When 's
begins, Crusoe records that one of his great difficulties was his
inabilityor refusalto see Providence (or God) in the things that happened to him from the time
he left his home, against the wishes of his father. It is only over time, in adverse conditions
as he looks within, that Crusoe is changedrealizing what a "brute" he was, and how God
has had his hand in all of Crusoe's experiences since leaving England.
In the relating what is already past of my story, this will be the
more easily believed when I shall add, that through all the variety of miseries that had to this
day befallen me, I never had so much as one thought of it being the hand of God, or that it was
a just punishment for my sin...or so much as a punishment for the general course of my wicked
life€¦.But I was merely thoughtless of a God or a Providence, acted like a mere
brute...
Crusoe admits to his failure to see Providence
when it was there€¦until he loses everything. When Crusoe lands on the island, he says he
should have been thankful to God for rescuing him, the only survivor, but
he does not. He is thrilled to be alive, but any credit to the Almighty is lost for him. In
fact, he runs around, wringing his hands until he collapses.
It is true, when I got on shore first here, and found...myself spared, I was surprised
with a kind of ecstasy€¦which...might have come up to true thankfulness; but it ended where it
began...being glad I was alive, without the least reflection upon the distinguished goodness of
the hand which had preserved me...
Crusoe recalls that he
never appreciated what he hadsuch as his "station of life," didn't listen to his
parents' pleas or warnings, and had no need for God in his life. He has come to see that he was
wrong:
I rejected the voice of Providence, which had
mercifully put me in a posture or station of life wherein I might have been happy and easy; but
I would neither see it myself nor learn to know the blessing of it from my parents.
When Crusoe starts to take a close look at his life, Providence
takes hold of him, helping him to see miraclesto begin with, just in his
survivaleven though he is alone. It is hard to be by himself, but he is
happier than before, and he has been compensated for the absence of "society." He is
blessed with God's presence:
I gave humble and hearty
thanks that God had been pleased to discover to me that it was possible I might be more happy in
this solitary condition than I should have been in the liberty of society...that He could fully
make up to me the deficiencies of my solitary state, and the want of human society, by His
presence...
Crusoe begins to take his shipwrecked state
in stride: while he cannot admit he's glad to be in his situation, he is happy he has been able
to learn how empty his former life was.
...though I could
not say I thanked God for being there, yet I sincerely gave thanks to God for opening my eyes,
by whatever afflicting providences, to see the former condition of my life, and to mourn for my
wickedness, and repent.
In even the simplest things,
Crusoe's conversion brings him to appreciate all that he has; he has become a better man, and
allows that all he has comes from the hand of Providence.
I frequently sat down to meat with thankfulness, and admired the hand of Gods
providence, which had thus spread my table in the wilderness.
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