Role of Providence in Robinson Crusoe

The novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, is an exemplary tale which is told for the purpose of moral and religious instruction through the “wisdom of Providence” (Defoe 25). Providence, the divine direction, control, guidance and government of G-d, serves to Crusoe as an educator of new life lessons learned on his time on and off of the island. As Crusoe learns from taking a point of view and looking backwards with wisdom, he realizes that Providence becomes a guiding hand that shapes his life.
When Crusoe first sets out to sea, he learns a valid lesson from the powers of Providence, but still finds himself yearning for more exploring and adventuring. As the youngest of three brothers, the eldest being a soldier and the second one having been killed in a battle, Crusoe is expected to inherit very little and as a result, his father, “a wise and grave man” (27), enc...