The Protestant Work Ethic In Robinson Crusoe

Robinson Crusoe (1719), Defoe’s masterpiece, has been enjoying great popularity and rich interpretative possibilities of the text. The protagonist, Robinson, is one of the most famous solitary figures in English literature of the early18th century. Robinson has been interpreted and viewed as many different types of character such as the homo economicus, a religious figure. a masculine adventurer, an imperialist, and so on.The author of this thesis attempts to investigate this popular fictional work from the perspective of the Protestant work ethic which comes from the study of Max Weber. By applying Weber’s sociological theory, the author of this thesis hopes that both the economic and religious dimensions of the novel can be understood as an inseparable totality; in addition, the impact of the ethical values on the formation of the hero’s varied identities is investigated with details.In Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904-05), the sociologist observes that there is an "elective affinity" between "the protestant ethic" and the rising of modern capitalism. Puritanism emphasizes work and gives religious sanction to the pursuit of profit, but at the same time it prohibited the spontaneous enjoyment of the wealth. In The Protestant Ethic, Weber holds the view that "When the limitation of consumption is combined with the release of acquisitive activity, the inevitable practical result is obvious:accumulation of capital through the ascetic compulsion to save." When it comes to the study of this paper, the author tries to analyze how the Protestant ethical ideas influence the motivation, actions and formation of identities of Defoe’s hero Robinson Crusoe who is one of the representatives of the rising capitalist class in the17th century.Crusoe undergoes his religious conversion from a secular young man to a convert Puritan. The hero claims that his "original sin" is his disobedience to his father, ascribing his afflictions to his wandering inclination. But this thesis claims that it is the hero’s immoderate desires for material wealth and possession that lead to his trials and providential punishment. Next, it is the primary aim of this thesis to analyze Robinson’s protestant work ethic from the dimensions of the dignity of labour and the ascetic organization of his life on the island. The meaning of hard work and labour changed after the religious Reformation. Hard work, making profit, and accumulation of wealth began to acquire new significance for the Puritans like Crusoe which is an exemplar of this new ethos. Crusoe hardly allows himself to rest for a moment; even when his assistant Friday comes, Crusoe does not stop his expanded production on the island."For Crusoe, hard work seems to be a condition of life itself." Moreover, work is the source of property right, prosperity, happiness, and foundation of progress. On the island, Crusoe creates by his own hands a new life which is in contrast to his father’s in the old world. It is Crusoe’s work and labor that transform his abandoned situation into a status of salvation, both physical and spiritual redemption.Ian watt has observed that each of Crusoe’s actions is followed by a passage of religious reflection, the means by which a Puritan takes to reveal the intentions of divine Providence. In the isolated circumstance he has to consider whether he has been chosen or reprobated by God. He tries to interpret mundane daily events and undertakings as divine signs to help him find his own position in God’s scheme of redemption and reprobation. Crusoe’s state of salvation can not be guaranteed by reading the Bible or performing any magical sacrament, or his confession. His state of Grace could be acquired only through performing hard and continuous labor in a vocational calling. In order to supervise his state of grace in his own conduct, Crusoe has to penetrate his life with asceticism. In other words, Robison must conduct a rational planning of this whole life according to God’s will, to live a methodical and systematic life.When Crusoe, as a Puritan, follows new ethical values, his behavior and activities are well regulated and directed to a different pursuit, which is followed by the hero’s new personal identities. Crusoe, as a puritan, becomes an early modern capitalist which is not caused by his insatiable desire for secular wealth, but by his Protestant ethic which requires him to restrain his worldly desires and live a methodical and rational life in order to prove that he has been chosen by God for salvation as one of the elect. According to Weber’s argument, only when Crusoe can restrain his greed and desire for material gain, and perform his work rationally and systematically, is it possible to define his new identity as a capitalist. Crusoe’s economic actions and activities change along with his new religious values. In other words, after his conversion into a Puritan, he no longer pursues material gains as an end in itself; rather, he views material wealth as God’s favor and blessing to him which reveals, in Weber’s words, the hero’s "spirit of capitalism."Two aspects in the Protestant work ethic have a great influence on the formation of his new identity as a European colonizer. Crusoe believes that he is "singled out" by God, which is God’s divine will. Once he gets the confidence that he is chosen by Him, he tends to think that the natives or the heathens are "entirely abandon’d of Heaven" and "offend [God’s law] in a publick Manner," which justifies his conquering the native people. The second element which has impacted Robinson’s identity as a colonizer comes from the ethic about wealth and profit in the Protestant work ethic. The Puritans see God’s hands in all the arenas of life. Therefore, if God reveals a chance of profit to one of His elect, God must do it with clear intentions. Once Crusoe always interprets his life experience as a divinely directed and offered event, he is able to naturalize and justify his colonist authority on the island, accepting the mindset that Friday is delivered into his hands by Providence.In sum, as a convert Puritan, Crusoe often sees God’s hands in his daily life and finds that he has been offered blessings and favour by God. Therefore, it is his duty to do good work to fulfill his calling and his service to God. Hard work or labour becomes the central concern of Robinson’s experiences on the island. Work, which once was the most despised human activity, begins to assume dignity and sanctity in Robinson Crusoe. The Protestant work ethic gradually validates the process of hard work, making profit, and assurance of salvation, justifies and encourages this English capitalist’s activities of colonization.