SETTING IN DEFOE’S THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES

OF ROBINSON CRUSOE

ADOLF HANS SANADI

NIM 1641121091

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF LETTERS

WARMADEWA UNIVERSITY

DENPASAR

2019
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background and Problem

Literature is one of the branches of art which exists in human life uses

language as its medium. Literature cannot be separated. Literature is an imaginative

expression that can influence on our way of life. Literature also given the readers a

higher pleasure. It can be stated that literature is the one which represent a social

reality, even though the natural word and the inner of subjective world of the

individual have also been abject of literary imitation (Wellek and Warren, 1948:

89).

Art is very important in our life. Its existence is very useful for making our

life harmony, and art cannot be separated from our life. Literature is an art, the

result of creative process. People like to read, enjoy and appreciate it because they

can get a lot of values from it. Literature is a reflection of human life; a criticism

implicitly commenting on the relationship between people, environment and the

creator. It describes how people are involved in conflict and how they find out the

solution. It stimulates out consciousness about our existence as part of the world, of

the environment, and of the society (Wellek and Warren, 19948: 22).
The function of the literature is to relieve us, both writers and readers, from the

pressure of emotion (Wellek and Warren, 1948: 36). Obviously, literature makes

people who write of read it release their emotions.

Furthermore, background of the writer or how the literary work is created

more or less will influence his or her writings. The writer in creating his work has

certain purposes, especially improving his skill ability by describing the ideas or

the reality of the environment in a written form. Or in another way, we can say that

the writer is also a messenger with his own ways and in this case through his

perspective works.

There are many kinds of literary work form, such a short story, drama, poem,

and novel. This paper only analyzed one form of literary works, and is a novel.

Literature has two functions; those are entertaining and educating. Entertaining

means that the literary work can entertain us, for instance the story of drama.

Educating means that the literary work can give us a lot of values of life.

In literary work, there are two things can be analyzed, namely intrinsic and

extrinsic elements. The intrinsic elements concern with the elements that build up

the inner structure of literary work. Those intrinsic elements are plot, character,

setting, point of view, theme and style. While the extrinsic elements cover outside

elements of literary work, for instance historical, social, psychological and

philosophical factors.
 In this paper I would like to analyze one of the intrinsic elements of novel,

that is Defoe’s novel entitled The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1719).

The intrinsic element of this novel which is used to determined is the setting of its

story. Setting is chosen as the topic of this study because setting is a field that I like

compared to the others and also known as one of the important aspects in the story.

But setting and character are two important elements which are as significant as the

other elements. Setting refers to the place, the time, and the system of social life,

which build a natural fictitious work. Setting consist of everything that happens

somewhere at some time. This element of fiction reveals to us where and when the

space in which the events of the plot occur.

1.2 Scope of Discussion

The topic of this paper is still general, therefore, a limitation of the problems relevant

to the topic must be made. To avoid wide discussion, the problems related to the topic

which are discussed are further limited into:

1. What types of setting are found in Daniel Defoe’s Novel?

2. What functions of setting are found in the story?

1.3 Aims
 The aims of this study are divided into three. They are general aim, specific aim, and

academic aim.

1.3.1 General Aim

Generally, the aim of this study is for increasing the understanding of literary work,

especially a novel, and for the enrichment of the literary analysis in the library of

faculty of letters, Warmadewa University.

1.3.2 Specific Aim

Specifically, the aim of this study is to get deepen information about the types of

setting in The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe and the functions of setting in

the story.

1.3.3 Academic Aim

Academically, the aim of this study is to complete one of the requirements in order to

fulfill S1 degree at English Department, Faculty of Letters, Warmadewa University.

1.4 Theoretical Basis

in every process of writing a paper we have to be guided by theory that is

relevant to the topic. The main theory which is used in writing this paper primary

taken from Kenney’s How to Analyze Fiction (1966). Kenney state setting as the

following:
 Everything that happens somewhere at some time that element of fiction that
reveals to us where and when of events we call setting. In other words, the
term “setting” refers to the point in time and space at which the events of the
plot occur (Kenney, 1966:38). Moreover, Kenney also mentions the
functions of setting like setting as metaphor, setting as atmosphere, setting as
dominant element, time as dominant element, place as dominant element,
setting in nonrealistic fiction and setting and the whole story.
Besides, there are also some theories which are taken from many sources to

support the main theory. Further information of those books can be seen in the list of

bibliography.

1.5 Method of Research

In writing a scientific study, applying a certain method is very important. The

method of this study divided into three, they are data source, data collection and

data analysis.

The data was taken from the setting of a novel entitled The Life and Adventures

of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. The novel is published in 1719. It is also

adapted into a movie with name Adventure of Robinson Crusoe in 1954, and was

released in 3D computer animated adventure in 2016.

The method that is used in collecting the data is library research. There were

some steps in the process of collecting the data. Firstly, reading the novel carefully

in order to understand the story and to identify the setting. Secondly, highlighting

the text considered as the setting.

 The data in this study will be analyzed by qualitative method. Qualitative

method involves looking in depth at non-numerical data. It is a research method

used extensively by researchers studying human behavior, opinions, themes and

motivations as well as artifacts. The data have been classified, will be analyzed

based on theory applied.

 CHAPTER II

RELATED STUDIES

Before analyzing the setting of the story of the novel entitled The Life and

Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1719) by Daniel Defoe, the explanation about

literature seems important to be given. It is very important in order to know how the

story is built. Works of literature is a part of the human beings’ cultures formed as a

result of their creativity. Further, the explanations literature is explained in the sub

chapter below.

2.1 The Understanding of Literature

Wellek and Warrren say that literature is a social institution that uses language

as its medium. Such traditional literary devices as symbolism and meter are social in

their very nature. They are conventions and norms which could have arisen only in

society. Literature represents life and life is in large measure a social reality even

though the nature world and the inner or subjective world of the individual have also

been objects of literary imitation (1990:94).

 Kenney says that literature deals ‘with human life. Social literature is only one

kind of literature and it is not central in the theory of literature. Novels depict real life

time in which or when it happens. Novel is decidedly not meant to be read at a single

setting. Because of its length, novel is particularly suited, as a short story is not to

deal with the effect on character of the passage of time (1966:105).

Novel is a picture of real life and manners of the time in which it is written

(Warren and Wellek 1956:2 16). Spore states that literature is language whose

purpose is to communicate. In the same sense that all art-works communicate through

a particular medium someone’s perception of reality or truth. There is a difference

between literature that some call utilitarian and literature that may be called creative.

Creative literature has a different approach than utilitarian literature. The approach

determines the category is a picture composed of line, form, and color is termed ‘art’,

whereas another picture composed of those same characteristics but whose purpose is

merely to provide a visual copy is termed “illustration” (1992:203). Literature is a

phenomenon which contents with the human life and it is expressed in literary work.

It means that the literary work has been produced as a reflection of human life by

using language as its medium. Imagination and aesthetics are the element of

literature. The existence of literature in human civilization cannot be denied; even it

is has been accepted as one of social culture. Kenney explains that the imagination is

organ of man moral nature, and his organ is strengthened by experience of literature.
This, and not communication of doctrines in the form of themes, is the functions of

literature (1996: 102).

Warren and Wellek also state that one way to define ‘literature’ is by

including everything in print. Another way of defining literature is to limit it to ‘great

books. Books which, whatever their subject, are notable for literary form or

expression. Here the criterion is an aesthetic worth in itself or aesthetic worth in

combination with general intellectual distinction.

Within lyric poetry, drama and fiction, the greatest works are selected on

aesthetic grounds; other books are picked for their reputation or intellectual eminence

her with aesthetic value of a narrow kind: styles, composition, general force of

presentation are the usual characteristics singled out. This is a common way of

distinguishing or speaking of literature. Like every human being, each work of

literature has its individual characteristics, but it also shares common properties with

other works of arts, just as every man shares traits with humanity, with all members

of his sex, nation, class, profession, etc (1956: 21).

2.2 Extrinsic and Intrinsic Elements

The story of fiction can be analyzed extrinsically and intrinsically. These two

elements are always used together by a writer in the making of a fictional story. The

extrinsic element of a novel focuses its attention on the external aspect of literary

work. It includes, for example, the author’s biography and history.

 The intrinsic element of literary work concerns the elements that build the

inner structure of literary work. There is plot, theme, character, point of view, setting

and style. The presentations above are further defined and explained as follows:

2.2.1 Theme

Theme is the essential meaning or main concept in a literary work. In literary

fiction, a theme is what the story is about. Theme of a literary work consists of two

parts those are traditional theme and modern theme. Traditional theme is theme that

exists in the old story such as the depiction of advantage which always defeats

prosperity. Further, modern theme is theme we much see in modern stories such as

illustration of individual with a set of problem which conform to the present

condition. According to Kenney, theme is meaning, but is not “hidden”. It is not

illustrated. Theme is the meaning the story releases. It may be the meaning which the

gory discovers. By theme we mean the necessary implication of the whole story, not a

separable part of a story (William Kenney, 1966: 91).

Theme is the meaning of the story. Theme is also can be considered as the base of the

story and the general basic idea of literary work. It can be defined as the main idea of

the story (Kenney, 1966: 88).

2.2.2 Character

As a part of the intrinsic element, character is a must that the fictional writer

uses for the making of the narrative story. Character is one of the most important
aspects in the establishment of the story. Character of the story in a fiction has two

criteria; they are human being and nonhuman being. In other word, the character of

the story can be human being or not human being. In modern period, however, the

story of the fiction uses more the human being as its character then the non-human

being.

According to Reaske (1970: 168), the characters of fiction are as varied and

exciting as their real-life counterparts and many of them enter into the permanent

landscape of our own world. Characters come to life in fiction and those who are

developed with art and humanity often survive to dwell among us as friends, and

sometimes even as an intimate’s friends because character are so different and dwell

in particular worlds. It is dangerous to over generalize about them.

Meanwhile, spore says in developing character, an author has numerous

choices, depending, on his or her purposes (1992: 206). Character may be fully

dimensional and highly individualistic-that is, as complex as the restrictions of the

medium allow. Novels, because of their length and the fact that the reader can go

back to double-check a fact or description, allow much more complex character

development or individuality than do plays, whose important points must be found by

the audience the moment they are presented.

Further, according to Kenney (1966: 27), a character is obviously relevant to

us and to our experience if he is like ourselves or like others whom we know.

Lifelikeness, then, is properly understood as one form of relevance. A character is

relevance if there are a lot of people like him in the real world. It means that the

character is actually a reflection of a figure existing in the real community. In general

character can be classified into two categories, those are Simple (flat) character and

complex (round) character. The simple (flat) character is’ less the representation of

human personality than the embodiment of a single attitude or obsession in a

character. Forster calls this kind of characters flat because we see only one side of

him.

The first function of simple character is simplicity and lifelikeness. Because

human beings are complex, complex characters are more lifelike than simple

characters. The second function is simplicity and imagination. In fiction, the simple

character is not limited to us as a minor character, part of the background against

which the main action is played out (Kenney, 1966: 33).

At the other hand of the spectrum is the complex (round) character. It is called

round by Forster because we see all side of him. The complex character is obviously

more lifelike than the simple because in life people are not simply embodiments of

single attitude. It would be pointless to list examples of complex characters from

fiction (Kenney, 1966: 29).

The first function of complex characters is complexity and relevance.

Complex characters are more lifelike than simple characters and as we have seen
lifelikeness is one form of relevance. No real human being can be adequately

summed up in a formula, as a simple character can. Certainly, no reader of fiction

would be willing to admit that he can be so summed up.

As real human beings, the complex character can surprise us while the simple

character cannot. We may say then that complexity of character tends to produce

lifelikeness in the work of fiction.

The next function of complex characters is complexity and craftsmanship.

There is another basis for the admiration critics often express for the well-drawn

complex character. As an achievement in literary craftsmanship the complex

character is in many ways more difficult than the simple (Meyer, 1966, 30).

2.2.3 Point of View

Point of view is the connection between author and idea and the reader’s

opinions. The point of view explains about who tells in the story. Few topics have

received more attention from serious modern critics of fiction than point of view. One

might even conclude from a study of critical pronouncements on the subject that the

choice of point of view is the most important single choices the writer of fiction

makes (Kenney, 1966, 46-47).

The point of view from which is story told can have great thematic

importance. The use of a limited point of view may be related to a distrust of general

overviews of experience. It may suggest that what we make of information is more

important than the information itself. The omniscient point of view may suggest a

confidence in our ability to arrive at a full understanding of experience (Kenney,

1966: 96).

2.2.4 Style

Style is the verbal lecture of literature, the author’s way of using language. In

short, we mean everything the other does with words, including his way of arranging

words into such larger units as sentence. In the author’s word style and personality, it

is flew called literary style such as metaphor and personification style. According to

Kenney, by style we mean that verbal texture of literature, the author’s way of using

language. In short, we mean everything the author does with word, including his way

of arranging words into such large unit as sentence. For purpose of simplification, we

shall consider this topic under three headings; diction, imagery, and syntax (1966: 60-

61). The relation of style to theme was considered in the chapter on style. Style is the

reflection of the author’s way of perceiving experience and of organizing his

perceptions (Kenney, 1966: 96-97).

2.2.5 Plot

Plot constitutes an important element in fiction because without plot a story

cannot move and change. According to Spore (1992, 206), plot is the structure of the

work. It is more than the story line or the facts of the piece. Plot is also the structure

of the action. It creates unity in the work and thereby helps us to finding meaning.
Besides, plot is the skeleton which determines the ultimate shapes of the piece, once

of the elements of flesh have been added to it. The action of a literary work is

designed to dramatize a fully realized theme, situation, or character.

According to Kenney (1966, 13-14), plot reveals to us not only their temporal,

but also their causal relationship, plot makes us aware of events not merely as

elements in s temporal series but also an intricate pattern of course and effect. By plot

in fiction, then we mean not simply the events recounted in the story but the author’s

arrangement of those events according to their relationship. Kenney also describe

three elements of plot. The first element ate Beginning, in the beginning of the story

is filled by exposition. Exposition is the process by which the writer imports to the

reader information necessary to the understanding of the story. The next element is

Middle. In the middle of the story is filled by complication, conflict and climax.

Complication is the movement from the initial statement of conflict to the climax that

is often referred. Conflict is the movement from the element of instability observed in

the very first paragraph of the story. The climax is reached when the complication

attains its highest point of intensity.

The third elements are the end. The middle of the story is filled by

Denouement. Denouement is the part of the story which explains or unravels what

has been happened up to climax.

2.2.6. Setting
 Setting is everything that happens somewhere at some time. That element of

fiction reveals to us where and when of events (Kenney, 1966: 38). According to

Wellek (1956: 221), setting is environments, especially domestic interior, maybe

viewed as metonymic expression of character. Setting maybe the expression of a

human will. It may, if it is a natural setting be a projection of the will. Again, setting

maybe the massive determinant environment viewed as physical or social causation,

sometimes over which the individual has little individual control.

The setting of fiction presented trough and figurative descriptions, social

attitudes, time, location, etc (Reaske, 1970: 157). Setting is always of an intrinsic

whole and must be understood. Some readers turn to fiction out of a fascination with

character. Certainly, fiction can satisfy such an interest, but an interest in character

divorced from the other elements of fiction is a psychological rather than a literary

interest. Some readers may turn to fiction for what it can tell them of other times and

other places. This is a legitimate interest in itself and one can satisfy that fiction. But

an interest in setting divorced from the other elements of fiction is a historical or

sociological, not a literary, interest.

Another opinion comes from Diyanni (2001: 61), setting is the world ofhe

story. The time and place that occurs as the setting of the story can be made by the

outdoor or the writer. It may be known as imaginary world that made by the author or

it can be real in order to create atmosphere in the certain story. Historical and cultural

background may also appear and it will influence the plot of the story. Stories come
to life, are imagined as occurring in a place, rooted in the soil of a writer’s memories.

This place or location of a story’s action along with the time in which it occurs is its

setting (Diyanni, 2001: 66).

According to Klarer (1999: 25), setting is another aspect traditionally included

in analysis of literary works. There are types of setting like setting of places, setting

of times, and setting of social. The setting of place refers to where the story conducts.

The setting of time refers to when the story runs. The setting of social refers to in

which status character belongs. The terms “setting” denotes the location, historical

period, and social surroundings in which the action of a text develops the terms of

setting are location, historical period, and social.

Kelly Grifith (2002: 45) states that there are four aspects which connected by

setting. Those are the physical, the time in which the action of a literary work takes

place, the social environment of the characters, and atmosphere that can be describes

the effect of setting. By looking at the description, a conclusion can be shown that

setting can’t work alone because it usually appears to reflect other elements of a

literary work. Setting can reflect the mood of character or it can also reveal how the

situation and how the personality of character.

Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms stated that “the overall setting of a

narrative or dramatic work is the general locale, historical time, and social

circumstances in which the action occurs” (1999: 284). Quite similar to Klarer, this
definition categorizes setting into: locale, which is setting of place; historical time,

and social circumstances, which means setting of social environment. The presence of

social circumstances further verifies the existence setting of social environments.

Moreover, Abrams stated that both overall and individual settings are important

elements in generating the atmosphere of literary works (1999: 285). From this

statement, setting may be further categorized into overall and individual setting. By

Abrams’ example, overall setting is the general setting of the literary work. This

includes the historical period and place of action in a broader sense, while individual

setting is the setting of place in a narrower sense. The difference of overall setting

and individual setting is as like comparing a whole nation or city, such as Paris,

Dublin, etc., to a building within said city.

Pickering and Hoeper got a slightly different idea of what setting is. It is

stated in Concise Companion to Literature (1981) that setting is a term that, in its

broadest sense, encompasses both the physical locale that framed the action and the

time of day or year, the climactic conditions, and the historical period during which

the action took place (1981: 37). Unlike Klarer and Abrams, this statement does not

have the social setting in it, but includes what they called “climactic conditions.”

By this definition, setting consists of physical locale, time of day or year,

climactic conditions, and historical period. Physical locale means the physical setting

of the story, which can be included as the setting of place. Time of day or year and

historical period is similar in a sense, the term historical period just encompasses
broader meanings than the time of day of the day or the year. These two are setting of

time in concept. Pickering and Hoeper added that the time of which a given event or

series of events occurs contributes importantly to setting, as well as the place said

event occurs, as in the case of historical novels (1981: 43). Climactic conditions refer

to the elements of setting which is a part of setting of place, but is not a physical

entity. Unlike solid, physical objects like houses or trees, the climactic condition of a

story can only be felt by the characters.

The aforementioned settings may have some function in the overall narrative.

According to Pickering and Hoeper, some settings are unimportant and has little to no

relationship to the characters or the plot. On the other hand, there are settings so

important that those settings are necessary to include in the story and to be

understood by the reader to get the messages and ideas of the author (1981: 37). In

order to understand the purpose and function of setting, the reader needs to pay

attention to the part in the story where the setting is introduced and described,

Pickering and Hoeper added. The greater the setting’s weight and emphasis, the

greater the importance and relevance of said setting to the overall narrative. Back to

the topic of function, Pickering and Hoeper mentioned that setting in fiction is written

to perform a number of desired functions;

“Setting may serve (1) to provide background for the action; (2) as an antagonist; (3)

as a means of creating appropriate atmosphere; (4) as a means of revealing character;

and (5) as a means of reinforcing theme (1981: 38).”

 By this statement, Pickering and Hoeper declared five functions of setting.

The first is setting as the background of the action. A story requires a background or

setting, because nothing could happen nowhere. The setting of a story might be

simple, so simple that it only serves as a spatial and temporal dimension of action. On

the other hand, setting could be so delicately written and specific that the story could

not happen if it were to happen in a different place and time. When speaking of

setting as a background, we are thinking of a setting that exists for its own sake,

without any clear relationship to the characters or the action, and its sole purpose is

just to be a background for action.

The second function of setting is as an antagonist. Antagonist, according to

Baldick, is the most prominent of the characters who opposes the protagonist or hero

in a narrative work (2001: 12). Antagonist is a character in a story who sole purpose

is to frustrate or get in the way of the protagonist. By applying the logic of antagonist

into setting, the second function of setting, setting as an antagonist, means the setting

would be the wall which would stand in front of the protagonist, blocking their path.

In this case, the setting become quite important to the story, because it would help to

establish conflict in plot and determine the outcome of events in the story.

On to the next one, setting could function as a means of creating atmosphere.

Quite similar to Kenney’s idea of atmosphere, Pickering and Hoeper described how

many authors manipulated their settings as a means of arousing reader’s expectations

and established an appropriate state if mind for events to come (1981: 40). By this,
we know the author deliberately altered the setting of their work in order to create a

form of expectation from the reader. In other words, the author set the settings to

make some sort of feelings of premonition from the reader. By feeling the atmosphere

of the work, the reader may feel as if they are directly participating in the story and

feels what the characters feels. The presence of atmosphere created by the setting also

helps set the mood of the story and in turn make the story feels real and lifelike.

The fourth function, setting as a means of revealing character, helps the reader

understand more about the characters of a story by observing how a character

perceives and reacts to various settings. Setting with this function would tell the

reader more of the character than the actual setting itself (1981: 41). Other than

revealing characters by observing their response and by how they perceive the setting,

the author could make the setting a metaphoric or symbolic extension of the

characters. The setting could be a perfect representation of the character in it. This

way, the setting helps the reader understand more of the character.

On to the next and the last function, settings as a means of reinforcing theme.

Pickering and Hoeper mentioned that setting could be used as a means of reinforcing

and clarifying the theme of a story (1981: 42). The author could write the setting and

has it function as a way to tell the reader of the author’s idea and vision of the work.

Other than the function of setting, Pickering and Hoeper also provided four

important questions in analyzing setting: First, determine the work’s setting in space
and time; second, observe the setting and see if the author wants the reader to see the

setting, feel the setting, or a combination of both and examine what detail of setting

does the author isolate and describe; third, ask yourself whether the setting is

important to the story. If so, determine the function of the setting in the work; and

fourth, analyze whether the setting is appropriate to the story in general.

CHAPTER III

ANALYSIS

This chapter is served to present the analysis of the setting in The Life and

Adventure of Robinson Crusoe. First, the synopsis of The Life and Adventure of

Robinson Crusoe is given in order to illustrate a brief story of the data itself. Second,

the biography of Daniel Defoe as the author of The Life and Adventure of Robinson

Crusoe is also presented in order to know more about the background that triggers

the story to be created. Next, it is followed by the analysis of setting in The Life and

Adventure of Robinson Crusoe.

3.1 Synopsis

A man struggles to survive after being shipwrecked on a deserted island.

Robinson Crusoe cannot overcome his great desire to cross the seas in search of

adventure, and his parents are much distressed. One day he goes to them and begs to
be allowed to ship aboard some vessel, but both his father and mother lecture him

and appeal to him and he gives his promise to give up the idea. His desire proves too

great for him to keep this promise, and one day he runs away to sea. He has qualms

of consciousness as he gazes upon the receding shores and suffers other qualms of a

physical nature very soon afterwards. The good ship arrives in the South Seas. A

terrible storm arises and the vessel is soon a total wreck, and Robinson is the sole

survivor. He reaches shore more dead than alive, and offers up thanks to God for his

deliverance. That night, in mortal fear of wild beasts, Crusoe sleeps in a tree. The

following morning Robinson sets to work to provision himself and swims to the

wreck. He makes many trips and secures supplies and provisions, but what pleases

him even more, is in securing a cat and a dog. Later Robinson builds himself a well-

stocked and barricaded home and finds solace in hard work. The years pass and

Robinson adds to his friends in the form of goats, parrots and other animals, and he

repairs daily to his lookout platform in the hopes of seeing a friendly sail. One day,

while making the rounds of his island, he comes across footprints, which strikes

terror to his soul and later he sees, through his telescope, the arrival of some canoes

containing cannibals. He hurries to the shore and is in time to kill several cannibals,

who are pursuing one man who has escaped, and who has been destined for a meal.

The cannibals, terrified at the noise, and at seeing their companions fall without

being struck, hurry away in their canoes and Robinson make friends with his man

Friday. For two years Friday is Robinson's constant friend and learns to talk his

language. Again the cannibals visit the island and this time Robinson and Friday are
enabled to rescue a Spanish cast-away sailor and an old Indian, who proves to be

Friday's father. Together they make a happy family and Robinson almost forgets his

long days of loneliness. Their peace of mind is broken by the arrival of a small boat

from the ship of Captain Hardy, who is rowed ashore, together with his beautiful

daughter and bound and left on the rocks. Those members of the mutinous crew who

have accompanied Capt. Hardy and his daughter are attacked by Robinson Crusoe

and his Trusty Three. That night, while the mate and his companions are throwing

dice in the cabin they are suddenly attacked by Robinson Crusoe and his

companions, and after a terrific battle, both in the cabin, and later on deck, the crew

are defeated. Many of them are only too glad to get away from their murderous

companions and enlist under Robinson Crusoe's command. The others are placed

upon the island and left there. Robinson Crusoe and his companions embark on the

ship. They are attacked by cannibals, who are repulsed, but in the fight poor Friday

is killed by an arrow and is burled at sea, mourned by his father and Robinson

Crusoe. On the long voyage back to Crusoe's motherland, his acquaintanceship with

the captain's daughter ripens into love. He returns to his native town, where he is

received with great rejoicing, and married to the captain's daughter. Robinson

Crusoe and his wife live to a ripe old age and he never tires of the circle of children

who surround him, clamoring for a recital of his stirring adventures.

3.2 Biography of Daniel Defoe

 Defoe was born in London in 1660 to a family of Presbyterian Dissenters,

and educated at a dissenting academy in Newington Green. He became a merchant,

dealing in different commodities including hosiery. In 1684 he married Mary

Tuffley (1665–1732); six of their eight children lived into adulthood.

After expanding into the import-export business for goods such as tobacco and

alcohol, Defoe made some unwise investments and in 1692 declared bankruptcy. He

was twice briefly imprisoned for his debts, negotiating his freedom with the aid of

recognizant (guarantors) and becoming an accountant and investment advisor to the

government and private business owners.

During this time, he began writing political pamphlets and, later, poetry,

such as The Pacificator (1700), a satirical comment on the literary criticism of the

age. The True-Born Englishman (1701) defends King William III, who was Dutch,

against xenophobia with the reminder that there was no such thing as a purely

English person: ‘from a mixture of all kinds began / that heterogeneous thing, an

Englishman’.

Throughout his lifetime Defoe was a vocal supporter of freedom of religion

and the press. He played an important part in the ‘occasional conformity’ conflict in

England in the late 1690s and early 1700s; this called attention to Dissenters’

occasional participation in ceremonies of the official Church of England, which they

did so that they would still be eligible for office. Defoe’s pamphlet An Enquiry into
Occasional Conformity (1698) was followed by the satirical Shortest Way with the

Dissenters (1703), which led to his arrest for seditious libel in May 1703. He was in

New gate Prison for six months and pilloried three times. Though he went on to a

successful career as a journalist and novelist, he was never entirely free of the

stigma of sedition and imprisonment.

In 1704 Defoe founded The Review, a periodical discussing international

and domestic politics. This brought him to the attention of the government, for

whom he became a secret agent working for peace with France and towards union

with Scotland, where he lived on and off until 1712.

Scholar Maximillian Novak calls the years 1715–24 ‘the great creative

period’ of Defoe’s life. Now in his fifties and sixties, Defoe wrote a wide variety of

fiction, bringing verisimilitude and dramatic realism to the traditional genre of the

domestic conduct book, and producing the novels for which he is now most famous:

Robinson Crusoe (1719), Moll Flanders (1722) and Roxana (1724) – the last two

being notable for their morally ambiguous female heroines. In his later years he

turned his attention once more to ‘state of the nation’ writings about British trade

and foreign policy.

Before his death in April 1731, Defoe was plagued by debts and restlessly moved

between several different lodgings. He is buried in Bunhill Fields, the cemetery for

Nonconformists.
3.3 Kinds of Setting

Setting is everything that happens somewhere at some time. In other words,

the terms of setting refer to the point in time and space at which the event of the plot

occurs (Kenney, 1966: 38). In this chapter, the writer would like to analyze the

setting of the novel entitled “The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe” by

Daniel Defoe. As it is stated in the second chapter, the setting can be categorized

into two types of setting according to their function; they are physical setting and

psychological setting.

Further, the elements of the setting of the story involve three kinds, among

those: place setting, time setting and setting of condition. Both of the setting and the

setting of condition, can have physical and psychological functions. The two

functions of each setting element are usually recited in the work of literature,

including in Defoe’s “The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe”. The aim of the

narration of the functions of the setting elements is to make the world of the

imaginative story, real and believable to its readers, or hearers. Further, the setting

elements of Defoe’s novel entitled “The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe” is

examined all together with its function below.

3.2.1 Place of Setting

 Place setting is related to the place where the action takes places. It will

influence the characteristic of the character. It is as important as time setting and

setting of condition. Place setting will make the story logical and alive.

Place is the setting which is closely related to the place, the place can be the

name of the country, a city or building such as England, London, York city, Sallee,

house school.

The author of the story usually gives a name to the place in relation to the

geographical location. The novel The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by

Daniel Defoe, is set in some place. It starts in London England, such as Yorks, and

Sallee. For more specific location such as: sea, at the ship, deserted island, a small

hilly island and many more.

The first setting place of the story of the main character named Robinson

was in the North Yorkshire city of York where Crusoe was born in 1632. Against

the wishes of his family he decides to go to sea, but on his first voyage his ship is

caught in a storm off the coast of the English seaside town of Yarmouth, is shown in

the novel in the quotation below:

My father, who was very ancient, had given me a competent share of

learning, as far as house-education and a country free school generally go,
and design me for the law; but I would be satisfied with nothing but going to
sea; and my inclination to this led me so strongly against the will, nay, the
commands of my father, and against all the entreaties and persuasions of my
mother and other friends, that there seemed to be something fatal in
propensity of nature, tending directly to the life of misery which was to
befall me. (Defoe, 1994: 6)
 The quotation above tells us about the main character is in home. Physically

home in yorks. In this quotation, the character very against the wishes of his father

who told him to stay at home and still follow his desire to go to the sea.

The next setting of the main character in story was in Hull, the place where

he always went casually. The quotation showing the setting place of the main

character’s that is shown below:

But being one day at Hull, where I went casually, and without any purpose of
making an elopement at that time; but, I say, being there, and one of my
companions being about to sail to London in his father’s ship, and prompting
me to go with them with the common allurement of seafaring men, that it
should cost me nothing for my passage. (Defoe, 1994: 11)
Referring to the quotation above, it gives the information that setting of

places happened in Hull. It can be seen when he frequently expostulated with his

father and mother about their being so positively determined against what they knew

about his inclinations prompted him to go to sea.

The following setting place of the main character in the story was in the ship.

It can be seen through the quotation below:

But leaving them to hear of it as they might, without asking God’s blessing
or my father’s, without any consideration of circumstances or consequences,
and in an ill hour, God knows, on the 1 st of September 1651, I went on board
a ship bound for London. (Defoe, 1994: 11)
From the quotation above it gives information where the next place of setting

happens. The event on failure is not affect Robinson Crusoe to go to sea for

adventure. He begins to leave Hull and he is ready to sail going to London.

 The fourth setting took place at sea, is shown in the novel in the quotation

below:

“The ship was no sooner out of the Humber than the wind began to blow and
the sea to rise in a most frightful manner; and, as I had never been at sea
before, I was most inexpressibly sick in body and terrified in mind”. (Defoe,
1994: 12)
The quotation above tells us how the main character Crusoe felt so fearful

with his first time at the sea. As he had never been at sea before, he was most

inexpressibly sick in his body and terrified in his mind.

The fifth setting of place was in Yarmouth Roads. After some day at sea, Robinson

and the crew of the ship came into Yarmouth Roads. The situation can be seen

through the quotation below:

The six day of our being at sea we came into Yarmouth Road; the wind
having been contrary and the weather calm, we had made but little way since
the storm. Here we were obliged to come to an anchor, and here we lay, the
wind continuing contrary--viz. at south-west—for seven or eight days,
during which time a great many ships from Newcastle came into the same
roads, as the common harbour where the ships might wait for a wind for the
river. (Defoe, 1994: 14)
From the quotation above, it gives the information when Crusoe with the

crew of the ship arrived at some place named Yarmouth Roads. There, they were

obligated to come to an anchor, and there they must lay and waiting for the wind to

follow the river.

 The sixth setting of place occurred at high seas. This can be seen when there

is a very terrible storm in the middle of the sea and everyone on the boat is very

scared. This situation can be seen in the quotation below:

In the middle of the night, and under all the rest of our distresses, one of the
men that had been down to see cried out we had sprung a leak; another said
there was four feet water in the hold. Then all the hands were called to the
pump. (Defoe, 1994: 17)

From the quotation above, it gives the information that the ship they were

using had a leak, and there’s other men said there was four feet water in the hold.

This led to all of them being asked to pump the water out, even they try again and

again to pump the water out of the ship, but the water increasing in the hold, it was

apparent that the ship would founder; and though the storm began to abate a little,

yet it was not possible for them to could swim till they might run into nearest port.

The seventh place of setting happened at sea, where their ship making her

course towards the Canary Islands, or rather between those islands and the African

shore. This situation can be seen in the quotation below:

The first was this: our ship making her course towards the Canary Islands
and the African shore, was surprised in the grey of the morning by a Turkish
rover of Sallee, who gave chase to us with all the sail she could make. We
crowded also as much canvas as our yards would spread, or our masts carry,
to get clear; but finding the pirates gained upon us, and would certainly come
up with us in a few ours, we prepared to fight; our ship having twelve guns,
and the rogue eighteen. (Defoe, 1994: 27)
 The quotation above tells us when Crusoe with all the crew of the ship was

surprised in the grey of the morning by Turkish pirates of Sallee, they were chased

while sailing to the Canary Islands. At about three in the afternoon the Turkish

pirate ship caught up with them. They brought eight of their guns to bear on that

side, and poured in a broadside upon the pirates, which made them sheer of again.

The pirates prepared to attack them again, and they to defend themselves. They plied

the pirate with small shot, half-pikes, powder-chests, and such like, and cleared their

deck of the pirate twice. However, to cut short this melancholy part of their story,

their ship being disabled, and three of their men was killed and eight wounded they

were obliged to yield, and were carried all prisoner into Sallee, a port belonging to

the Moors.

The eighth place of setting happened at sea. Where Crusoe with one of the

slaves that follow him for fishing had fished some time and caught nothing. The

next situation after that can be seen through the quotation below:

When, giving the boy the helm, I stepped forward to where the moor was,
and making as if I stopped for something behind him, I took him by surprise
with my arms under his waist, and tossed him clear overboard into the sea.
He rose immediately, for he swam like a cork, and called to me begged to be
taken in, told me he would go all over the world with me. (Defoe, 1994: 33)

The quotation above tells us when Crusoe who desperately wanted to escape

from the slavery he was in, pushed a slave out to sea. Even though the slave had

asked many times to be put on the boat, Crusoe still did not act on his desire and let

him stay in the water.

 The ninth place of setting happened in the mouth of a little river. on his way

to escape, and because he was so afraid of the moors, and the dreadful apprehensions

he had of falling into their hands, that he would not stop, or go on shore, or come to

an anchor; the wind continuing fair till he had sailed in that manner five days. So, he

ventured to make the coast, and came to an anchor in the mouth of a little river. This

situation can be seen in the quotation below:

The wind continuing fair till I had sailed in that manner five days; and then
the wind shifting to the southward, I concluded also that if any of our vessels
were in chase of me, they also would now give over; so I ventured to make to
the coast, and came to an anchor in the mouth of a little river. (Defoe, 1994:
35)

The quotation above tells us when Crusoe on his way to escape, ventured to

make a coast and came to an anchor, because the first things he wanted is fresh water.

They came into a little river in the evening, and resolving to swim on shore as soon as

it was dark and discover the country.

The next place of setting happened on shore. On their voyage to Cape De

Verde, they saw people stand upon the shore to look at them, they were quite black

and naked. The situation can be seen in the quotation below:

And in two or three places, as we sailed by, we saw people stand upon the
shore to look at us; we could also perceive they were quite black and naked. I
was once inclined to have gone on shore to them; but Xury was my better
counselor, and said to me, “no go, no go”. However, I hauled in nearer the
shore that I might talk to them. (Defoe, 1994: 43)

From the quotation above, it gives information when Crusoe with Xury was

on their voyage to Cape De Verde they saw people stand upon the shore and look at
them, the people that they saw were quite black and naked. Crusoe want to go and

met with them but Xury forbids him. However, he hauled in nearer the shore that he

might talk to them. He made sign to them if they were looking for something to eat,

they beckoned to him to stop his boat and they would fetch him some meat.

The story moved into Bay de Todos los Santos, or All Saints’ Bay. after

sailing for several days, they finally found a ship that was willing to help them.

Long story short, they continued their journey and arrived in Brazil. The situation

can be seen in the quotation below:

We had a very good voyage to the Brazils, and I arrived in the Bay de Todos
los Santos, or All Saints’ Bay, in about twenty-two days after. And now I
was once more delivered from the most miserable of all conditions of life;
and what to do next with myself I was to consider. (Defoe, 1994: 49)
The quotation above tells us when Crusoe arrived in Brazil, after escape out

of slavery from the Moors at Sallee. The good treatment from the Portuguese captain

who had saved him really made him feel very indebted. He would take nothing of

him for his passage, gave him twenty ducats for the Leopard’s skin, and forty for the

Lion’s skin which he had in his boat, and caused everything he had in the ship to be

punctually delivered to him and what he was willing to sell he bought of him, such

as the case of bottles, two of his guns, and a piece of the lamp of beeswax-for he had

made candles of the rest.

The next place of setting happened in the ship. After lived almost four years in

Brazils, and beginning to thrive and prosper very well upon his plantation, he decided
to go and sail again to the sea. On the way to the guinea, the ship was hit by a very

violent storm which caused the ship to be buried in the sand and unable to sail

anymore. He was the only one who survived the raging storm and was stranded on an

empty island. Because the ship is still afloat and has not sunk, he wished himself on

board, that at least he might save some necessary things to use. He resolved to get to

the ship. But when he arrived at the ship, he found some troubled, it can be seen from

the quotation below:

But when I came to the ship my difficulty was still greater to know how to get
on board; for, as she lay aground, and high out of the water, there was nothing
within my reach to lay hold of. I swam round her twice, and the second time I
spied a small piece of rope, which I wondered I did not see at first, hung down
by the fore-chains so low, as that with great difficulty I got hold of it, and by
the help of that rope I got up into the forecastle of the ship. (Defoe, 1994: 70)

From the quotation above, it gives information that the ship they were using

was hit by a storm and sank in the sand. Crusoe was the only man who survived the

storm, he swam and made it to the mainland of an island. Having nothing to eat or

anything to use except a knife, a tobacco pipe, and a bit of tobacco in a box, he

intended to swim back to the ship and get something that might be eaten or used. but

when he got to the ship, he had a problem that he could not get on the ship, because

it was high above the water. So, he swam round the ship twice, and the second time

he spied a small piece of rope, which he wondered he did not see at first, hung down

by the fore-chains so low as that with great difficulty he got hold of it, and by the

help of that rope, he got up into the forecastle of the ship.

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kenney, William. 1996. How to Analyze Fiction. New York: Monarch Press.
Klarer, M. 1999. An Introduction to Literary Studies (third ed). Clays Ltd, London.

Wellek, Rene. & Austin Warren. 1956.Theory of Literature. New York: Harcourt,
Brace & World, Inc.

Julie. 2012. Robinson Crusoe Available from:

http://www.globalgreyebooks.com/robinson-crusoe-ebook.html. October, 10 2019.

Nick & Olivia. 1999. Robinson Crusoe. Available from:

https://www.gradesaver.com/robinson-crusoe/study-guide/summary. Accessed:
October, 11 2019.

https://summarystory.com/robinson-crusoe/robinson-crusoe-short-summary/
https://www.bl.uk/people/daniel-defoe