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Visualizing Crusoe

Evil and Good List

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"Evil" and "Good" List Shipwrecked upon the island and distressed about his situation, Crusoe decides to make a list to weigh both the misfortunes and blessings of his condition. He writes:

I now began to consider seriously my condition, and the circumstances I was reduced to; and I drew up the state of my affairs in writing, not so much to leave them to any that were to come after me—for I was likely to have but few heirs—as to deliver my thoughts from daily poring over them, and afflicting my mind; and as my reason began now to master my despondency, I began to comfort myself as well as I could, and to set the good against the evil, that I might have something to distinguish my case from worse; and I stated very impartially, like debtor and creditor, the comforts I enjoyed against the miseries I suffered, thus:—

Upon the whole, here was an undoubted testimony that there was scarce any condition in the world so miserable but there was something negative or something positive to be thankful for in it; and let this stand as a direction from the experience of the most miserable of all conditions in this world: that we may always find in it something to comfort ourselves from, and to set, in the description of good and evil, on the credit side of the account.
The listing exercise—reminiscent of a modern "pro and con" list—ultimately leads Crusoe to consider what he has to be thankful for, even in his unfortunate circumstances. Creating the list is a therapeutic and cathartic exercise that puts his mental anguish to paper, alleviates some of his distress, shifts his perspective, and allows him to move forward in creating a habitation as comfortable as his circumstances allow. After he makes the list, he takes stock of his possessions, builds a table and a chair, and begins a journal of his daily experiences.

The first edition of the text (1719) depicts the "evil" and "good" reflections as a list proper:

Some digitized and later print versions of the text, however, render the list into a table format. Depending upon the edition, the "evil and good" reflections has been visualized as a list, table, and/or ledger. The Project Gutenberg digitized edition of the text, for example, visualizes the list as a table:

What changes—if anything—when Crusoe's "evil and good" reflections are visualized as a list, table, or ledger? As shown above in the 1719 edition of Robinson Crusoe, earlier editions of the text render the "evil and good" graphic as a list. In list format, Crusoe's reflections resemble the journal that he later creates to keep track of his experiences and are an artifact of Crusoe's mental listing exercise. The "evil" and "good" observations in list format make the two sides of the list appear as two sides of the same coin—two perspectives and approaches to the same problem that cannot be separated or considered in isolation. In table format, the "evil" and "good" points are not combinatoric (that is, the information presented cannot be read in another other way other than the one in which it is presented), and the table rows and columns emphasize the stark distinctions between the "evil" and "good" sides of the list, making each side appear as complete opposite positions. Rendering the list into a table format is more common in digital editions, which may be influenced by the table data structure and standards for text encoding.
Illustrations of Robinson Crusoe
Since the first publication of Robinson Crusoe, many engravings and illustrations have been created of Robinson Crusoe as a character. These images—particularly of Crusoe's appearance while living on the island—have been adapted in various iterations since the frontispiece and engravings included in the 1719 edition of the novel. Crusoe describes his garments (and lack thereof) while upon the island during several moments of the text. Soon after landing on the island, Crusoe focuses on his lack of clothing:
After I had solaced my mind with the comfortable part of my condition, I began to look round me, to see what kind of place I was in, and what was next to be done; and I soon found my comforts abate, and that, in a word, I had a dreadful deliverance; for I was wet, had no clothes to shift me, nor anything either to eat or drink to comfort me; neither did I see any prospect before me but that of perishing with hunger or being devoured by wild beasts; and that which was particularly afflicting to me was, that I had no weapon, either to hunt and kill any creature for my sustenance, or to defend myself against any other creature that might desire to kill me for theirs. In a word, I had nothing about me but a knife, a tobacco-pipe, and a little tobacco in a box.
This forced tears to my eyes again; but as there was little relief in that, I resolved, if possible, to get to the ship; so I pulled off my clothes—for the weather was hot to extremity—and took the water.

He also describes his linen breeches and stockings when he swims to the boat to collect provisions:
While I was doing this, I found the tide begin to flow, though very calm; and I had the mortification to see my coat, shirt, and waistcoat, which I had left on the shore, upon the sand, swim away. As for my breeches, which were only linen, and open-kneed, I swam on board in them and my stockings. However, this set me on rummaging for clothes, of which I found enough, but took no more than I wanted for present use, for I had others things which my eye was more upon—as, first, tools to work with on shore.
Though Crusoe originally attends to his lack of clothing as a symbol of scarcity in his early life on the island—which is part of his larger scarcity mindset when we first steps foot upon the island—he begins to reevaluate this perspective when he draws up his "evil and good list" list, in which he lists on the evil side, "I have no clothes to cover me," and on the good side, "But I am in a hot climate, where, if I had clothes, I could hardly wear them."

As time goes on, Crusoe details the decay, degradation, and dwindling of his supplies and stores, including his ink, biscuit, and clothing. He states:
My clothes, too, began to decay; as to linen, I had had none a good while, except some chequered shirts which I found in the chests of the other seamen, and which I carefully preserved; because many times I could bear no other clothes on but a shirt; and it was a very great help to me that I had, among all the men’s clothes of the ship, almost three dozen of shirts. There were also, indeed, several thick watch-coats of the seamen’s which were left, but they were too hot to wear; and though it is true that the weather was so violently hot that there was no need of clothes, yet I could not go quite naked—no, though I had been inclined to it, which I was not—nor could I abide the thought of it, though I was alone. The reason why I could not go naked was, I could not bear the heat of the sun so well when quite naked as with some clothes on; nay, the very heat frequently blistered my skin: whereas, with a shirt on, the air itself made some motion, and whistling under the shirt, was twofold cooler than without it. No more could I ever bring myself to go out in the heat of the sun without a cap or a hat; the heat of the sun, beating with such violence as it does in that place, would give me the headache presently, by darting so directly on my head, without a cap or hat on, so that I could not bear it; whereas, if I put on my hat it would presently go away.
Upon these views I began to consider about putting the few rags I had, which I called clothes, into some order; I had worn out all the waistcoats I had, and my business was now to try if I could not make jackets out of the great watch-coats which I had by me, and with such other materials as I had; so I set to work, tailoring, or rather, indeed, botching, for I made most piteous work of it. However, I made shift to make two or three new waistcoats, which I hoped would serve me a great while: as for breeches or drawers, I made but a very sorry shift indeed till afterwards.
I have mentioned that I saved the skins of all the creatures that I killed, I mean four-footed ones, and I had them hung up, stretched out with sticks in the sun, by which means some of them were so dry and hard that they were fit for little, but others were very useful. The first thing I made of these was a great cap for my head, with the hair on the outside, to shoot off the rain; and this I performed so well, that after I made me a suit of clothes wholly of these skins—that is to say, a waistcoat, and breeches open at the knees, and both loose, for they were rather wanting to keep me cool than to keep me warm. I must not omit to acknowledge that they were wretchedly made; for if I was a bad carpenter, I was a worse tailor. However, they were such as I made very good shift with, and when I was out, if it happened to rain, the hair of my waistcoat and cap being outermost, I was kept very dry.
This animal skin outfit that Crusoe fashions for himself is the most persistent in illustrations and engravings in various illustrated editions of Robinson Crusoe, as well as other cinematic remediations of Robinson Crusoe. This outfit symbolizes Crusoe's inventiveness and mastery of his environment, two of the qualities Defoe celebrates in his depiction of his protagonist as homo economicus, which provides a compelling account for why Crusoe has been most persistently depicted in his crafted clothing. Crusoe likens his crafted outfit to a "cap," "waistcoat," and "breeches," but qualifies his description ("that is to say," "they were wretchedly made," "I was a worse tailor") to indicate that these comparisons are mainly intended for his reader to have an understanding of the garments his fashioned clothing resembles, rather than exactly replicates.

Here are some curated images of how Crusoe has been depicted in some illustrated editions of the text throughout time. Most of the illustrations and engravings depict Crusoe in his animal skin garments, though some of the illustrations (like the 1790 edition, 1820 edition, and 1863 edition) depict Crusoe in his shirt, linen breeches, and stockings.

See the media gallery on "Robinsonades" to see how imagery of Crusoe and his life on the island has been adapted and remediated in subsequent texts.