Analysis of Theme in Defoe's 'Robinson Crusoe' and Martel's 'Life of Pi'.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................. i
TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................... iii
ABSTRACT.......................................................................................................... iv
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study ............................................................................... 1
Statement of the Problem............................................................................... 3
Purpose of the Study...................................................................................... 3
Method of Research....................................................................................... 3
Organization of the Thesis............................................................................. 4
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OFTHEME
IN DEFOE’S ROBINSON CRUSOE………………………...………...... 5
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OFTHEME
IN MARTEL’S LIFE OF PI………………………..……………........... 15
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION................................................................. 26
BIBLIOGRAPHY......................................................................................... 30
APPENDICES
Synopsis of Robinson Crusoe...................................................................... 33
Synopsis of Life of Pi................................................................................... 35
Biography of Daniel Defoe.......................................................................... 36

Biography of Yann Martel........................................................................... 37

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ABSTRACT

Dalam penulisan tugas akhir ini saya menganalisis tema melalui tokoh
utama dalam novel Robinson Crusoe karya Daniel Defoe dan novel Life of Pi
karya Yann Martel.
Tokoh utama dalam Robinson Crusoe adalah seorang pria Inggris berusia
tiga puluhan yang terdampar dan terisolasi di sebuah pulau terpencil selama dua
puluh delapan tahun. Tokoh Robinson Crusoe dalam novel ini membuktikan
bahwa iman, kerja keras, dan kemandirian dapat membantu seseorang bertahan
hidup.
Tokoh utama dalam Life of Pi adalah seorang anak lelaki India berusia
enam belas tahun yang terpaksa berlayar di atas sekoci di Samudera Pasifik
bersama seekor harimau selama 227 hari. Pi Patel, tokoh utama dalam novel ini,
membutikan bahwa seseorang dapat bertahan hidup dengan iman, disertai

kecerdasan, keberanian, dan kemampuan beradaptasi.
Kedua novel ini menyampaikan pandangan yang serupa mengenai hidup,
juga mengusung tema yang sama, yaitu bahwa iman membantu seseorang
bertahan hidup secara spiritual, sementara kepribadian seseorang menentukan
apakah ia mampu mengatasi bahaya fisik yang dihadapinya.

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APPENDICES

SYNOPSIS OF ROBINSON CRUSOE
Since his childhood, Crusoe has had interest in going out to the sea.
However, his parents expect him to become a businessman. Initially, Crusoe
obeys their advice. However, when one of his friends embarks for London, he
decides to come along. Eight years later when embarking on an expedition to
West Africa, the ship he travels on is attacked by a hurricane and ends up
shipwrecked off the coast of Trinidad.
Being the only one surviving the shipwreck, Crusoe has to seek shelter and

food by himself. Surveying the area, he discovers that he is on an island. He
spends his days afterward exploring the island, improving his castle, and
developing skills necessary for self-sufficiency.
On his fifteenth year on the island, Crusoe sees a ship wrecked on his coast
with thirty cannibals heading for shore with their victims. He protects one of the
victims and defeats most of the cannibals onshore. The victim, whom he names
Friday, is extremely grateful and becomes his devoted servant.
One day a boat of European men comes ashore. Crusoe learns from one of
them that he is the captain of a ship whose crew mutiny. Crusoe says he will help
them as long as they promise to take Friday and himself to England for free. The

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agreement is made and after living on the island for twenty eight years, Crusoe
returns to London in June, 1687.
Crusoe later marries and has three children. When his wife dies, he once
more goes to the sea. He revisits his island and finds that the Spaniards are
governing it well and that it has become a prosperous colony.

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SYNOPSIS OF LIFE OF PI
At the beginning of the novel, an anonymous author figure explains that he
travels from his home in Canada to India and meets an elderly man who offers
him a story which he says will make him believe in God. The story is about a boy
named Pi Patel. The author then retells the story using Pi’s point of view.
Pi talks about his life as the youngest son of a zoo-owner. Because of the
political situation in India at that time, his father decides to relocate the family to
Canada. On June 21, 1977, when Pi is sixteen, the family set sail in a cargo ship,
along with a crew and many cages full of zoo creatures. However, in the middle of
the Pacific Ocean, a storm attacks the ship, leaving Pi the only human surviving.
Pi shares a lifeboat with a Royal Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, a
female orang-utan named Orange Juice, a spotted hyena, and a wounded zebra.
The hyena soon feeds on the zebra and kills the orang-utan, but later is eaten by
Richard Parker. Avoiding direct confrontation with the tiger, Pi constructs a raft
using supplies aboard the boat. Reasoning that healthy animals are less dangerous

than the injured or hungry ones, Pi focuses on keeping the tiger alive.
One day, due to poor diet, nutrition, and weakness, Pi goes temporarily
blind. During this state he meets another castaway. The man later boards Pi's boat
but Richard Parker right away kills and devours him. Soon after, the boat pulls up
to an island containing pools of fresh water. However, finding a fruit containing
human teeth, Pi realizes that the island is carnivorous, and that he and Richard
Parker must leave immediately. They head back out to sea, finally washing ashore
on the beach in Mexico after 227 days on the lifeboat. Richard Parker bounds off
into the jungle while the villagers take Pi to a hospital.

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BIOGRAPHY OF DANIEL DEFOE
Daniel Defoe was probably born in St. Giles Cripplegate, London. Both
the date and the place of his birth are uncertain with sources often giving dates of
1659 to 1661.
Although Defoe was a Christian, he decided to enter the world of business
as a general merchant. His great ambitions caused him rarely to be free of debt. In

1684, Defoe married a woman named Mary Tuffley, receiving a dowry of £3,700.
With his recurring debts, their marriage was most likely a difficult one. They had
eight children, six of whom survived.
Defoe's first notable publication was An Essay upon Projects, a series of
proposals for social and economic improvement, published in 1697. His famous
novel Robinson Crusoe was published in 1719. His other works include Memoirs
of a Cavalier (1720), Captain Singleton (1720) and Colonel Jack (1722). Moll
Flanders (1722) and Defoe's final novel Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress (1724)
are examples of the remarkable way in which he seems to inhabit his fictional
characters, not least in that they are women. The latter narrates the moral and
spiritual decline of a high society courtesan.
His account of the Great Plague of London in 1665, A Journal of the
Plague Year, is often read as if it were non-fiction. It is a complex historical novel
published in 1722.
Defoe died on April 26, 1731. He was buried in Bunhill Fields, London,
where his grave can still be visited.

(Daniel Defoe)

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BIOGRAPHY OF YANN MARTEL
Yann Martel was born on June 25, 1963 in Salamanca, Spain, to Canadian
parents. Due to his parents’ working for the Canadian Foreign Service, Martel
travelled a great deal internationally when he grew up. As an adult, he has
travelled the globe, spending time in Iran, Turkey and India.
Martel studied philosophy at Trent University, Ontario, where he began to
write. He started writing full time at the age of 27. His collection of short stories,
The Facts behind the Helsinki Roccamatios, was published in 1993 and won the
Journey Prize in the same year. His debut novel, Self, a story about gender
confusion, was published in 1996.
In an effort to collect his thoughts and refresh his creativity, he took a trip
to India. In Matheran, a section near Bombay, Martel began revisiting an idea he
had not considered in some time. The result was the novel Life of Pi, which
became the smash-hit which Martel had been longing for.
In December 2005 Martel was appointed the scholar-in-residence at the
University of Saskatchewan, during which he researched for and wrote his next
novel, Beatrice and Virgil, which is an allegorical tale about representations of the

Holocaust. The novel was first published in April 2010.
Martel currently lives in Alaska with his wife Alice Kuipers, also an
author, whom he met at a writer’s conference where she was working as a
volunteer.

(Segreto, Yann Martel, Yann Martel, Yann Martel Page, Beatrice and Virgil)

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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study
Being born comes as a free gift. Survival, however, is a price every being
has to pay with determination. Like Mother Teresa said, “Life is a struggle”
(“Mother Teresa Quotes”). As human beings, people struggle every day against
forces they find – either from within themselves, from the society, or the physical
world (Murphy 134) – in order to survive. In spite of hopes, dreams, and optimism

that every human being seems to have, and regardless of age and era, it is a fact
that life is indeed a struggle. In their novels, Robinson Crusoe and Life of Pi, the
authors Daniel Defoe and Yann Martel seem to support this view of life.
Daniel Defoe, often said to be the founder of the English novel (Taormina),
wrote Robinson Crusoe at the beginning of the eighteenth century. In addition to
the significant role of religion that the book offers (Cox), its narrative about a
castaway’s adventure on a lonely island has made the story considered a myth in
Western Culture (“Robinson Crusoe in Hollywood”). The character of the novel
has received the approval from generations of readers and is recognized as “a
literary and cultural icon” ("Robinson Crusoe: Introduction")

for his

demonstration of survival through independence and hard work.

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Three centuries from the writing and publication of what is regarded by

many as the first English novel (“Robinson Crusoe”), a Canadian novelist and
short-story writer Yann Martel wrote Life of Pi, a story which will not only make
its readers believe in God (Martel), but also offer a character who is “meant to be
regarded as an exemplar” (Morra). Pi Patel’s intelligence and courage in
struggling to survive at sea with only animals as companions is praiseworthy. Pi’s
fable-like long journey told in vivid descriptions has proven Martel’s quality as
“one of Canada’s most acclaimed novelists” (Z).
While Robinson Crusoe and Pi Patel are both admirable characters, their
religious views, along with their respectable personalities and the ordeals they
encounter create noticeable differences between the two protagonists. Throughout
the story, both characters clearly show their beliefs in God, each in their own way.
While Crusoe is strongly influenced by Protestant values, Pi’s multi religions
make him view God in a more open-minded way. Whereas Crusoe as a young
man in his early thirties is applauded for his independence and hard work during
his isolation in the island, Yann Martel’s protagonist, a sixteen year old Indian
boy, is praised for his intelligence, courage and ability to adapt throughout his
ordeal at sea. (“Life of Pi - Pi's Physical Journey of Suffering and Pain”).
Apart from those differences between the protagonists and despite the fact
that they are written in two different eras, Robinson Crusoe and Life of Pi convey
the same idea about survival, along with a similar view of life. As Perrine has

mentioned in his book Story and Structure, “view of life” is an aspect from which
the readers may “derive the theme of a story” (Perrine 102). In this thesis, I
analyse the theme of the two novels, using that aspect.

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Theme itself is “[the] underlying meaning of a literary work“ (“Literary
Elements”). Identifying the theme of a novel is important because it allows the
readers to comprehend the author’s purpose in writing the book. Since “the main
character usually illustrates the most important theme” of a novel (“Literary
Elements”), I utilize the protagonist’s characteristics to disclose the themes of
Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and Martel’s Life of Pi.

Statement of the Problem
The problems that I discuss in my thesis are:
1. What are the themes of the two novels?
2. How do the protagonists’ characteristics contribute to the revelation of the
theme of each novel?

Purpose of the Study
With those problems above, the purposes of the study are:
1. To reveal the themes of the two novels.
2. To show how the protagonists’ characteristics contribute to the revelation
of the theme of each novel.

Method of Research
In analysing Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and Martel’s Life of Pi, I use
library research. First, I read the two novels as the primary texts. It is then
followed by searching for references on the authors and the literary works which
will be useful to support the analysis. The research also includes the use of

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Internet sources to help me in finding materials needed. Finally, I draw some
conclusion of what has been discussed.

Organization of the Thesis
This thesis consists of four chapters, preceded by the Preface. Chapter One
is the Introduction, which consists of the Background of the Study, the Statement
of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research, and the
Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two is the analysis of theme of Robinson
Crusoe. Chapter Three is the analysis of theme of Life of Pi. The last chapter,
Chapter Four, is the Conclusion. The thesis ends with the Bibliography and the
Appendixes, which contain the synopsis of the two novels and the biography of
the authors.

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CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION
Robinson Crusoe and Life of Pi are two novels that share the same view of
life: that life is a struggle. Both literary works also convey a comparable idea
about survival and share the same theme that faith helps one survive spiritually,
while one’s characteristics determine one’s survival from the physical dangers one
faces.
Despite the similarities that the two novels share, the protagonists in both
novels demonstrate their survival in exceptionally different ways. The differences
between the protagonists are inseparable from their backgrounds, characteristics
and the ordeals they encounter.
Robinson Crusoe and Pi Patel, the protagonists in the two novels, come
from two very dissimilar backgrounds, which essentially also influence their
views of God and religion. While Crusoe is an older Caucasian man, Pi is a
younger coloured Oriental boy. As a product of the seventeenth-century English
society, Crusoe views God in a way that is influenced by the Protestant values. Pi,
on the contrary, grows up in India in the twentieth century as a zoo-owner’s son.
Pi’s view of God and religion is influenced by an understanding of life as well as
the meaning of freedom that he learns from the zoo. Whereas Crusoe professes a

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single religion, Pi professes multi religions.
These different points of view between the two protagonists evidently
influence their ways of survival. When faced with physical dangers in the nature,
they both have only two choices: either to fight to live or to give up and die. Both
Robinson Crusoe and Pi Patel choose to fight for their lives, owing to the spiritual
comfort that their faith provides. However, having dissimilar religions and views
of God, each protagonist finds spiritual comfort in different ways.
Influenced by the Protestant values, Crusoe views God as either merciful
or resentful and believes that obedience and repentance are values for every
Christian. Therefore, when he disobeys his father, Crusoe believes that God
punishes him by isolating him on a deserted island. On the contrary, when he
repents his sins, Crusoe believes that he is saved. This thought gives him strength
and spiritual comfort so that he recovers from his serious illness on the island and
stays alive.
While Crusoe believes in Protestantism, Pi embraces Hinduism,
Christianity and Islam at the same time. Pi’s practising these three religions
simultaneously leads him to realize that they all share the same foundation; that is,
the belief in a loving higher power. Therefore, while Crusoe views God as either
merciful or resentful, Pi views God simply as a loving mighty figure. Pi believes
that his being alive is an evidence that God loves him and is with him. During his
ordeal, although he suffers great mental anguish, Pi endures with the strength and
comfort that his faith provides.
Another noticeable difference between Robinson Crusoe and Pi Patel is
the ordeals they encounter. While Crusoe is isolated on a deserted island, Pi’s

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survival is tested in the open sea. Besides their different circumstances, Crusoe’s
and Pi’s respectable personalities, as well as their beliefs, also determine their
ways in surviving the physical dangers they face.
Being a cast-away on a deserted island, Crusoe has to work hard to convert
all the natural resources provided by the island into the equipments he needs.
Crusoe’s view on hard work is influenced by the Protestant work ethic he values.
Crusoe believes that God has granted human beings the earth and its contents and
hard work is the way to utilize the natural resources into worldly materials they
can benefit from (“Robinson Crusoe and the Protestant Work Ethic”).
Furthermore, living alone with no companion and nobody else to rely on, Crusoe
is forced to be independent. This trait of his is also influenced by a Protestant
value which emphasizes self-sufficiency. Protestantism believes that man should
rely on himself in meeting his needs (“Protestantism”). As a Protestant, Crusoe
clearly demonstrates his self-sufficiency during his years of isolation. Hard work
and independence are the qualities without which Crusoe will not survive the
physical dangers he faces on the island.
Different from Crusoe who is supplied with abundant natural resources, Pi
has to use his intelligence in utilising the limited sources in the lifeboat. While
Crusoe counts on independence to survive, Pi is given wild animals as
companions, forcing him to practice the knowledge about animals that he learns
from the zoo, as well as adapt himself to their behaviour in order to stay alive.
When faced with numerous horrors in the open sea, Pi’s courage gives him the
will to live. Pi’s intelligence, courage, and ability to adapt are the reasons he
survives his oceanic ordeal.

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Whereas Crusoe’s traits are influenced greatly by the Protestant work ethic,
Pi’s belief system does not actually influence his characteristics. However, the
knowledge about animals that Pi gains from growing up in the zoo evidently helps
him to stay alive. Without that knowledge, Pi will not be able to handle the wild
animals with which he shares the lifeboat. Furthermore, without that knowledge,
Pi will not know how to adapt to the animals’ behaviour. Ultimately, that
knowledge helps Pi to a great extent in surviving his days on the lifeboat.
While both novels initially seem to view life somewhat pessimistically by
presenting the stiffness of life, they in fact demonstrate through their protagonists
that life has always prepared every being before actually confronting them with its
challenges; that everything happens for a reason. Life puts Crusoe in England in
the seventeenth-century to inculcate him with the sense of hard work and
independence for the reason that he will need to practice them later on the
deserted island. The same applies to Pi. Life places Pi as a zoo-owner’s son
because he will need the knowledge he learns there to help him survive during his
days on the lifeboat. Without their being placed in their particular situation, the
protagonists will not survive the challenges that life offers them in their future.
In my opinion, survival is a state where one is secure not only physically,
but also spiritually. Both Robinson Crusoe and Pi Patel survive the physical
dangers because of their traits, while their sanity is the result of their faith. Based
on the analysis above, I conclude that both Robinson Crusoe and Life of Pi
illustrate that faith helps one survive spiritually while one’s characteristics
determine one’s survival from the physical dangers one faces.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

References
Murphy, M. J. Understanding Unseens. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd.
1972.
Perrine, Laurence. Story and Structure. New York: Hartcourt Brace Jovanovich,
Inc. 1974.

Internet Sources
“Beatrice and Virgil.” Canongate Books. 2010. 6 May 2010.

Cox, Sean. “Robinson Crusoe: An Evolution of Political Religion.” EighteenthCentury British Novel. 2009. 22 Aug. 2009.

“Daniel Defoe.” Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2009. 13 May 2009.

Farrington, Kate. “Capitalism and Protestant Dominant.” Whitman College Media.
2010. 7 March 2010.

“Job.” Answers Corporation. 2010. 25 Feb 2010.

“Life of Pi - Pi's Physical Journey of Suffering and Pain.” OPPapers.com. 2009.
23 Aug. 2009.


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“Literary Elements.” Orangeusd.org. Ed. Laura Bokesch. 23 Aug. 2009.

Morra, Linda M. “Re-Visioning Crusoe.” Canadian Literature. 2009. 22 Aug.
2009.

“Mother Teresa Quotes”. QuotesDaddy.com. 2009. 28 Aug. 2009.

“Original Sin.” Answers Corporation. 2010. 25 Feb 2010.

“Protestant Work Ethic.” Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2010. 26 Feb 2010.

“Protestantism.” Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2010. 26 Feb 2010.

“Protestantism.” BELIEVE Religious Information Source web-site. 2007. 6
March 2010.

“Puritan.” Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2009. 22 Aug. 2009.

“Robinson Crusoe.” Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2009. 13 May 2009.

“Robinson Crusoe and the Protestant Work Ethic”. E World Publishing, Inc. 2009.
22 Aug. 2009.


“Robinson Crusoe in Hollywood.” Walter Coppedge Symposium Paper. 2008. 22
Aug. 2009.


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"Robinson Crusoe: Introduction." Novels for Students. Ed. Marie Rose
Napierkowski. Vol. 9. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 21
Aug. 2009.

“Sola Scriptura.” Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2010. 26 Feb 2010.

Segreto, Mike. “Meet the Authors: Yann Martel”. Barnesandnoble.com. 2009. 22
Aug. 2009.

Taormina, Agatha. “Origins of the Novel”. Novels. 2005. 22 Aug. 2009.

“Yann Martel.” Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2009. 13 May 2009.

“Yann Martel” Random House of Canada Limited. 2006. 13 May 2009.

“Yann Martel Page.” Authortrek.com. 2009. 13 May 2009.

Z, Alice. “Yann Martel Writes a Master Piece.” Seton High School. 2009. 22 Aug.
2009.


Primary Text(s):
Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe. London: Penguin Books, Ltd, 1994.
Martel, Yann. Life of Pi. Edinburgh: Canongate Books, Ltd, 2003.

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