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“I have since often observed, how incongruous and irrational the common temper of mankind is, especially of youth ... that they are not ashamed to sin, and yet are ashamed to repent; not ashamed of the action for which they ought justly to be esteemed fools, but are ashamed of the returning, which only can make them be esteemed wise men.”
This passage from Chapter 1 suggests numerous things about the nature of repenting. First, it suggests that each individual has an obligation to repent for their sins. It also admonishes those who refuse to seek repentance, whether out of shame or lack of desire. Finally, the quote suggests that only through repentance can one come to have wisdom, as it is only when one recognizes their wrongdoing and surpasses the shame that comes with repenting can they reach a state of wisdom.
“Redemption from sin is greater than redemption from affliction.”
In this quote, Crusoe suggests that sin is more dangerous and harmful than physical danger, illness, or harm. The quote also suggests that repenting for sin is a more miraculous act of healing than the physical healing of real illness or harm. These religious exaggerations prove Crusoe’s outlook about his predicament. Although he is starving on an island which he shares with dangerous cannibals, Crusoe is more preoccupied with atoning for his past sins than surviving the elements. This condition is due to the guilt he feels about his past.
“...in the course of our lives, the evil which in itself we seek most to shun, and which, when we are fallen into, is the most dreadful to us, is oftentimes the very means or door of our deliverance, by which alone we can be raised again from the affliction we are fallen into.”
With this quote from Chapter 13, Crusoe explains how repentance is an opportunity for prosperity and good fortune and how, without repenting for one’s sins, one can never obtain success. This idea is backed by Crusoe’s own experience. It is only after Crusoe repents for his sins before the shipwreck that he begins to find immense prosperity on the island. Agriculturally, architecturally, and socially, Crusoe’s state of being on the island broaches mediocrity. But after he repents and tightens his closeness with God, his feats of survival begin to ascend fully into fruition.
