“I was the Lord of the whole Manor; or if I pleas’d, I might call my self King or Emperor over the whole Country which I had Possession of” (Defoe 94). This quote represents the mentality that Crusoe had on his island. Using these titles, Crusoe sets up the hierarchal order. Here he is stranded on an island and has established an order of which he is in charge. It seems that he has forgotten about the first ruler of the island which is God. He asserts himself in the very beginning and sets up this belief of control. Within the context of the whole novel, this sense of being a ruler of himself is quite ironic, considering the inability to control the situations he seems to fall into.
Defoe creates a Pascal’s Wager(er) out of Crusoe in this passage. He is wishy-washy in his beliefs. Crusoe believes himself king and Lord of the island and within a few lines he is chastising those who can not “admir’d the Hand of God’s Providence” (Defoe,95). It seems that at a last minute, ditch effort in case God is listening, to be on the safe side, Crusoe feels he had better mention the good will of God, in case God might strike him down or another disaster will befall him. The reason it seems so insincere is due to the positioning of the glorification. It is between Crusoe’s belief of himself as ruler and the reflection on why Crusoe is better off than most. Another reason this criticism is so ironic is, Crusoe was complaining of the uselessness of his excess and “That I would have given a Handful of it for a Gross of Tobacco-Pipes or for a Hand-Mill to grind my Corn;” (Defoe, 94). Here he is doing exactly what he preaches against. He can not be happy with what God has provided. This is one reason why his praise to God seems so half-hearted. This is significant because Defoe is showing the fragile belief in God; Crusoe is only basing his thankfulness on the material items he received off the boat and on the island and how these material goods are the bright side, and show God’s love. Defoe emphasizes the hypocrisies and selfishness to show the transformation Crusoe will go through in his faith:
I had liv’d a dreadful Life, perfectly destitute of the Knowledge and Fear of God…I never had once the Word Thank God, so much as on my Mind, or in my Mouth; not in the greatest Distress, had I so much as a Thought to pray to him, or so much as to say Lord have Mercy upon me; no nor to mention the Name of God, unless it was to swear by, and blaspheme it. (96)
This excerpt seems to hit the nail on the head. Crusoe finally realizes his belief in God was false.
In conclusion, Crusoe’s rationalization of material gain and God’s love demonstrates the depth of his own hypocrisy and selfishness. This overall belief is the climax of Crusoe’s behavior and beliefs before truly turning to God. Defoe had to highlight this pathetic belief system to emphasize Crusoe’s epiphany, which signifies the progression of man in the midst of hardship.
