Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe leaves home to see the world, only to find himself shipwrecked, leaving him stranded on a desert island for years, while Aphra's Oroonoko Behn is a royal prince-turned-slave who meets his ultimate demise in the African country of Suriname. Both Defoe and Behn use similar first-person narration techniques in their respective stories, and while this position is advantageous to each narrator's status within their texts, each narrator's reliability differs significantly. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. The absence of Behn's narrator from most of the events he describes serves to seriously discredit his narrative reliability. Although the narrator claims to have "often seen and conversed with [Oroonoko], and to have witnessed many of his mighty deeds" (2140), it is the detailed accounts she gives the reader of "what [she] could not be witness to” which becomes increasingly problematic. Aside from the events she personally witnesses, Behn's narrator is only able to convey a second-hand account that she receives “from the mouth of the main actor in this story, the hero himself, who told us all the events of his youth" (2137). At a certain point, when he talks about Oroonoko and Imoinda blushing at seeing each other, the narrator, although he was not present at this particular event, hypothesizes that "it is certain that both of these changes were evident, today, in both of these lovers" ( 2145). Again, although she does not personally witness these events nor does she in any way mention speaking directly to anyone other than Oroonoko himself, the narrator is ready to move away from a point of view of objectivity and to formulate hypotheses about the beliefs and emotions of the other characters: when the king reflects on his decision to enslave both Imoinda and Oroonoko the narrator explains that "he believed he had made a great conquest on himself when he had once decided, and that he had carried out what he had decided. He now believed that his love had been unjust” (2150). We again see the narrator's presumptions about Imoinda's emotions despite her fleeting presence when he explains that when "the prince gently woke Imoinda, who was not a little surprised with joy to find him there, she trembled with a thousand fears" (2149). Due to her absence for many of the critical events in the story, the secondary nature of her transmission of information, and her inability to remain objective, Behn's narrator is fallible. Although Robinson Crusoe remembers his story almost entirely by heart, it is through his ability to reflect retrospectively on his past adventures where he achieves reliability as a narrator. Robinson Crusoe often reveals to the reader what he remembers his thoughts to be at the time of any particular memory or situation, compared to what they are now in retrospect. Reflecting on his choice to defy his father's wishes and go to sea, Robinson Crusoe explains that "if [he] had had the good sense to return to Hull and to have returned home, [he] would have been happy" ( 14 ), recalling that he «looked at [his] condition with extreme regret» (32). Recalling his first sea voyage, Robinson Crusoe admits that "it was [his] great misfortune that in all these adventures [he] did not embark as a sailor" (16), recalling what a "loose and guideless man's companion [ he] was then” (16). In addition to these reflections, Crusoe does not hide from the reader when he is uncertain about the exact details of his story after escaping his captivity;master by stealing his fishing boat, Robinson Crusoe explains that in his stratagem to reach the coast, “he came to an anchor at the mouth of a little river” where “he knew not what, or where; nor of what latitude, what country, what nations, or what river” (22). When reflecting on his ability to grow various kinds of food on the island, Crusoe explains that "he had about two bushels of rice, and more than two bushels and a half of barley, that is, according to my guess, because at that time I had no measurements" (100). Of his first months on the island, Crusoe reflects that "[he] did not remember that [he] had had in all that time a thought which tended either to look upwards towards God, or inwards towards a reflection on [his ] own ways” (76), explaining that “he was simply careless of a God, or of a Providence; he acted as a mere brute according to the principles of nature” (76). he achieves reliability as a narrator through his tendency to reflect and provide the reader with comments about his past in retrospect, while also admitting his uncertainty about specific details. Although Behn's and Defoe's narrators differ significantly in their credibility in the short story In relation to their respective texts, both Robinson Crusoe and Behn's female narrator's position as narrators allow them to manipulate their position within the novel in a light that is advantageous to them as it comments on their social status and power. Behn's narrator establishes a higher social status than many other characters in the novel when she tells the reader that “[her] stay must have been short in that country, for [her] father died at sea and never arrived. (who was lieutenant general of thirty-six islands, besides the mainland of Suriname) was destined to possess the honor" (2162), adding that "as soon as [she] entered the country, the best house in it was presented [to her] ” (2163). Also significant is the way in which the narrator portrays her apparently close-knit relationship with the protagonist of the story, Oroonoko, as it highlights the power she is able to exercise on the text to place herself in a positive light; the narrator reveals that Oroonoko "had complete trust" in her (2162), while mysteriously disappearing during each instance of Oroonoko's "mistreatment" (2173). Like Behn's narrator, Robinson Crusoe also quickly lets the reader know that "[he] was born in the year 1632, in the city of York, of a good family" (5). Of his position on the island, Crusoe considers himself “lord of the whole manor; or if [he] pleased, [he] might call [himself] King, or Emperor of the whole country of which [he] possessed” (109), further indicating in a journal entry that November 6 meant that he was “ the sixth year of [his] reign” (117) of his “castle” (131) or “feat” (160). Finally, Robinson Crusoe's first meeting with Friday is highly indicative of the power he believes he possesses on the island: “I let him know that his name should be Friday, which was the day I saved his life. Likewise I taught him to say Master, and then let him know, that would be my name” (174). Although Behn's female narrator and Robinson Crusoe differ in the credibility of their respective narratives, their position as first-person narrator is significant to each text as it allows each narrator to position themselves in a positive light. While Behn's female narrator lacks credibility due to her absence in most of the events she describes, as well as her inability to remain an objective, third-party narrator, Robinson Crusoe achieves narrative reliability through her ability to reflect retrospectively. about his past. Both the.