Analysis of Major Characters

Analysis of Major Characters

Robinson Crusoe

While he is no flashy hero or grand epic adventurer, Robinson Crusoe displays character traits that have won him the approval of generations of readers. His perseverance in spending months making a canoe, and in practicing pottery making until he gets it right, is praiseworthy. Additionally, his resourcefulness in building a home, dairy, grape arbor, country house, and goat stable from practically nothing is clearly remarkable. The Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau applauded Crusoe’s do-it-yourself independence, and in his book on education, Emile, he recommends that children be taught to imitate Crusoe’s hands-on approach to life. Crusoe’s business instincts are just as considerable as his survival instincts: he manages to make a fortune in Brazil despite a twenty-eight-year absence and even leaves his island with a nice collection of gold. Moreover, Crusoe is never interested in portraying himself as a hero in his own narration. He does not boast of his courage in quelling the mutiny, and he is always ready to admit unheroic feelings of fear or panic, as when he finds the footprint on the beach. Crusoe prefers to depict himself as an ordinary sensible man, never as an exceptional hero. But Crusoe’s admirable qualities must be weighed against the flaws in his character. Crusoe seems incapable of deep feelings, as shown by his cold account of leaving his family—he worries about the religious consequences of disobeying his father, but never displays any emotion about leaving. Though he is generous toward people, as when he gives gifts to his sisters and the captain, Crusoe reveals very little tender or sincere affection in his dealings with them. When Crusoe tells us that he has gotten married and that his wife has died all within the same sentence, his indifference to her seems almost cruel. Moreover, as an individual personality, Crusoe is rather dull. His precise and deadpan style of narration works well for recounting the process of canoe building, but it tends to drain the excitement from events that should be thrilling. Action-packed scenes like the conquest of the cannibals become quite humdrum when Crusoe narrates them, giving us a detailed inventory of the cannibals in list form, for example. His insistence on dating events makes sense to a point, but it ultimately ends up seeming obsessive and irrelevant when he tells us the date on which he grinds his tools but neglects to tell us the date of a very important event like meeting Friday. Perhaps his impulse to record facts carefully is not a survival skill, but an irritating sign of his neurosis.

Finally, while not boasting of heroism, Crusoe is nonetheless very interested in possessions, power, and prestige. When he first calls himself king of the island it seems jocund, but when he describes the Spaniard as his subject we must take his royal delusion seriously, since it seems he really does consider himself king. His teaching Friday to call him “Master,” even before teaching him the words for “yes” or “no,” seems obnoxious even under the racist standards of the day, as if Crusoe needs to hear the ego-boosting word spoken as soon as possible. Overall, Crusoe’s virtues tend to be private: his industry, resourcefulness, and solitary courage make him an exemplary individual. But his vices are social, and his urge to subjugate others is highly objectionable. In bringing both sides together into one complex character, Defoe gives us a fascinating glimpse into the

successes, failures, and contradictions of modern man.

Friday

Probably the first nonwhite character to be given a realistic, individualized, and humane portrayal in the English novel, Friday has a huge literary and cultural importance. If Crusoe represents the first colonial mind in fiction, then Friday represents not just a Caribbean tribesman, but all the natives of America, Asia, and Africa who would later be oppressed in the age of European imperialism. At the moment when Crusoe teaches Friday to call him “Master” Friday becomes an enduring political symbol of racial injustice in a modern world critical of imperialist expansion. Recent rewritings of the Crusoe story, like J. M. Coetzee’s Foe and Michel Tournier’s Friday, emphasize the sad consequences of Crusoe’s failure to understand Friday and suggest how the tale might be told very differently from the native’s perspective.

Aside from his importance to our culture, Friday is a key figure within the context of the novel. In many ways he is the most vibrant character in Robinson Crusoe, much more charismatic and colorful than his master. Indeed, Defoe at times underscores the contrast between Crusoe’s and Friday’s personalities, as when Friday, in his joyful reunion with his father, exhibits far more emotion toward his family than Crusoe. Whereas Crusoe never mentions missing his family or dreams about the happiness of seeing them again, Friday jumps and sings for joy when he meets his father, and this emotional display makes us see what is missing from Crusoe’s stodgy heart. Friday’s expression of loyalty in asking Crusoe to kill him rather than leave him is more heartfelt than anything Crusoe ever says or does. Friday’s sincere questions to Crusoe about the devil, which Crusoe answers only indirectly and hesitantly, leave us wondering whether Crusoe’s knowledge of Christianity is superficial and sketchy in contrast to Friday’s full understanding of his own god Benamuckee. In short, Friday’s exuberance and emotional directness often point out the wooden conventionality of Crusoe’s personality.

Despite Friday’s subjugation, however, Crusoe appreciates Friday much more than he would a mere servant. Crusoe does not seem to value intimacy with humans much, but he does say that he loves Friday, which is a remarkable disclosure. It is the only time Crusoe makes such an admission in the novel, since he never expresses love for his parents, brothers, sisters, or even his wife. The mere fact that an Englishman confesses more love for an illiterate Caribbean ex-cannibal than for his own family suggests the appeal of Friday’s personality. Crusoe may bring Friday Christianity and clothing, but Friday brings Crusoe emotional warmth and a vitality of spirit that Crusoe’s own European heart lacks. The Portuguese Captain

The Portuguese captain is presented more fully than any other European in the novel besides Crusoe, more vividly portrayed than Crusoe’s widow friend or his family members. He appears in the narrative at two very important junctures in Crusoe’s life. First, it is the Portuguese captain who picks up Crusoe after the escape from the Moors and takes him to Brazil, where Crusoe establishes himself as a plantation owner. Twenty-eight years later, it is again the Portuguese captain who informs Crusoe that his Brazilian investments

are secure, and who arranges the sale of the plantation and the forwarding of the proceeds to Crusoe. In both cases, the Portuguese captain is the agent of Crusoe’s extreme good fortune. In this sense, he represents the benefits of social connections. If the captain had not been located in Lisbon, Crusoe never would have cashed in on his Brazilian holdings. This assistance from social contacts contradicts the theme of solitary enterprise that the novel seems to endorse. Despite Crusoe’s hard individual labor on the island, it is actually another human being—and not his own resourcefulness—that makes Crusoe wealthy in the end. Yet it is doubtful whether this insight occurs to Crusoe, despite his obvious gratitude toward the captain.

Moreover, the Portuguese captain is associated with a wide array of virtues. He is honest, informing Crusoe of the money he has borrowed against Crusoe’s investments, and repaying a part of it immediately even though it is financially difficult for him to do so. He is loyal, honoring his duties toward Crusoe even after twenty-eight years. Finally, he is extremely generous, paying Crusoe more than market value for the animal skins and slave boy after picking Crusoe up at sea, and giving Crusoe handsome gifts when leaving Brazil. All these virtues make the captain a paragon of human excellence, and they make us wonder why Defoe includes such a character in the novel. In some ways, the captain’s goodness makes him the moral counterpart of Friday, since the European seaman and the Caribbean cannibal mirror each other in benevolence and devotion to Crusoe. The captain’s goodness thus makes it impossible for us to make oversimplified oppositions between a morally bankrupt Europe on the one hand, and innocent noble savages on the other.

主要性状分析

鲁宾逊漂流记

虽然他没有花哨的宏伟史诗英雄或冒险家，鲁滨逊克鲁索显示字符，他赢得了几代读者的批准特征。他的毅力支出月作出独木舟，并在实践制陶，直到他得到正确，是值得称赞的。此外，他机智建设一个家，奶制品，葡萄乔木，乡间别墅，

和山羊的几乎没有稳定显然是显着。瑞士哲学家卢梭称赞克鲁索的一切事情都需自己独立，在他关于教育的书，埃米尔，他建议是C

承运被教模仿克鲁索的动手的生活态度。克鲁索的商业本能，只是他的相当大的生存本能：他成功地使财富在巴西，尽管28年的情况下，甚至留给黄金好的收集他的岛屿。此外，鲁滨逊是从来没有兴趣在描绘成一个在他自己的叙述自己的英雄。他不夸耀自己的勇气，在平息叛乱，他随时准备承认恐惧或恐慌unheroic感受，因为当他发现海滩上的足迹。克鲁索喜欢描绘为一个普通的明智的人本身，从来没有作为一项特殊的英雄。

但是，克鲁索的令人钦佩的素质，必须权衡他的性格中的缺陷。克鲁索似乎无法深厚的感情，正如他在离开他的家人冷帐户中显示，他担心的不服从他的父亲的宗教影响，但不会显示任何离开的情绪。虽然他是对人慷慨，

作为礼物时，他给他的姐妹和船长，克鲁索发现与他们打交道的很少投标或真挚的感情。当克鲁索告诉我们，他已经结了婚，他的妻子已去世在同一个句子所有的冷漠，她似乎是残酷的。 Moreove

，作为个人的个性，鲁滨逊是相当沉闷。他的精确不动声色的叙事风格可以很好地诉说着独木舟建设过程中，但它往往流失的事件，应该兴奋激动。行动包装一样的食人族征服场面变得相当单调瓦

中文克鲁索叙述他们，给我们一个在列表的形式在食人族的详细清单，例如。他在约会事件坚持有意义一点，但它最终结束了表面上的迷恋和不相干的，他告诉我们的日期，他研磨的工具，而忽略他告诉我们，像周五会议很重要事件的日期。也许他的冲动，仔细记录事实，不是一个生存的技能，而是他的神经刺激的迹象。

最后，虽然不是英雄吹嘘，克鲁索但很感兴趣，财产，权力和威望。当他第一次自称岛屿似乎欢乐的国王，但他称他为主题，我们必须考虑他的王室妄想严重，因为他似乎真的认为自己的西班牙国王。他的教学星期五称他为“师父，

“甚至在他的教学”是“或”不是“，似乎厌恶即使在当今的种族主义标准的话，仿佛克鲁索需要听到的自我提高，尽快口语。总体而言，克鲁索的美德往往是私人：他的行业，足智多谋和勇气，让他孤独的模范个人。但他恶习的社会，

他敦促征服别人是非常讨厌的。在使一个复杂的性格双方共同努力，迪福给了我们一个进入成功，失败迷人的一瞥，现代人的矛盾。

星期五

也许是第一个非白人字符给予英语小说的现实，个性化和人性化的形象，星期五拥有庞大的文学和文化的重要性。如果克鲁索代表了第一个殖民地小说主意，那么周五代表的不仅是一个加勒比部落，但所有当地人对美洲，亚洲，

和非洲谁后来被压迫在欧洲帝国主义时代。目前任教时，克鲁索周五称他为“大师”星期五成为持久的种族不平等的政治符号在现代世界的帝国主义扩张的关键。最近的重写

在克鲁索的故事，强调像库切的敌人和米歇尔图尼埃的周五，克鲁索未能理解周五的悲惨后果，并建议如何解决这个故事很可能会告诉不同于本土的观点。

除了他的重要性，我们的文化，周五是在小说中的关键人物。在许多方面他是最活跃的鲁滨逊克鲁索性格，更多的魅力，比他的主人丰富多彩。事实上，有时迪福强调克鲁索之间的和周五的性格相反的，当周五，在他的欢乐与父亲团聚，

展品向他的家人比克鲁索更为激动。而克鲁索没有提及他的家人或丢失对再次见到他们，星期五幸福的梦想和欢乐跳会晤时，他唱他的父亲，这情感表现让我们看到什么是从克鲁索的乏味的心失踪。周五公布的忠诚表达要求克鲁索要杀死他，而不是离开他

更衷心比以往任何克鲁索所说的，所做。周五的真诚问题克鲁索对魔鬼，它只能间接地回答克鲁索和迟疑，让我们怀疑漂流的基督教知识是肤浅，相反，周五他自己的上帝Benamuckee充分认识粗略。总之，今天的繁荣和情感直接往往出在克鲁索的个性木套子点。

尽管上周五的征服，然而，克鲁索赞赏星期五远远超过他只是仆人。克鲁索似乎没有价值与人类的亲密不多，但他说他喜欢星期五，这是一个了不起的披露。这是唯一的一次漂流作出这样的小说中承认，因为他从来没有对他的父母，兄弟，姐妹，甚至他的妻子的爱。

这一事实英国人坦承一个文盲加勒比前比为自己的家人吃人的暗示周五的个性吸引了更多的爱。克鲁索可能带来星期五基督教和服装，但在上周五克鲁索带来温暖和情感的精神，鲁滨逊自己的欧洲心脏病缺乏活力。

葡萄牙队长

葡萄牙队队长，提出更充分的比任何其他在欧洲之外克鲁索小说，更形象地比克鲁索的遗孀朋友或家人的主题。他出现在两个非常重要的漂流生活时刻在说明中。首先，这是谁的葡萄牙队队长后，拿起克鲁索从摩尔人逃脱，带他到巴西，

在克鲁索定为种植园主本人。 28年后，又是谁告诉葡萄牙队队长，他的克鲁索巴西的投资是安全的，谁安排的种植销售和收益的转发到漂流记。在这两种情况下，葡萄牙队队长，是漂流的极端好运剂。在这

意义上说，他是代表社会关系的好处。如果队长没有设在里斯本，克鲁索永远不会兑现他的巴西持有。这从社会交往的援助违反了孤独的企业，小说似乎赞同的主题。尽管克鲁索很难在岛上，我个人劳动

吨实际上是另一个人，而不是他自己的机智，使克鲁索最终富裕。然而，令人怀疑这是否了解发生的鲁滨逊，尽管他对船长明显的感谢。

此外，葡萄牙船长与一个广泛的美德。他是诚实的，通知他已借反对克鲁索的投资，以及偿还它的一部分，即使立即在财政困难的他这样做钱克鲁索。他是忠诚，即使在表彰二十八年对鲁滨逊的职务。最后，他非常慷慨，

付款后，在海上漂流了采摘克鲁索低于市场的兽皮和奴隶男孩更多的价值，并给予鲁滨逊在离开巴西漂亮的礼物。所有这些优点使船长一人的优秀典范，他们使我们想知道为什么迪福包括这样一个新特点。在某些方面，船长的善良使他成为道德对口日星期五，由于

欧洲水手和加勒比食人族镜子中的每个善，奉献克鲁索其他。船长的善良，从而使我们无法作出道德沦丧之间的欧洲一方面过于简单的对立，和其他无辜的高尚的野蛮人。

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