My notes

There is an excessive focus on detail, which is done by the author/narrator in order to

convey a semblance of truth in what he narrates. It also has to do with his effort to
familiarise the unfamiliar.
As Bakhtin says about the travel novel, `it tyically involves a urely satial and static
concetion of the world!s diversity. The world is a satial conti"uity of differences and
contrasts, and life is an alteration of various contrastin" conditions# success/failure,
hainess/unhainess, victory/defeat, and so on.
Temoral $ualities are oorly develoed. Time in and of itself lacks any si"ni"icance or
historical colourin"% even &biolo"ical time& is either comletely absent or is noted only as
a matter of form. The only time develoed is adventure time, which consists of the most
immediate units ' moments, hours, days ' snatched at random from the temoral
rocess.
Because of the absence of historical time, emhasis is laced only on differences and
contrasts. There is no understandin" of the wholeness of such sociocultural henomena
as nationalities, countries, cities, social "rous, and occuations. (ence these novels
tyically erceive alien social "rous, as &exotic&, that is, they erceive bare
distinctions, contrasts and stran"eness. The ima"e of man in the novel is $uite static, as
static as the world that surrounds him.
There is no mentionin" of anythin" connected with sexuality and how )rusoe coed with it.
*or examle, *riday would surely have stron" sexual drives, bein" $uite youn" when he
was saved.
The sycholo"ical insi"ht we "et is mostly focused on )rusoe!s reentance for disre"ardin"
his father!s advice and on his awakened reli"iousness.
(e considers his life a life of misery and he does not think of the insi"ht that this life could
lead him to. (e sees himself as `the rodi"al son!. At the end of the story he does not
say clearly if he would have referred the middle state of life as his father had bid him
follow.
(e sees his first "oin" on board a shi as a `breach of my duty to +od and my father.!
(e believes that it was *ate that ushed him to his choice.
There is also marine suerstition when an old seaman tells him that he should never "o to
sea since the first misfortune ,the wreck- was a si"n.
.ne of interestin" thin"s that he learned, for examle, is that he realised that money was
useless when he was a castaway, which, in turn could make him realise that in the so
called civilised world a lot of imortance has been "iven to material wealth.
/ritin" about his exerience and thou"hts heled him li"hten the burden of his mind.
(e was ready to attribute everythin" to +odly interference, as in the case where the
`inexlicable! aearance of corn makes think on rel"ion.
(is dream makes him think on his ne"lectin" +od and his absence of any for"iveness. 01234
(e makes his first rayer. 01254
(e thinks that +od has thrown into this state as a unishment for his lack of reetance.
(e starts readin" the Bible. 01264
(e believes that deliverance has to do with conscience than with hysical limitations.
(e thinks that he can be haier in the `rison! of the island than in the freedom of the
familiar world. 01754
(e realises that the imortance of material wealth lies in what you really make use of and
not in meanin"less accumulation. 01824
(e feels awkward about "oin" round the island naked, which, of course, stems from the
internalised ideas concernin" the taboo of nakedness in western societies of the time.
01884
/hen he sees a human footrint on the sand he is afraid, althou"h he had reviously
missed human comany. 01584
Althou"h he, firstly, feels aaled at the si"ns of cannibalism, he realises that in certain
cultures it is considered a normal custom. This makes him realise how relevant thin"s
are. 01994
(e considers infinetlely "ood the fact hat rovidence kees mankind from seein" the true
dimension of thin"s. 07224
/hen the desire to escae to the mainland wins him over, he has a dream about havin" a
servant. 07274 After sometime he saves *riday.
(e re:oices that *riday turns out to be the `erfect! servant. 07114
/hile teachin" *riday the )hristian reli"ion, he learns from him about his eoles! reli"ious
ractices, which makes him realise that the olicy of usin" secret rites is common
amon" all reli"ions. 071;4
(e also realises the uselessnes of disutes concernin" different views on ambi"uous
reli"ious issues.
After savin" *riday!s father and the <aniard, he feels like a kin" with obedient sub:ects.
07814