How Robinson Crusoe drew on Psalms
A documented line of influence: Daniel Defoe demonstrably engaged David’s work. The commentary below is Gröblé’s, verbatim from each work’s page.
The source
Psalms
David · c. 500 BCE
BibleThe influenced
Robinson Crusoe
Daniel Defoe · 1719
EnlightenmentRelevance
6/10
On Robinson Crusoe’s page
- Crusoe's conversion is the Psalms breaking into the story
- At his lowest, Defoe has him open the Bible to Psalm 50:15 — "Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver" — the "powerful words" that turn a survival tale into a spiritual one (Psalm 27:14 follows)
- That single verse earned the nickname "Robinson Crusoe's Psalm"
On Psalms’s page
- The line that converts a castaway
- Defoe hangs Crusoe's entire spiritual turn on one quoted verse — Psalm 50:15, "Call upon me in the day of trouble" — opened at random from a salvaged Bible
- The Psalms reframe the whole novel: shipwreck and survival seen suddenly in the light of Providence