Narrator’s Attitudes Toward Slavery in Oroonoko and Robinson Crusoe

Authors

Meghan Gavis, College of the Holy CrossFollow

Abstract

Oroonoko by Aphra Behn and Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe are narrated by speakers encountering enslaved people in South America during English imperialism. The narrators’ respective sentimental and practical voices are manifested through the details of their narratives: Behn’s speaker tends to dwell on romantic points, like Oroonoko’s relationship with his lover, while Crusoe favors pragmatic details, like the quantification of supplies. The narrators’ perspectives color their relationships with enslaved individuals. Behn’s narrator’s relationship with Oroonoko is filtered through her romantic lens, enabling a dynamic and communicative relationship with the Prince that exhibits her sympathy towards his enslavement. In contrast, Crusoe assesses Friday upon his usefulness and ease with which he can assimilate to his “Master’s” preferences, seeking to convert Friday to Christianity and constantly maintaining the native’s inferiority. While Behn’s narrator redeemed Oroonoko from slavery, her sentimentality does not extend to other slaves, revealing that both narrators accept the general practice of slavery with a practical outlook and harbor beliefs of racial hierarchies. Consequently, the narrators’ attitudes toward slavery indicate the limitations of human sympathy and highlight the social hierarchies underlying even the most sentimental perspectives.

Recommended Citation

Gavis, Meghan (2020) "Narrator’s Attitudes Toward Slavery in Oroonoko and Robinson Crusoe," The Criterion: Vol. 2020, Article 7.
Available at: https://crossworks.holycross.edu/criterion/vol2020/iss1/7