An analysis of the symbolism of the footprint in Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe.
This paper is an examination of how Daniel DeFoe’s “Robinson Crusoe”, in its entirety, acts as a conversion novel. It discusses how on the surface, it is a timeless story of adventure, the perseverance of man, and the conquering of lands unknown. On another, it more importantly deals with the spiritual transformation of a man from the secular world to that of the divine. It evaluates how the discovery of the footprint and Crusoe’s reaction to it, solidifies his belief in God and therefore completes the spiritual metamorphosis that the novel in its entirety acts to convey.
This concept repeats itself later, after he has been stranded on the island for quite some time. After noticing that grain has began to grow on land that, upon first thought, had not been sowed, he states I began to suggest that God had miraculously caused His grain to grow without any help of seed sown, and that it was so directed purely for my sustenance. That is, that the grain had been miraculously placed there by God for him in order to remain alive. However, his feelings of divine intervention are quite short lived. Upon reflection, he realizes that he had shaken out a bag that likely had corn kernels, and that the planting of the seeds was ultimately his own doing. After he takes notice of this fact, he remarks my religious thankfulness to God’s providence began to abate, too, upon the discovering that all this was nothing but what was common”.”