We all have it, but rarely know what to do about it, and worse, rarely acknowledge it. As humans, we have the ability to come up with some rather creative ways to justify our hypocrisy. In Daniel Defoe's novel, Robinson Crusoe, religion plays a prominent role throughout the story; however, Crusoe, like the majority of individuals, practices selective religious conviction, clinging to actions and moral principals he finds appealing and ignoring those that do not conform to his beliefs. .
Robinson Crusoe is more than a story about a shipwreck, survival and rescue; it is a novel about one man's spiritual journey, a spiritual journey complete with spiritual apathy. Throughout the story, Crusoe's level of spiritual devotion is dependent upon his need. This hypocritical attitude is reflective in his actions. His theological dedication diminishes once he no longer requires assistance or deduces a non-supernatural cause for mysterious events. He lives a life of religious hypocrisy. On Crusoe's very first voyage, God gave him his first test to bring him to repentance. When the seas became rough and stormy, Crusoe said, "I made many vows and resolutions that, if it would please God to spare my life in this one voyage.I would go directly home to my father, and never set [my foot] into a ship again" (Defoe 52). He made a promise to God that if he were to survive the storm he would return home. Crusoe does survive; however, he does not follow through with his word. Instead he decides to get drunk with a friend. Crusoe does acknowledge his apathy by admitting: "In a word, as the Sea was returned to its Smoothness of Surface and settled Calmness by the Abatement of that Storm, so the Hurry of my Thoughts being over, my Fears and Apprehensions of being swallow'd up by the Sea being forgotten, and the Current of my former Desires return'd, I entirely forgot the Vows and Promises .
