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Robinson Crusoe, “Sudden Joy,” and the Portuguese Captain

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Robinson Crusoe, “Sudden Joy,” and the Portuguese Captain Robinson Crusoe, “Sudden Joy,” and the Portuguese Captain Geoffrey Sill I. WAS !" AS #R! a$ter a shipwre&', Robinson Crusoe %al's distra&tedly about, %ordlessly gi(ing than's to God $or his reprie(e, )a'ing “a *ousand Gestures and +otions %hi&h I &annot des&ribe,” and grie(ously la)enting the loss o$ his &o)rades ,RC 41, n.284). Re&alling the )o)ent sixty years later as he %rites his )e)oirs, Crusoe still 3nds it “i)possible to express to the Li$e %hat the !xtasies and 5ransports o$ the Soul are” %hen a )an is sa(ed out o$ the (ery gra(e. He resorts to quoting a line o$ (erse to &on(ey the &on$usion o$ joy and grie$ that he $elt upon 3nding hi)sel$ sa$e on shore8 “For sudden Joys, like Griefs, confound at first.”i *e line is a talis)an $or a the)e that runs throughout The Life and Strange Surprizing Ad entures of Robinson Crusoe—the po%er o$ joy, and its t%in passion, grie$, to render affe&ted hu)anity spee&hless, e&stati&, e(en senseless. Crusoe experien&es the o(er%hel)ing po%er o$ sudden joy not on&e, but sixteen ti)es in the &ourse o$ the 3rst volu)e o$ his tra(els, and he is surprised by grie$ another t%el(e ti)es.ii Crusoe is a%are that these )o)ents ha(e pro$ound philosophi&al and spiritual signi3&an&e, though he is unable to say %hat it is. Had he been a s&holar, as "aniel "e$oe %as, he )ight ha(e 'no%n that joy and grie$ ,or sorro%1 are the nearly indistinguishable passions in %hi&h, a&&ording to St. *o)as Aquinas, all other passions, and )ost narrati(es, ter)inate (Pot'ay .:;14). *ey differ only in their obje&ts8 joy tends to%ards the good, or union %ith God< grie$ tends to%ards e(il, or separation $ro) God. #$ all the passions, they are the )ost li'ely to apprehend )en and wo)en suddenly, by surprise (+iller 63;4). "igital Defoe: Studies in Defoe & His Contemporaries 10, no. 1 (fall 2018) ISS? .@-0;.0>/ #$ RobinsonAs experien&es o$ “sudden Joy,” the )ost surprising &o)e in the &ourse o$ his en&ounters %ith an unna)ed 3gure %ho) he &alls by su&h euphe)is)s as “)y good old Captain,” “)y old Patron, the Captain,” and “)y old 'ortugal Captain” ,RC 238, 240). Crusoe is pro$oundly affe&ted three ti)es by his en&ounters %ith this Portuguese &aptain, %ho treats hi) li'e a brother despite the national prejudi&es that separate the) and the ad(erse histori&al &ir&u)stan&es in %hi&h they )eet. It is the Portuguese &aptain %ho sa(es Crusoe $ro) being lost at sea in a s)all boat, %ho &arries hi) in $reedo) to BraCil and sets hi) up as a planter, and %ho, at the end o$ the 3rst (olu)e o$ his tra(els, restores his lost %ealth. *e e2traordinary &harity o$ the Portuguese &aptain, %ho is unrelated to Crusoe and see's no return on his goodness, has not been $ully explored by any o$ the &o))entators %ho ha(e noti&ed hi).iii +ost &o))entators see the &aptainAs 'indness )erely as an exa)ple o$ selfless hu)anity that does not require $urther exa)ination, e(en though his goodness is an ano)aly in CrusoeAs 3&tional %orld, %hi&h is populated largely by &ri)inals, pirates, &annibals, )utineers, and renegades. *e &aptainAs inexpli&able goodness and his &entral role in the story are suE&ient reasons to &onsider )ore &losely his pla&e in the history o$ CrusoeAs li$e. II. CrusoeAs 3rst en&ounter %ith the Portuguese &aptain o&&urs soon a$ter his es&ape $ro) the ?orth A$ri&an port o$ SalF, a$ter ha(ing been held in &apti(ity $or t%o years by a 5ur'ish ro(er. A ti)eline o$ the signi3&ant dates in CrusoeAs li$e suggests that the year o$ his es&ape %as 1654.iv In that year, #li(er Cro)%ell di&tated to Hing John II the ter)s o$ a treaty o$ pea&e bet%een !ngland and Portugal, %hi&h ended an “unde&lared %ar” that had begun around 1650.( *e treaty ga(e !nglish )er&hants the right to trade %ith Portuguese &olonies in BraCil, so long as the goods passed through Lisbon in transit. In the ne2t year, 1655, an !nglish fleet under Ad)iral Robert Bla'e $or&ed the Bey o$ Algiers to repatriate the !nglish sla(es in his do)inion, %hi&h %ould ha(e in&luded Crusoe ,?apier 424).(i "e$oe )ay ha(e &hosen .=G- be&ause, prior to that year, !ngland and Portugal %ere still at %ar, and an !nglish)an %ould ha(e been un%el&o)e on board a Portuguese ship; a$ter 1655, it is unli'ely that Crusoe %ould ha(e been held as a sla(e by the Algerian pirates, thus pre&luding his es&ape, his subsequent ad(entures in BraCil, and his &on3ne)ent on a Caribbean island. *e year .=G- %as there$ore the )ost probable ti)e in %hi&h "e$oe &ould $ra)e CrusoeAs $riendly en&ounter with the Portuguese captain. 2 Mig. 1. NCrusoe pic'ed up by the Portuguese Ship.” !ngra(ed by W. J. 4inton. The Life and Strange Surprising Ad entures of Ro!inson Crusoe. 4ondon: Cassell, Petter, & Galpin, 1863. A$ter es&aping $ro) his Algerian “Patron or +aster” ,.01, Crusoe sails south in a s)all boat %ith Jury do%n the &oast o$ A$ri&a. A$ter a (oyage o$ about a )onth, Crusoe rounds Cape Ierde and sees the Atlanti& #&ean be$ore hi), %ith the Cape Ierde Islands about :>> )iles to %ind%ard. Un&ertain about the sa$ety o$ the )ainland on his le$t and unsure i$ he &an rea&h the Islands on his right, Crusoe $a&es the prospe&t o$ sailing on into the South Atlanti&, %ith no land$all until he rea&hes BraCil, /G>> nauti&al )iles distant. In this unhappy predi&a)ent, Jury &ries to hi), “+aster, +aster, a Ship %ith a Sail” (29). All ships at sea at this ti)e had sails, so presu)ably the ship that Jury sees is a &arra&', a square;rigged (essel &apable o$ &rossing the Atlanti&, rather than a cara(el, a coasting vessel with a lateen, or triangular sail ,Boxer, 'ortuguese Sea!orne Empire /L;8, 207).(ii Crusoe dedu&es &orre&tly that a &arra&' sailing %esterly $ro) the &oast o$ Guinea )ust be a Portuguese ship &arrying sla(es. Crusoe is hi)sel$ an es&aped sla(e, though a !uropean, so he 'no%s that there is nothing to pre(ent the &aptain o$ the Portuguese ship $ro) ta'ing hi) prisoner, as %ell as Jury, and selling the) both %hen they arri(e in BraCil, parti&ularly be&ause 3 Crusoe )ust assu)e that !ngland and Portugal are still at %ar. In this “)iserable and al)ost hopeless Condition” (30), Crusoe $a&es either a slo% death at sea or li$e in ser(itude. His despair suddenly &on(erts to “inexpressible Joy” %hen the shipAs &aptain, ha(ing dis&o(ered that he is an !nglish)an, “bad )e &o)e on board, and (ery 'indly too' )e in, and all )y Goods” (29). In gratitude $or being deli(ered $ro) his desperate &ir&u)stan&es, Crusoe offers “all I had to the Captain o$ the ship” (30). *e Portuguese &aptain gra&iously de&lines CrusoeAs offer %ith a spee&h that is an exa)ple o$ Christian &harity, su&h as one %ould expe&t to 3nd in a ser)on rather than on a sla(e ship at sea. *e &aptain pro)ises to treat this !nglish stranger as he %ould hope to be treated hi)sel$ in si)ilar &ir&u)stan&es8 he assures Crusoe that “) ha e sa +d your Life on no other Terms than ) -ould !e glad to !e sa ed my self, and it may one time or ot*er be my Lot to be taken up in the same Condition” (30). *e captainAs spee&h is a plain; spo'en paraphrase o$ the Golden Rule taught by Jesus in the Ser)on on the +ount8 “So %hate(er you %ish that )en %ould do to you, do so to the)< $or this is the la% and the prophets” (+atthe% 7:12). In the Gospel a&&ording to 4u'e, the sa)e ethi&al prin&iple is presented dra)ati&ally. A la%yer &hallenges Jesus to explain the %ay to inherit eternal li$e. Jesus as's the la%yer %hat is %ritten in the la%, and he replies by quoting t%o &o))and)ents o$ +oses8 “Pou shall lo(e the Lord your God %ith all your Heart, and %ith all your soul, and %ith all your strength, and %ith all your )ind< and your neighbor as yoursel$ ” ,4u'e .>8/G;8).(iii When the la%yer as's %ho) he should &onsider his neighbor, Jesus tells hi) the parable o$ the good Sa)aritan8 A )an on his %ay $ro) Jerusale) to Jeri&ho %as atta&'ed by thie(es, %ho %ounded hi) and le$t hi) $or dead.
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