During a severe bout of tropical fever on the island, Crusoe experiences a terrifying hallucinatory dream that acts as his major spiritual turning point. What happens in this dream?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A man descends from a black cloud in fire, threatening him with a spear for not repenting.
In his illness, Crusoe sees a terrifying figure descending from the sky, declaring that all his past sufferings have not brought him to repentance. This vision fills him with profound moral guilt, prompting him to open a Bible he saved from the wreck and pray for the first time in years. This episode shifts the novel from a pure survival adventure into a puritan spiritual autobiography.
Keep practicing
More Robinson Crusoe questions
- After several years on the island, Crusoe expands his territory and constructs a secondary residence. How does he describe this new inland…
- When Crusoe observes the native cannibals visiting his island, what philosophical dilemma causes him to hesitate before attacking them?
- How does the native character Friday manage to escape from his captors, leading to his historic first encounter with Robinson Crusoe?
- Upon returning to England and Lisbon after his rescue, what economic surprise awaits Crusoe regarding his past business affairs?
- Karl Marx and subsequent Marxist literary critics have famously analyzed Robinson Crusoe's actions on the island as an archetypal illustrat…
- At the beginning of the novel, what specific advice does Robinson Crusoe's father give him regarding his future career and social standing?