Parental authority can be defined as the group of right and powers that the law accords to the parents of their minor children , to the end of their accomplishing the duties of protection , education , and support that are incumbent on them . In a lot of cases , the parental authority is given to the father , and it should be equally shared by the two parents, without any gender distinction .
Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe , is a novel rich with its varying themes . Among these , is a theme about fathers and sons , this theme acts , as a developmental tool which can be seen from the beginning to the end .
At the beginning , we are introduced to Robinson Crusoe and his father who wanted him to become a lawyer , and when he saw that Robinson has a big desire to go to sea and to be a sailor and a merchant through travel by ships to raise his fortune , he tried to persuade him to stay in the middle - class where he could be happy .
His father said that the life of a man firmly rooted in the middle class is happy because it is safe and comfortable , while the upper class people are ambitious and they put their lives in danger for the sake of fame and fortune . On the other hand , the life of lower class people is full of suffering and hard work . Therefore , Robinson's state is the most proper class to human happiness .
Instead , Robinson Crusoe defies his father by partaking in a voyage , but almost immediately when the wind began to blow , and the sea to rise in a most frightful manner , Robinson Crusoe , who had never been to sea before , saw this , as a sign that he was justly " overtaken by the judgment of Heaven " for his disobedience to his father , and for his wicked leaving of his father's house without letting anyone know .
In the beginning of Robinson Crusoe , the narrator deals with , not society , but his family’s views on , how he was bound to fail in life if his parents’ expectations of him taking the family business , were not met .
However , Defoe’s novel was somewhat autobiographical . “ What Defoe wrote was intimately connected with the sort of life he led , and with the friends and enemies he made .
These similarities are seen throughout the novel . “ My father ... gave me serious and excellent counsel against what he foresaw was my design , ” says Crusoe . Like Crusoe , Defoe also rebelled against his parents .