Robinson Crusoe in Robinson Crusoe: Character Thursday (33)

Robinson Crusoe was probably one of book characters with unique personalities to be analyzed here. It’s easy too, because from his journal, we can follow his life from the very beginning. Being born in a middle-class tradesman family, Crusoe has taught about trading business, a career that Crusoe’s father believed to be the best and safest career to have in the world. However—and this is the first sign of Crusoe’s stubbornness—Crusoe did not have any slightest interest towards business (any kind of it). I imagine Crusoe as a man who adored freedom; it’s not safety that he sought, but the charm of uncertainty, the wider possibilities that was not limited by rules and orders. And where could he find it if not in the sea? I think Crusoe has been born with adventurer soul in his heart; and nothing could prevent him to pursue his dream.

Throughout this book Crusoe often marked his stupidity because he did not follow his father’s advice, and runaway from home to become a sailor. However, I think it was not stupidity, and I never blamed him throughout this story, because what he has endured was merely a maturing process. If he had chosen to be a businessman, like his father’s suggestion, he would probably never have had such development in his entire life. And what is the most important development a man could reach if not finding the core of his life—which is God?

Crusoe's stubbornness was clearly pictured through his repentance. Being survived from several accidents in such ways that you could not have said that they were just incidents—still did not make him think of God at all. So, if Crusoe must fell in many dangerous conditions, it was not caused by stupidity, but his stubbornness. Even when he finally came to a supernatural understanding that God was behind those all occasions, it didn’t stay for too long before he forgot about it again. Then all the process was repeated again, he must fall into a tragedy, saved from it, realized that God was in it, then forgot about it as soon as everything was calm and settled again.

From his twenty eight years of living on ‘his’ uninhibited island, I see a strong will and determination in Crusoe. He never fell to desperation when he must make great efforts to produce simple things that he needed. Not even when he failed at his first trials (like when he made the canoe), he would somehow find the spirit to do it again and again until he got what he wanted. Here I think Crusoe was fortunate that he has his stubbornness in him!

Don't you think Brosnan is too handsome for Crusoe? :)

Making decisions, though, was not one of his best qualities. I can see from several occasions that he often felt uncertain to do something. The clearest prove of this was when he must decide to attack against the villain who did cannibalism on the island’s beach. But maybe we can spare him on that one, because it was actually the battle between his conscience and his survival instinct (it’s a good thing if one still consult his conscience before committing his deeds, right?). Anyway, I can still see his uncertainty in making decisions in several other occasions.

That is my Character Thursday of this week, an analysis of book character of my choice, who is yours?... Just put your post URL in the linky below. Do you like to join us in discussing characters from books you read? See the details of Character Thursday first.

Robinson Crusoe

[conclusion in English is at the bottom of this post]

361 tahun lalu, tepat pada tanggal 1 September 1651 seorang pria Inggris bernama Robinson Crusoe memulai pelayarannya yang pertama. Crusoe adalah putra sebuah keluarga pedagang menengah di Inggris. Ia tak memiliki bakat berdagang, namun kepalanya selalu dipenuhi impian untuk bertualang ke laut. Mengabaikan nasihat ayahnya, ia pun memutuskan untuk ikut dalam sebuah pelayaran. Tak lama kemudian terbukti itu keputusan yang salah, namun bukannya belajar dari pengalaman, Crusoe malah terlibat dalam pelayaran-pelayaran berikutnya—yang kadang berhasil memberinya keuntungan dari berdagang, namun kadang memberinya kemalangan seperti menjadi budak orang Moor (orang kulit hitam).

Bahkan ketika ia akhirnya berhasil memiliki perkebunan yang cukup sukses di Brazil, hasratnya untuk melaut lagi-lagi mengalahkan akal sehatnya. Maka tepat delapan tahun setelah pelayaran pertamanya yang gagal, Crusoe kembali melaut pada 1 September 1659. Pelayaran kali ini benar-benar membawa celaka, karena kapal mereka karam dalam sebuah badai, dan hanya menyisakan Crusoe seorang diri terdampar di pulau terpencil dan tak berpenghuni. Sendirian. Di tengah ancaman kanibalisme di perairan Karibia di abad 17.

Itulah inti kisah ini, yakni pergulatan hidup Crusoe selama dua puluh delapan tahun tinggal di pulau itu. Bagaimana ia bertahan hidup dengan memanfaatkan segala sesuatu yang ia ambil dari kapalnya sebelum karam, bagaimana ia membuat dengan tangannya sendiri segala kebutuhannya, mulai dari rumah, meja kursi, kuali, keranjang anyaman hingga piring-cangkir, termasuk segala alat bertukang yang ia butuhkan, hingga kano atau perahu; dan bagaimana ia bergantung pada alam.

Namun yang jauh lebih penting adalah bagaimana Crusoe bergulat dengan jiwanya sendiri menghadapi segala ketakutan, keputus-asaan, serta kesepian di sepanjang hidupnya di pulau, tanpa siapapun yang dapat ia ajak berdiskusi. Di tengah pergulatan itu, ia pun akhirnya mampu melihat Tangan Tuhan yang bekerja dalam setiap langkah hidupnya. Betapa, jauh dari sengsara, Tuhan justru telah menyediakan segala kebutuhannya dan melindunginya, serta terlebih-lebih memberikan kesempatan pada Crusoe untuk tetap hidup—ketika semua temannya mati dalam badai yang tak memungkinkan manusia untuk selamat. Dan untuk tujuan apakah semuanya itu dilakukan Tuhan? Di titik inilah pertobatan Crusoe terjadi. Bukan pertobatan yang gampang, melainkan melalui serangkaian pergulatan yang keras dalam jiwanya.

Defoe membuat Robinson Crusoe ini dalam bentuk semacam jurnal yang ditulis oleh Crusoe sendiri. Dengan sendirinya, bahasa Inggris yang dipakai adalah bahasa sehari-hari yang bisa anda bayangkan dipakai seorang pelaut dalam menulis jurnalnya, yang jauh dari sempurna dalam sintaksisnya. Karena itu, kalau anda menemui kalimat-kalimat yang agak aneh, kesalahan mungkin bukan terletak pada penerjemahan, karena versi aslinya memang tidak tertulis dengan sempurna. Inilah letak kehebatan Defoe, yang membuat anda berpikir buku ini adalah jurnal sungguhan, bukannya kisah fiksi.

Yang paling menarik bagiku adalah bagaimana Defoe bermonolog dalam jurnalnya, terutama pada bagian apa yang ia rasakan dan pikirkan. Bagian ini terasa sungguh hidup sehingga membuat pembaca seolah bisa melihat pergolakan emosi Crusoe yang sungguh…benar-benar melelahkan untuk diikuti, namun membuat kita menyadari betapa sulitnya manusia untuk melalui proses pertobatan; betapa panjang, rumit dan sabar Tuhan menuntun Crusoe pada keselamatan.

Yang jelas Robinson Crusoe mengajarkan pada kita untuk dapat mensyukuri apapun yang terjadi pada kita, bahwa justru saat kita merasa kita sedang dibawa pada kehancuran, pada saat itulah Tuhan sebenarnya tengah mengarahkan kita pada keselamatan. Seperti yang terefleksikan dalam quote ini:

“Begitu kecilnya kita melihat ke depan di dunia, dan begitu banyaknya alasan yang kita miliki untuk bergantung dengan gembira pada Sang Pencipta dunia. Dia tidak meninggalkan makhluknya sangat kekurangan, tapi dalam kondisi terburuk mereka selalu punya sesuatu untuk disyukuri dan kadang lebih dekat ke keselamatan dibanding apa yang mereka bayangkan, tidak, bahkan dibawa pada keselamatan dengan cara yang menurut mereka akan membawa kehancuran bagi mereka.”

Empat bintang bagi Robinson Crusoe yang bukan saja menyediakan kisah petualangan menarik, seru, tegang, namun mampu membawa kita pada sebuah refleksi yang mendalam pula.

Judul: Robinson Crusoe

Penulis: Daniel Defoe

Penerjemah: Maria Renny

Penerbit: Bentang Pustaka

Terbit: April 2007

Tebal: 385 hlm.

Conclusion:

How lucky I am that I saw o (delaisse)’s post about reading Robinson Crusoe on the 361^st celebration of Crusoe’s adventure, on September 1^st 2012. The book (Indonesian translation) has been on my TBR list for…perhaps a year, but I haven’t got the mood to read it. I was afraid because this book was not written in good English, so what if I could not get the meaning and couldn’t enjoy it? Reading with a friend gives me encouragement, and the moment is so perfect, so I began flipping the first pages of Robinson Crusoe, and…hey…I like it!

I think most of you already know what this book is about—or even have read it, so I won’t bother to write about the story. What impressed me is how Defoe wrote it as a sailor’s journal. He wrote in detail about how he built the cave, how he brought things from the wrecked ship, how he managed and prepared his foods, and all these stuffs—such, that if one day someone might fell in the same faith as Crusoe, he could have survived if he had learned this book before.

The best part of this book is Crusoe’s repentance process. It was a long, tedious and emotional—yet interesting—process through everything that had happened during his stay on the island. I was moved to read about how God brought Crusoe to realization that all of those happened to him were a Great Design of God; from the corn seed which cultivated on the particular soil, to the discovery of worn out Bible Crusoe had grabbed from the wrecked ship’s cabin. But more interestingly, was how Crusoe seemed to forget (too quickly) all these realizations when something bad happened (and this happened more than once). It seemed that Defoe took us to witness God’s tremendous patience towards stubborn sinners. All of these soul struggling monologs are worth to read!

I granted this book four stars, for I was a little disappointed with the ending. Actually I like Crusoe’s struggle on the island more than the adventures after he was saved. And after following Crusoe for twenty eight years, I was wondering how Crusoe seemed to be easily left the island just like that. I imagined that he should have been quite emotional when the time came to ‘say good bye’ to his home. Of course it was far from being called home, but the island could be assumed to be his island, he built the ‘houses’ himself, worked the corn plantation as well as the mini farm with his own hands; in short he has created a miniature of a country. And that had happened for twenty eight years, half of his life! But I did not see anything emotional from Crusoe when he left. Well… I was a little emotional at this part, just as how I got emotional every time I must move from an old house to a new one. I think a little hint of emotion would satisfy me more.

The adventures after he returned to civilization (fighting the wolves) seemed a bit anti-climax. The adventures were heart-pounding, but it washed away my previous emotional bond with the island and the divine experiences, which I think was the ‘heart’ of this story. More over, I wish Defoe closed the story at the ending, instead of hang it for a sequel to come. So now I’m just wondering, is Moll Flanders worth to read after this?...anyone?

Robinson Crusoe & Vanessa Mae - A Classic Challenge September: Music

When the September prompt for A Classic Challenge was published in Katherine’s November’s Autumn, I was skeptic that I would be able to post it this month, the prompt is…

…to select a piece of...

Music

...that you feel reflects the book. Modern, classical, jazz, anything, it doesn't have to be from the period of the novel but share what it is about the piece that echoes the novel in someway.

Well, that was hard because I’m not a big fan of music, though I have quite a lot of CD collections. I can’t imagine what music would reflect Gone With The Wind or Robinson Crusoe—two classics that I’ve been reading this month. However, not long after I have finished Robinson Crusoe—and the rescue scene was still lingering in my mind—one of Vanessa-Mae’s songs suddenly echoed in my ears. It was Contradanza, one of my favorite of hers in my ‘The Violin Player’ album.

I knew instantly that that song would perfectly reflect the emotion of the rescue scene in Robinson Crusoe. It was when Friday first saw three canoes approaching the island, then told Crusoe about it, who instantly arranged an ambush (with only two of them!). The process, how he was agitated to see the strangers and wanted to fight and kill them, how he armed himself and Friday and marched together to the beach; but on the way he reflected that he did not have the right to act as judge by killing them; then after seeing that they were to kill the prisoner, decided to attack them. Then finally the battle scene began…and oh…how all of those made my heart pounding so hard!

This is the song, what do you think? Does it reflect the heroic battle scene? 

And this is how the energetic Vanessa-Mae played this song in one of her concerts. I love her performance!

Vanessa-Mae (Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson) was a British violinist who was born in Singapore, from a Thai father and a Chinese mother—a semi-professional concert pianist. Her music style is self-described as "violin techno-acoustic fusion", as several of her albums prominently feature the techno style. She began playing piano at the age of three and violin at five. At ten she joined the Philharmonia, and at twelve she joined the London Mozart Players in Mozart Bicentenary.

Weekend Quote 6: Robinson Crusoe

This week I am reading Daniel Defoe’s masterpiece: Robinson Crusoe, the English man who lived alone on an isolated island after a ship wrecked for more than 20 years. Actually there are a lot of beautiful quotes here, but I picked one that touches me mostly. I read the Indonesian translation version, so I quote it in Bahasa Indonesia, and will explain the meaning in English (it’s hard to find the particular passage in the original book):

“Begitu kecilnya kita melihat ke depan di dunia, dan begitu banyaknya alasan yang kita miliki untuk bergantung dengan gembira pada Sang Pencipta dunia. Dia tidak meninggalkan makhluknya sangat kekurangan, tapi dalam kondisi terburuk mereka selalu punya sesuatu untuk disyukuri dan kadang lebih dekat ke keselamatan dibanding apa yang mereka bayangkan, tidak, bahkan dibawa pada keselamatan dengan cara yang menurut mereka akan membawa kehancuran bagi mereka.”

I know that Defoe did not write this book in good English, so I can understand that the translation process would not be easy. I often felt the sentences are weird, but it’s still understandable. I tried to translate the quote in English, although I’m sure you will not find this in the original version :)

“If we look at our life, we always have many reasons to hold on to our Creator. He never left His creatures to be in a deep sorrow; even in their worst situation, they would always have something to be grateful of; and sometimes they are very close to salvation, nearer than what they think—no, they are even brought to salvation in a way that they thought it would have brought them to their ruin.”

That was a very deep reflection from Crusoe after being isolated from civilization for almost three decades. A reflection that has brought him to a realization that God was not punishing him, but bringing him to salvation. I hope we don’t have to suffer like Crusoe to learn about this….

Weekend Quote is hosted by Half-Filled Attic. Feel free to join. You can:

• Give the context of the quote
• Give your opinion whether you agree or disagree with it
• Share your experience related to the quote
• Share similar quotes you remember
• Or anything else. Just have fun with the quote.

On The 361st Anniversary of Robinson Crusoe’s Journey…

In Daniel Defoe’s best book, Robinson Crusoe started his journey on 1^st September 1651….

“... and in an ill hour, God knows, on the first of September, 1651, I went on board a ship bound for London. Never any young adventurer's misfortunes, I believe, began sooner or continued longer than mine.”

It means, tomorrow would be the 361^st anniversary of that journey. Robinson Crusoe has been on my TBR pile since…perhaps the last one year. I own an Indonesian translation copy, and have put this book into my The Classics Club list. So, when I knew that o (Délaissé blog) will read this book and asking whether her followers might join her (it’s kind of informal read along without deadline, only we must start on 1^st September), I promptly decided to join in.

Although I have been engaged with hosting the Gone With the Wind read along, I feel I’d need a book to go along with GWTW. I don’t think I’d be able to stuck on those >1400 pages for the whole month (and followed by another month). Robinson Crusoe might have been a perfect choice. So....who wants to join me?