鲁宾逊漂流记信仰.docx

Abstract Robinson Crusoe is one of the British writer Dannier-Defor representatire works.Oaupies an important in the history of words literature .There are many poeple who have studied the meaning of his works,as well as character analysis of paper and reports.And this dissertation,starting from an flnence christiantly has on the whole western European in Robinsons age,analyes the function of belief to Robinon in the lonely island and an influence behest has on the capitalat class exploiting the word.Contents1. Introduction 1.1. Origins and development of Christianity Christianity is one of the three biggest religions in the world and is the one that has most believers. Initial Christianity came from Judaism and spread around lower layer citizens of Jews. Hebrew established Kingdom of Israel in tenth century BC. After short-time glory, this country quickly broke up and finally faded away. Tolerating long-term pain of loosing their country and home, Jews expected that Yahven, god of their nation could be the only god who created and dominated the whole world. What is more, Jews thought that they were the only nation chose by Yahven and that Messiah, the saver sent by Yahven, would lead Jews and Yahven to rule over his glorious and eternal country. In the first century, a new religion existed among Jews. These Jews believed in Judaism; meanwhile, they also believed that the saver, Messiah had come and had been brought up by Maria. They broke with tradition and started to spread this gospel, saying that one can be saved if he/she believes in God and follows Christ. During the following period, those Christians were viewed as heresy by Roman governors and Pharisees. Consequently, many Christians were killed and persecution lasted for several centuries. In 15th century, thanks to the advancement of navigation technology, Age of Discovery, the imperialist colonial expansion and trade between the east and the west, the protestant missionaries of Christianity developed and became a worldly-known religion. 2. Historical Background 2.1. Historical background of RobinsonDefoe was born in a Puritan family. He studied in Presbyterian schools and his parents were puritans of Presbyterian. the year when he was born was also the year when the Stuart monarchy was restored. Stuart was more catholic than puritan; thus, puritans were usually killed and bullied. When Defoe grew up, the eve of Glorious Revolution was around the corner. After this revolution, Anglicanism was viewed paramount again; however, puritans fate did not change a little. As a puritan, Defoe was influenced by Lockes thoughts : authoritarian objection, religion freedom, democracy and religious sect equality. During the years Defoe participated in political activities, his political stand and attitude kept changing all the time; as a result, he experienced adversities constantly in political wars. Eventually, Defoe devoted his later years to novel writing. We can see that Robinson, the protagonist of Robinson Crusoe, was born in a middle class family and his father was a puritan, too. Although he himself was not directly influenced by religion, his parents influenced him in everywhere in daily life. 2.2. Developments of the bourgeoisie in Robinsons timeFrom the information from this novel, we can see that Robinsons time is around 17th century. A time when capitalism of Netherlands and Britain were the most advanced. The Protestant ethic formed after Protestant Revolution played an important role in the development of modern capitalism. As what Max Weber points out : capitalism spirit is the prerequisite of the existence and development of capitalism. Without the influence of protestant ethic, there would not be spiritual motivation for development of capitalism and capitalism system would not exist. The main point of protestant ethic is that human are the slaves of God, that people are all guilty, to human should atone for their sin. Then what way should people choose to atone ? Work. Working hard, living frugally and accumulating wealth are considered the vocation of human beings. If all people work hard in their jobs, then they accomplish their mission. In conclusion, “ in 16th and 17th century, capitalism of Netherlands and Britain were the most advanced in the world. This situation occurred because protestant ethic cultivated modern capitalism.”, said Max Weber. Moreover, the capitalism under the influence of protestant ethic had some characteristics different from those of capitalism in other areas. Grown in such advantageous environment, British capitalism boosted. Created in this period, Robinson Crusoe seeks the theme of its time, using the vivid description and narration of thrilling sea adventure and sharing experience about new religion ethic, to illustrate the situation of British bourgeoisie in 18th century. In his book TheProtestantEthicandtheSpiritofCapitalism Max Weber said that, protestant ethic mould capitalism spirit and is the major factor of development of economics and society. Under the influence of this kind of ethic, individuals worldly desires escaped from the limitation of medieval religion. The action of getting wealth was legalized. Under the motivation of creating wealth, people crazily developed economics and accumulated wealth. Worldly desire blossomed a lot in that time. In general, protestant ethic takes faiths such as God, salvation and afterlife as the ground and guarantee of believers when they practice their duties and undertake their due obligations. What is more, protestant ethic also gave ethical sense and final value to some economic behaviors, such as occupational labor and commercial victory. As a result, behaviors such as prospering through hard labor, frugality, integrity and sacrifice were viewed as philanthropic action; whereas behaviors such as laziness, fleshliness, greed, trick and selfishness were viewed evil. Since the formation of protestant ethic, it effectively preserved social order for European societies, accelerated the pace of capital accumulation, push the process of secularization of European societies, became the spiritual motivation for the development of European capitalism and finally had great effects on the process of modernization in European or even global societies. Because of the great influences and effects of protestant ethic, British bourgeoisie boost in 18th century. At the same time, works such as Robinson Crusoe that reflect British overseas adventure and colonical expansion existed in British literary circle. These works sought the theme of their time and played an positive role in cultivating advanced awareness of British new bourgeoisie. In such occasion, either in reality world or in literature world, the UK became the king of the world. 3. Robinsons FaithRobinsons faith changed all the time in this novel, so as his conception for religion. At the very beginning, he did not have any religion; later on, he believed in God; finally, he sincerely believed in God. In general, Robinsons faith experienced three different periods. 3.1. Robinsons faith at homeFrom the very beginning of the novel, we can see that Robinsons father has told him several times that, the dream of navigation would bring misfortune to him. Also, his father was convinced that, if Robinson insists on taking adventure, then God would not bless him. His father has analyzed several times to convince him that, middle class, the class that their family belongs to, is the best class in the world and that middle class people can get real happiness, which proved by wise men. That is, all comfortable, carefree and happy life belongs to middle class. Apparently, Robinsons father harbors the view that “ virtue and evil will automatically get fair reward”, an idea held by religion. However, Robinson did not turn a deaf ear to it. He still chases after his dream and does everything to fulfill his navigation dream. In such occasion, Robinson starts his adventure trip. During the first several trip, every time he encounters stormy waves or danger, he turns to God and pray for bless. When danger disappears, Robinson puts the whole thing out of his mind and continue his journey. Apparently, Robinsons impression of God was limited - he just views God as spiritual ballast in dangerous moments. He does not believed in God truly. Such occasion continues until he sets foot in the island. 3.2. Robinsons faith on the islandRobinosns faith changes because of his introspection. During the time period he spent on the island, Robinson changes and restructures outside world through the perception of outward things. As for inside world, only perception of outward things is not enough. What is really important is introspection. From the perspective of the use of introspection, Robinson keeps thinking about his action and behavior; at the same time, he explores the meaning of life. In Robinson Crusoe, the continuously self-reflection help the protagonist think about the relation between fate and himself and God, and explore the meaning of life. During this process, Robinson gradually accomplishes self-construction. For example, when he needs to explain natural phenomena, he always chooses law of cause and effect. Although he considered it was a phenomenon out of Miracles at the first sight of grown cereal, later, he utilizes the law of cause and effect to contradict his previous explanation: he has ever dropped the bag full of chicken feed around the edge of wall border, a place where stones cover sunlight. Later on, it rained a lot, so the cereal grew naturally. What is more, as for the footprint on the beach, Robinson also utilizes the law of cause and effect to contradict Miracles. At the beginning, he though it was the footprint left by evil. After he rethought calmly, he recognizes that this idea was groundless. Finally, he proves that the footprint can only belong to some creature from some place he has never come. Furthermore, when he feels that he is at the deaths door, both his spirit and body come to a crisis. Under this situation, he starts to rethink this question : who am I ? At the same time, Robinson truly finds some understanding toward this question. He correlates this question with religion and takes Gods salvation as the reason why he can be saved and pass the crisis. In general, Robinsons gradual conversion to God finds basis for the meaning of his life and gives completeness and rebirth for his own spiritual world. Friday was saved by Robinson and was turned into a Christian by Robinson, too. Since the religion value of Robinson is tolerant, he allows religious tolerance; that is, he allows people hold different religion believes and respect these religions. Although Robinson has absolutely control over the island, however, he did not force Fridays father and the Spanish to believe in Christianity. It is because of his religion tolerance that he can manage well all the members when new comers come to the island. At the very beginning, Friday has no religion since he was only a gorilla in the island. During the time period Robinson teach him language, he started to contact Christianity. After long-time study and exploration, Friday finally hold the same religion with Robinson. During the process Robinson tries to let Friday accept Christianity, he finds that “ nothing but a Revelation from Heaven,canform thee in the Soul,” Still, Robinson continues to learn Bible more deeply. He tell what meaning he get to Friday and discusses with Friday. All these things make Robinsons understanding of Bible more profound. “That as the bare reading the Scripture made me capable of understanding enough of my Duty,to carry me directly on to the great Work of sincere Repentance for my Sins,and laying hold of a Saviour for Life and Salvation,to a stated Reformation in Practice,and Obedience to all Gods Commands,so the same plain Instruction sufficiently served tothe enlightening this Savage Creature, and bringing him to be such a Christian, as I have known few equal to him in my Life. “Therefore, Robinson sincerely believes in God and turns the respect to God into a instinct. In such occasion, he consciously teach religion thoughts to a rude savage. At the end, when Robinson escapes from the island and regains his asset, he needs to make a decision whether go to Spain and manage his own plantation; meanwhile, he also needs to make a decision on religion. On one hand, if Robinson goes to Spain, he will have to abandon his religion and totally accept Catholicism, because he will be sentenced to death on the Inquisition and killed as a martyrs if he does not abandon. Eventually, Robinson decides to sell his plantation and continue his life as an Christian. This can be another proof for religion tolerance. When Robinson was far from adversity, he unhesitatingly joined Catholicism. After a series of difficulties, out of the true love for God, Robinson choose Christianity as his own religion belief. 3.3. Fridays faithBefore meeting Robinson, Friday had his own religion faith, even though the god Friday believed in is evil in the eyes of Robinson. To make it more easy and convenient to enslave Friday, Robinson infused Christian thoughts into Friday. The protagonist utilized Bible to make it. At the very beginning, Robinson always kept saying to Friday that his previous national religion is nothing but a deception and cheat. As Friday felt confused, he started to follow what Robinson taught him. He read the book Robinson gives, the Bible and acts the way Robinson does, preys regularly. “nothing but a Revelation from Heaven, can form these in the Soul, and that therefore the Gospel of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ; the word of God, and the Spirit of God promisd for the Guide and sanctifier of his People, are the absolutely necessary Instructors of the Souls of Men, in the saving Knowledge of God, and the Means of Salvation “ (230) Meanwhile, Robinson also says that “ As to all the Disputes, Wranglings, Strife and Contention, which had happend in the world about Religion, whether Niceties in Doctrines, or Schemes of Church Government, they were all perfectly useless to us “(232) After some time, the previous faith held by Friday, that is, the American Creator Benamuckee was finally moved out from his brain. Rather, Friday becomes a Christian, just like Robinson. When considering about the question “ who made him “, Friday was instructed to learn about knowledge of God. “ I told him that the great Maker of all thing livd up there, pointing up towards Heaven : That he was omnipotent, could do every thing for us, give every thing to us, take every thing from us, and thus by degrees I opend his eyes “ (227) .Three years passed, Friday finally is totally turned into an excellent and great Christian. As what Defoe wrote, “the Savage was now a good Christian, a much better than I “ (231). Furthermore, “ that as the bare reading the Scripture made me capable of understanding enough of my Duty, to carry me directly on to the great Work of sincere Repentance for my sins “ (232). We can see that under the influence of Robinson and his elaborate cultural reformation, Friday abandons his previous language and religion, and just becomes Robinsons faithful and royal servant. In other words, Fridays faith is more Robinson than Christianity, since he obey what Robinson tells him and views Robinson his paramount lord. Once at a time, Robinson wants to leave Friday in the mainland, and Friday was very scared and asks his lord that “ why, you angry mad with Friday, what me done “ (237). To sum up, the change of Fridays faith happens because of Robinson; precisely speaking, because Robinson wants to make Friday his slave. This action coincides with the colonial thought in 18th century. In terms of Friday, he finally becomes an excellent Christian and gives up his former belief and language. In some aspect, the change of his faith is much more greater than that of Robinson. 4. Significance of faith 4.1. Significance and effect of faith in this bookFirst in the place, the biggest usage of faith in this book is that it orders all the plots in this novel. in terms of Robinsons faith, we can see that, it changes all the time along with the development of plots. He introspects through religion and reform positive attitude, seeing things from an optimistic angle. He learns to watch more the bright side of his situation. The reason why others could not enjoy comfortably what god gives them is that they only pay attention on things they have not gotten and wish god will give these things to them someday. From Robinsons perspective, that dissatisfaction exists just because people can not own something, comes from people have no gratitude for what they have owned. Robinson finally gets the hope of living from faith and religion. As for Friday, he changes into a purely Christian from a savage, and finally lives a British life. He gets satisfying life and spiritual shelter from faith and religion. All these are what the author wants to tell readers, that faith is a kind of moral restraint and spiritual ballast. Robinson suffers disasters because he does not believe in God and becomes rich and happy because he sincerely believes in God. This is a powerful example for Defoes value. Faith can help people overcome difficulties and obstacles, and transcend themselves. 4.2. Significance of faith for the expansion on of the bourgeoisGenerally speaking, from the change of the protagonists faith, we can see that some other characteristics of rising bourgeoisie, characteristics more underlined than taking wealth and land. The spirit that calls for development, labor and occupation is not only the result of commodity economy and free