When Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe
begins, Crusoe records that one of his great difficulties was his inability—or
refusal—to see Providence (or God) in the things that happened to him from the time he
left his home, against the wishes of his father. It is only over time, in adverse
conditions as he looks within, that Crusoe is changed—realizing what a "brute" he was,
and how God has had his hand in all of Crusoe's experiences since leaving
England.
In
the relating what is already past of my story, this will be the more easily believed
when I shall add, that through all the variety of miseries that had to this day befallen
me, I never had so much as one thought of it being the hand of God, or that it was a
just punishment for my sin...or so much as a punishment for the general course of my
wicked life….But I was merely thoughtless of a God or a Providence, acted like a mere
brute...
Crusoe admits to his
failure to see Providence when it was there…until he loses everything. When Crusoe lands
on the island, he says he should have been thankful to God for
rescuing him, the only survivor, but he does not. He is thrilled to be alive, but any
credit to the Almighty is lost for him. In fact, he runs around, wringing his hands
until he collapses.
It is true, when I got on shore first here, and
found...myself spared, I was surprised with a kind of ecstasy…which...might have come up
to true thankfulness; but it ended where it began...being glad I was alive, without the
least reflection upon the distinguished goodness of the hand which had preserved
me...
Crusoe recalls that he
never appreciated what he had—such as his "station of life," didn't listen to his
parents' pleas or warnings, and had no need for God in his life. He has come to see that
he was wrong:
I rejected the voice of Providence, which had
mercifully put me in a posture or station of life wherein I might have been happy and
easy; but I would neither see it myself nor learn to know the blessing of it from my
parents.
When Crusoe starts
to take a close look at his life, Providence takes hold of him, helping him to see
miracles—to begin with, just in his survival—even though he is
alone. It is hard to be by himself, but he is happier than before, and he has been
compensated for the absence of "society." He is blessed with God's
presence:
I
gave humble and hearty thanks that God had been pleased to discover to me that it was
possible I might be more happy in this solitary condition than I should have been in the
liberty of society...that He could fully make up to me the deficiencies of my solitary
state, and the want of human society, by His
presence...
Crusoe begins to
take his shipwrecked state in stride: while he cannot admit he's glad to be in his
situation, he is happy he has been able to learn how empty his former life
was.
...though I could not say I thanked God for
being there, yet I sincerely gave thanks to God for opening my eyes, by whatever
afflicting providences, to see the former condition of my life, and to mourn for my
wickedness, and repent.
In
even the simplest things, Crusoe's conversion brings him to appreciate all that he has;
he has become a better man, and allows that all he has comes from the hand of
Providence.
I
frequently sat down to meat with thankfulness, and admired the hand of God’s providence,
which had thus spread my table in the
wilderness.
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