The foot print is the most exciting part in the book for me. When he first see's the foot print he is relieved that humans do exist where he is. What ponders in my mind is how he goes into panic. Crusoe takes this event in such a negative way. If that was me i would be so relieved to see that another human being was in the same position as me. I dont understand why he thinks that the devil is behind this trick. This makes me think that he is afraid to return to human society. This does not make any sense because he has confessed before that he misses the human society. I guess when you go through all the changes and life making choices you just get crazy after a certain point. He has the attitude like the whole world is out to get him.
Crusoe never thinks for one second that this person can be someone to rescue him. He becomes so afraid that he wants to secude him self from everything. He has to live in fear and I guess everyone can relate to that. This is really hard for him because when you keep changing your lifestyle its hard to go back to the way life was from the start. Even for us today when we have had one lifestyle and have to change to another its hard. I feel like we can all relate to him. I guess in the begining i thought differently.
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I completely agree. When I first read the part about the footstep I was wondering why Crusoe was so scared, I was thinking to myself great he'll finally have a companion, what he always wanted. But then when I thought about it I kind of realized his train of thought, although I do think he was rather pessimistic. I guess he assumed that if people like himself were to come on the island he would realize because he would see a large ship. In his mind, that's the only way a non-threating person could come on the island. Since there is no ship, the only possibility was that the footprint was from a native or from the devil (since he never saw natives on the island.)
There is no question in my mind the footprint is the most psychologically exciting part of the book. As we discussed in class, this event widens Crusoe's view back into a more worldly perspective. He has been isolated on a small island for approximately 25 years with the closet thing to human contact being his parrot. Then, all of a sudden one day he sees a single footprint sitting in the sand. If that isn't frightening, I don't know what is.
The pure ambiguity of the footprint is what makes it such a scary prospect. Have natives been living on this island the entire time? Is it the devil? Is Robinson in danger? There is no known answer for Crusoe when he first sees the print. People are afraid of the unknown. It's a fact. The unknown can allow the most paranoid parts of the mind to run wild and that is what happens to Crusoe. Suddenly, a rock could be a human out to get him. It's like watching a scary movie at home by yourself in the dark. Every squeak and crack starts to sound like the footsteps of the boogie man.
The footprint also helped to humanize Robinson. It made him more accessible. Everyone has had the paranoid experience he has when he sees the footprint (at least I have). Crusoe is not the most thoughtful or caring character, but this event allows the reader to dive deeply into the depths of his mind. It realizes the ultimate achievement of making Robinson a true three dimensional character; not a stereotype or cliche, he is a human being.
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