Social Classes in Robbinson Crusoe's book

Social Classes

In the novel Robinson Crusoe, written by Daniel Defoe, the English bourgeoisie is represented as a society that imposed its ideology and measured the importance of a person according to their economic level.

Robinson Crusoe is from a middle-class household, as his father tells us at the beginning of the novel. Thus, according to old man Crusoe, this stratum is the best because it does not experience the extremes of luxury or poverty. Crusoe, on the other hand, rebels against his father's class prejudice and sets off on his own.

SLAVERY

rACISM

Insights & book's references

Robinson repeatedly establishes an unequal hierarchy between Europeans and natives of other lands.

Xury, whom he turns into Robinson Crusoe’s slave, is a clear example of it.

Friday also became Crusoe’s slave. To whom he also took affection, but he enslaved with the greatest naturalness.

(p.21)

To whoever sells when he arrives in Brazil but asks not to be a slave for a long time, which shows a bit of affection, but a total acceptance of slavery, as if it were the right thing to do.

Such an attitude can even be seen in how Crusoe approaches foreign lands: he buys land for a plantation in Brazil, regardless of any indigenous peoples, and claims ownership over "his" island.

(p.91)

In chapter XXII the first word that Crusoe teaches Friday was “master” even before teaching “yes and no” instead of his name for some reason, superiority comes instinctively to him.

A case of racism is the fact that when they rescued Crusoe along with Xury and took them to Brazil (after both were slaves but fled) Xury was bought from Crusoe.

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