Robinson Crusoe: Motif

I read Robinson Crusoe and the literary feature I'm doing my graphic organizer on is motif(yes
I know in my last blog post I said it was tone but, alas I was mistaken.) The motif is that God controls or influences every major event that happens in the novel. Providence is the glue that binds all the rather improbable scenario together. The author most likely uses motif to try and convey the symbolic message that is the story of Robinson Crusoe, that if you sin and fall from the ways of God you shall be punished. Over and over Crusoe crosses the line of right and wrong and God forgives him, only once is a small penance required before Crusoe is once again excused.

The author, Daniel Defoe, was also a Puritan during the Restoration so obviously anything he wrote would be a little biased toward the omniscience of God. Defoe most likely wanted the novel to have an understandable message about God that would be blatantly obvious to any reader.