ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that a myth of vocation is embodied in the story of Robinson Crusoe. The progress of the novel depends upon the changes in Crusoe’s working experiences, depends in fact on coming to recognize all significant human activities as forms of work. The quarrel between Crusoe and his father joins the issues of happiness and occupation. Crusoe’s father believes that the “middle state” is guaranteed to provide security and happiness for his son. The passage directs us to the central part of the novel and to the fact that Crusoe must come to love both solitude and labor. Crusoe despises his life; so far he has failed to learn the lessons it had to teach him. The unification of work, faith, and happiness is represented, of course, by the table that Robinson Crusoe builds after he has established a secure place in which to live.
