The origin of feeling and objectivity

How does objectivity affect an individual’s feelings about themselves and their surroundings, and where do these feelings come from?

Quote 1: “Thus, fear of danger is ten thousand times more terrifying than danger itself, when apparent to the eyes; and we find the burden of anxiety greater, by much, than the evil which we are anxious about: and what was worse than all this, I had not that relief in this trouble that from the resignation I used to practise I hoped to have ” (Crusoe).

Quote 2: “The writers I discuss tend to tell-often within a single work – conflicting stories about the status of feeling. On the one hand, they assert that feelings are personal, that they have origins in an individual’s experience and are authenticated by their individuality. On the other hand they reveal that feelings may be impersonal; that one’s feelings may really be someone else’s; that feelings may be purely conventional, or have no discernable origin” (Pinch, 7).

For one reading Robinson Crusoe, it may seem his rationale and explanations go back and forth from being completely objective, to being completely persuaded by his passion. Crusoe spends a great deal of time contemplating things, and we as readers view his internal struggle between objective reasoning and wonderment of fanatical possibilities.  For example, when Crusoe sees the footprint at the other end of the island, he becomes extremely paranoid that the footprint he sees at the other end of the island is of the devil, yet later, through much internal reasoning, he discerns that if the devil was trying to scare him, he would have shown himself in a much more distinguishable manner, rather than leave a footprint in a place with a “one in a ten thousand” chance of Crusoe seeing it. Crusoe goes through a similar paranoia with the appearance of the savage remaining, and later seeing the actual savages themselves.

In the introduction of Strange Pits of Passion, Pinch discusses the commonality of eighteenth and early nineteenth century novels going into great depth of individual feeling, and where those feelings come from. This is portrayed in the quote above by Crusoe, in which he discusses how the feeling of fear of danger is much more terrifying than danger itself, and that our anxiety poses a greater burden than the evil itself. It is worthy to note how as Pinch discusses, Crusoe’s feelings of fear and anxiety may have their origins in his individual experience and may be authenticated by his personal paranoia, however they are also undoubtedly influenced by external causes such as the footprint and the sight of the savages’ remaining bones.