Cervantes, Defoe, Sterne, Rousseau, & Flaubert

“Unlike the fairy-tale youth who only runs away
the better to be re-integrated into the family circle, even unlike Ulysses,
that paragon of seafarers and no less master of home-comings, Robinson breaks
once and for all with those he has rejected. Having wished to be nobody's
son he becomes in fact completely orphaned, completely alone, the innocent
self-begetter in a kingdom of complete solitude.” Marthe Roberts’s quote rings through Don Quixote and Robinsons Crouse. All the characters and sometimes the author’s themselves rebel against what is expected of them by society.
Following how the different stories unfold, one would have an understanding on how isolation affects an individual. A quick comparison of Cervantes’ Don Quixote and Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe reveals how different individual will act out in situations of isolation. Starting with Robinson Crusoe, the story follows the story of Robinson Crouse, a son who went against his father’s wishes. Robinson is brought up in a relatively well of family, and his father wants him to become a lawyer. For some time, Robinson entertains the idea, but within him, he knew that he wanted to become a seaman. It reaches a point that he, Robinson, cannot ignore his true calling, and he goes out to sea with his friend. The first voyage did not go as well as he had hoped as they almost died during the cruise. Unlike his friend who quits the “dream”, Robinson is convinced he can make a living out of sailing.
The author uses this to illustrate that the pursuit of one dreams should not be stopped by the decisions made by other people. Robinson remains rooted in his beliefs, and this made him as successful as he was. He had an uncanny ability of making the best of his situations; for example, after working in captivity for a while, he is able to escape with a fellow prisoner. Robinson and his companion are pulled from the sea by a Portuguese ship, he being white, he is to sell the slave boy to the captain, and he is taken to