英语论文网

, valued by currency, and treated as a commodity.
 In Robinson’s eye, nature was deprived of all fairy qualities and was only endowed with value by man, and the power of nature was also considered hostile to men. Technology was the arm for men to fight against the nature and the tool for men to rebuild the natural world according to their will. The story of Robinson was set in the background of the 18th century Britain where the industrial revolution was in its early stages and natural resources were relatively abundant— thousands of mines remained untouched; vast area of land was left uncultivated; rivers ran into the sea without being made good use of. These served as a solid foundation for Robinson’s optimism for modernity, and Robinson’s concept of life value was soon popular. The early optimism for modernity was based on the promise that the natural resources were abundant and would never run out. When most of the natural resources were taken over by this empire or another, the inner conflicts of modernity broke out on a catastrophic scale.
 3.3 The Exaggeration of the Rational Spirit
 “Western modernity is propagated by the Enlightenment spirit. However, this thought movement, which is under the banner of rationality and originally intended to replace the myth with the knowledge for sobering up the world, yet led to a new myth.” (Zhou Jianzhang, 1996: 72) Rationality, which is held high, becomes a new God to manipulate nature and suppresses personality. In Robinson Crusoe, Robinson’s subjectivity is reflected in self-center, because of the rational superiority he considered himself as the natural owner, even the owner of the Spaniard and Friday he saved. His highest value is to grab wealth as much as he can, so the main measure for him to treat nature is whether the nature can benefit him. After getting a firm foothold on the desert island, he looked at the land and said: “I descended a little on the side of that delicious value, surveying it with a secret kind of pleasure to think that this was all my own, that I was king and lord of all this country indefeasibly and had a right of possession; and if I could convey it, I might have it in inheritance, as completely as any lord of a manor in England.” (Daniel Defoe, 2004: 134)
 3.3.1 Enslaving Friday
 Among the series of successes that he had gained, Friday was the triumph with which Robinson was the most satisfied. On many occasions, Robinson expressed his great satisfaction of his complete control over Friday. He saved him, named him, taught him language, and trained him to be a faithful Christian and a loyal servant. Robinson’s conquest over Friday, along with other interpretations, can serve as an evidence for Defoe’s confidence on rationality. Robinson was quite proud of his might over Friday.
 
 When he espied me, he came running to me, laying himself down again upon the ground, with all the possible signs of an humble, thankful disposition, making a many antic gestures to show it. At last he lays his head flat upon the ground, chose to my foot, and sets my other foot upon his head, as he had done before; and after this, made all the signs to let me know how he would serve me as long as he lived. (Daniel Defoe, 2004: 236)
 
 The description above, which is the part of narrations about Friday, is obedient to Robinson. Robinson, who is boasting himself as a great winner本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。