Short on Defoe's Robinson Crusoe

The Age of Enligthenment (reffered to as the Age of Reason) was a cultural movement of intellectuals in the 17th and 18th centuries, which began first in Europe and later in the American colonies. Its purpose was to reform society using reason, challenge ideas grounded in tradition and faith and advance knowledge through the scientific method. It promoted scientific thought, skepticism and intellectual interchange. The Enlightenment opposed superstition, intolerance and abuses of power by the church and the state. Its ideas have had a major impact on the culture, politics and governments of the Western world. The 18th century saw the development of the modern novel as literary genre. The main themes and motifs in literature were the social contract and the emancipation of the people through culture. As representative pieces of work of this period we can remind Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels”, Voltaire’s “Candid”, Henry Fielding’s “Tom Jones” and Daniel Defoe’s “Robinson Crusoe”. Defoe reforms the hero into a relatable ordinary person who seeks a place in life that fits his own views. He separates himself from his father’s aspirations and lives a full and adventurous life. Religion was an integral part of life during his era and everything was attributed to God’s will. Crusoe, without any established religion, enters into a deeply personal relationship with God and reveals the inconsistencies of human interpretation. First, he thanks God for saving him from the same fate as his fellow crewmembers, but then, when he falls sick, he believes that the island is a punishment for greed and materialism. When Crusoe returns to civilization, he refuses to move back to Brazil because it is mostly catholic. By isolating and exposing Crusoe to different cultures, Defoe exemplifies a major movement in the 18th century society toward religious freedom. Another Enlightenment ideal embodied by Crusoe is the right to pursue happiness. John Locke says that “the care