The rise of the novel is one of the most frequently debated literary topics in the history of literature. Scholars have always been divided into two camps debating whether William Baldwin's Beware the Cat or Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe is the first English novel (Mackay, 32). While on the one hand scholars such as Arthur F. Kinney and William A. Ringler argue that the revolutionary satire Beware the Cat should be considered the first English novel (Kinney, 398), on the other hand intellectuals of the caliber of James Joyce and Virginia Woolf argue that The Life and Strange Surprising Adventure of Robinson Crusoe, Ec. it is the text that started this new genre. Robinson Crusoe, in fact, is usually recognized as the first English novel because this book breaks with the standards of writing set by past literary tradition. The theme of religion, which was the central theme of 17th century writing, plays an important role in the book, but it is not the only theme touched by Defoe in the novel. According to Quentin G. Kraft, there are two main themes in Robinson Crusoe: spiritual autobiography and economic issues. These two themes, however, are not the only innovation that Defoe presents in Robinson Crusoe; in fact, the use of first-person narrative along with the values ​​embodied by Crusoe make Robinson Crusoe the first novel in English literature. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The English writer James Joyce describes Daniel Defoe as "the first English author to write without imitating or adapting to foreign works, to create without literary models" and to instill in the creatures of his pen a truly national spirit, to devise for himself itself a perhaps unprecedented artistic form” (321). Although Joyce is correct in describing Defoe as an innovator, his description of Defoe is exaggerated. It is indisputable that Defoe succeeded in doing something new; However, it is not true that he wrote the entire book without emulating other works. Much of Robinson Crusoe is based on the imitation of spiritual autobiography, a form of writing that had achieved its greatest success in the 17th century. As Kraft argues in his article “Robinson Crusoe and the History of the Novel,” the entire section of Robinson Crusoe in which Crusoe is on the island follows the typical pattern of spiritual autobiography. In fact, Crusoe is shipwrecked on the island after committing a sin, having disobeyed his father, and it is while he is on the island that Crusoe gradually turns to the Bible and is finally converted. Joyce also argues that Defoe's innovation lies in the way he describes Crusoe, who personifies all the values ​​of the perfect English man of the time who had to know how to adapt when necessary (323). In fact, when necessary, Crusoe becomes an inventor, a farmer, a teacher, a governor, a slave trader and a slave himself, breaking all social patterns and creating an extremely modern figure of man. He is a person of superior intelligence, with a great ability to adapt and a strong natural survival instinct. In Brazil, for example, Crusoe became the owner of a plantation and, captured by pirates, adapted to the condition of a slave. On the island Crusoe was able to build a shelter and produce milk and cheese. from goats, to create various tools and a canoe. Likewise, after being saved he transformed into a governor and merchant. Joyce is so amazed by Defoe's description of Crusoe that he defines it as a prophetic description of the English men of his century (323). The vivid and realistic description of Crusoe was achieved through the technique of first narrationperson. According to Malinda Snow, this storytelling technique represents a further turning point in the history of fictional works, and is another element that contributes to making Robinson Crusoe the first novel in history. In his article "The Origins of Defoe's First-Person Narrative Technique: A Neglected Aspect of the Rise of the Novel," Snow explains that the first-person narrative of Robinson Crusoe differs from the first-person narrative of spiritual autobiography. While the narrative style of Robinson Crusoe takes inspiration from the style of scientific literature, in which the narrator realistically reports visible details, the spiritual autobiographical narrative empathizes with the abstract description of the soul by focusing attention on the characterization of the emotion felt by the main characters, creating a narrative that is, for the reader, a sensitive spiritual experience (181). The fact that in Robinson Crusoe the descriptions are vivid and realistic is notable from the first pages of the book. For example, when Defoe describes the moment when the sea becomes calm after the first storm, he writes: “but towards night the weather cleared, the wind calmed down completely, and a lovely and beautiful evening followed; the sun set perfectly clear and rose like this the next morning” (8). The first-person narrator, as well as the careful use of adjectives, make the reader visualize the scene while reading. It is easy for the reader to identify with the first-person narrator who describes the scene in minute detail. Yet, when Defoe describes objects, animals, or people with which the reader is unfamiliar, he tries to bring unfamiliar images to mind by comparing the unfamiliar subject to things the reader already knows. A concrete example of this innovative technique can be found in Defoe's description of Friday. Defoe describes Friday's nose as "small, not flat like that of the negroes" (149) and his skin as "not quite black, but very tawny, as are the Brazilians, Virginians, and other natives of America " (149). When thinking of savages the English could easily think of the African slaves that were traded during the 17th century, so Defoe tries to make readers understand that Friday was different from the English's image of savages. The description of Crusoe's daily routine is also detailed and descriptive. The reader could easily transport themselves to the island with Crusoe and imagine adapting to this new, undiscovered world. When Defoe writes. "yet I built myself a little kind of arbor, and surrounded it at a distance with a strong fence, being a double hedge, as high as I could reach, well fixed and filled in between with undergrowth" (75), the reader, who he still doesn't know the island, he can imagine and visualize the shelter that Crusoe is building. It is in these descriptions that Snow's point is most visible: Defoe describes everything Crusoe sees and does as a scientist would record in a text everything he has studied. However, Robinson Crusoe is not only a book full of detailed descriptions, but it is also a book that explores the spiritual growth of its main character. The novelty of the story is given by the combination of these two elements. On the one hand there are all the typical characteristics of spiritual autobiography: the model of sin, repentance, forgiveness, the description of the protagonist's emotion and devotional growth; on the other hand there are all the elements of modernity: the economic question, the outward-looking first-person narrative and the fictional elements of the story. Both Kraft and Snow agree on this: the originality of the narrative is conferred by the synthesis of the various elements. In particular, Kraft argues that Crusoe's loss of religion to the. 283-288.