded on an island, he keeps certain qualities and ideas fresh in his mind. His way of life on the island could be used to identify these certain qualities and ideas which only someone who was civilized could have. He sat in a chair, wore clothing, raised other animals, had pets, and he even made an inventory of everything he had in his possession on the island. This list included goods, food, animals, and whatever else he had control over. Making an inventory is not something a "savage man" would do. Robinson also kept planning ahead for the future. Considering that he was alone and turning to the Bible and praying to God for answers are something that is only done by civilize people. It is difficult for someone to go back to the state of nature and mind to which Rousseau's savage man is in. Even though Robinson might have been without human contact for a long period of time, he remained civilized. o years Robinson produces a larger quantity to sell for profit. This course of action can be associated with capitalism and being prepared for the future. This is not what the "savage man" in Rousseau's discourses is associated with. Instead he is concerned with what is necessary for survival and repose at his present state of being. As with the plantation, Robinson makes preparations for the future, when he is stranded on an island. Robinson does this by first gathering all the supplies that he could from the remains of the ship onto a raft he made. Then he stores them in caves. When the caves were filling up he used his ingenuity to create tunnels in the caves to create m
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Approximate Word count = 1172
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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