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The novel Robinson Crusoe exemplifies colonialism and the mercantile spirit of the English. It tells the story of a young man from the middle classes who, in the true spirit of English exploration and daring, chose to go to sea in search of adventure and riches. The colonialism in the novel is shown again when, at the end of the story, Robinson decides to sell his profitable plantation and move back to the island where he had been shipwrecked to become its governor. It is Robinson’s treatment of Friday, the young native rescued and instructed by him, that really highlights his colonial outlook. When he describes his new companion, he unconsciously makes positive comments about the physical aspects he shares with Europeans and negative comments about the parts of his appearance he considers he shares with ‘barbarous savages’. Robinson’s overt racism tells us what the colonists thought of the indigenous natives – as inferior to themselves. And this can explain the introduction of slavery
