4.4 Humanities Robinson Crusoe: a self-made man The self-made man ideal A self-made man is anyone who is not born into privilege and wealth and yet manages to achieve great personal success in life by using his intelligence and skills. Thanks to his he can overcome all the obstacles he comes across and become the master of his own destiny. willpower Daniel Defoe Origins of the expression The phrase was coined by a member of the US Senate in the 19th century to describe manufacturers who had started their business only on their own initiative and labour. Over time, the idea was associated with the American Dream, the belief that through hard work and perseverance anyone can become financially successful and improve their position in society. These ideals are traditional in American society: the Pilgrim Fathers who established the first British colony were Puritans who believed that only hard work and discipline could ensure them God’s support and, consequently, material wealth and spiritual salvation. relying Robinson Crusoe (1719) The hero of Daniel Defoe’s most successful novel best represents the ideal of the self-made man. The story is narrated in the form of a diary and follows the adventures of his protagonist Robinson Crusoe who decides to try his fortune at sea. After several misadventures, he starts his own sugar plantation in Brazil, but, during an expedition, his ship is hit by a hurricane and he finds himself on an uninhabited island. He does not and starts to build a new life for himself on the island. First, he collects some goods he needs to survive from the and then he starts getting as much as he can from the island by using his skills: he makes his own , grows seeds and wild goats. His success in fighting for survival leads him to consider the island as his own property. This belief also emerges from his relationship with Friday, a man Crusoe rescues from cannibals. Rather than a friend, Crusoe considers Friday a ‘savage’ he has to civilise and, as a typical coloniser, imposes on him his own language, culture and religion. After 28 years on the island, Crusoe manages to go back to England and finds out that his plantation in Brazil has made him a rich man: a fair reward for his perseverance in the face of difficulties. give up shipwreck pottery breeds The author The son of a merchant, (1660-1731) attended a boarding school and later studied to become a church minister but decided to become a merchant instead. His business was not successful, however: he went bankrupt and was arrested because he could not pay his debts. In the last years of the century he started his literary career as a journalist writing articles about issues of the time. Due to his political ideas as well as for his outstanding debts, Defoe faced imprisonment several times. He only started publishing novels when he was sixty years old, but despite their success, Defoe died tormented by his creditors in 1731 in London. Daniel Defoe