Creating Identity in Robinson Crusoe

I think I am beginning to realize why I wasn’t too taken with Robinson Crusoe when I first read it: the overtones of religion and economy are just too much for me. Not only are they two of my least favorite themes, but they are also interconnected in this book? Whew.

Luckily, I think I found a saving grace during our class discussion, which we got to through individualism and privacy. Shelley noted during her presentation that the rise of literary culture devalued oral tradition to the status where only “the poor, uneducated, superstitious and illiterate” would participate. This devaluing of oral culture would suggest a strong emphasis on the written word and it is this idea of writing and visual imprints, which act as stamped proof, that strikes me in Robinson Crusoe. I talked in my last journal about the importance that Crusoe places on procuring writing utensils and of the written representation of his experience on the island through his journal and makeshift calendar. Thinking through these instances of documentation, I am struck not just by the importance placed on the written word, but on the multiple instances of reciprocal acknowledgement of existence which works to carve out an identity for Crusoe.

In thinking through Crusoe’s journal, I found Hunter’s discussion of diaries very interesting. The rise of individualism and the popularity of keeping a diary would not just change the way one would think of their religious journey, but also the way one views one’s own subjectivity. Not only would journaling suggest that as individuals we all have something unique and therefore worthwhile to say, but also the written account of one’s days and experiences creates external proof of one’s independent existence and life. Through their diaries, people could write their subjectivity into existence.

This reminds me immediately of Lacan (or at least my fuzzy understanding of Lacan). According to Lacan, one has no inherent concept of Self and must construct their whole notion of Self in an external identity and representation. In Lacan’s developmental stages of the Imaginary, one constructs one’s own identity out of an external entity, never internal. Thus, the subject creates an ego out of a lack; there is a desire for self-identification in the absence of a self, so the subject greedily grabs the external image and claims it as their inner self and identity. As one’s identity is fully invested in this external image, one continually looks to the external world to provide assurance for one’s own identity.

We certainly see this external identity creating in Robinson Crusoe. It is not just his written word which works to create this external subjectivity, but also other external factors. For example, Crusoe teaches his parrot Poll to repeat his own name as well as the refrain, “Poor Robin Crusoe, where are you Robin Crusoe, where have you been?” Alone with no human company to assert his identity, Crusoe teaches his bird to repeat back his name, as well as his condition of being lost. In Poll, he also creates that companion that would lament over his disappearance as if to proof that he is missed and loved by others. Even the sight of the imprinted footprint in the sand is a stamp that works to carve out Crusoe’s subjectivity. In that footprint, he sees part of his identity, that of the lone occupant, deteriorate and it causes a severe crisis. His position as ruler of his island is threatened and here is when Friday’s appearance comes to use for Crusoe’s reconstruction of identity. While the bird can call him “Robin,” Friday must call Crusoe “Master.” Crusoe places his now threatened identity as a ruler and master into Friday to assure himself that yes, he is master of his own domain.