Robinson Crusoe Allegory
Many scholars and critics alike have observed the allegorical nature of Wakefield's work, citing its similarity to Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. The most obvious allegory within the story is that Unca is left on an apparently deserted island, where she is forced to fend for herself. Unlike Crusoe, however, her greatest weapons in aiding her to do so are her faith, her wits and her intelligence. She does have physical weapons - a bow and arrow and a knife - but she does not rely on them. Nonetheless the central tenets of Dafoe's story are present in Unca's, and her intent in converting the "natives" is also allegorical of Crusoe's.
Bow and Arrow Symbol
Unca is skilled with her bow and arrow and it symbolizes a great many things. The first is her Native American heritage and ancestry, her mother being a Native American and her father a settler.The bow and arrow is a symbol of her roots. It is also a symbol of her worldliness and the way in which she is different from the other girls she encounters during her education in England.
Bow and Arrow Skill Symbol
Unca tells her cousin that she will never marry a man who cannot use a bow and arrow better than she can. This is a symbol of her intention to remain unmarried, and should be a symbol to him of how completely mismatched she believes them to be. After all, a well-to-do man who has lived his entire life in England is probably going to have few, if any, bow and arrow skills, and so her use of this as a reason for refusing his proposal should symbolize to him how utterly unlikely she believes their union is.
Sun God Symbol
Unca dresses herself as the Sun God in order to convince the Indians to listen to her There is much symbolism in this action ; firstly, it is a symbol of her awareness that they are unlikely to listen to a woman but will listen to the authority of a male god who tells them to listen to a woman. This symbolizes the inequality between the genders.
The Sun God is also a symbol of the nature of the Indians; spiritual beliefs. There is some irony in Unca pretending to be a Sun God so that she can teach against idolatry, but she does it because the Sun God is a symbol of power to the Indians, and that means that his word is something that should be listened to.
Imperialism Motif
Although the story does not really dwell on slavery and imperialism, there are many brief references to it throughout. The first references Unca's grandfather, who is murdered by Indians because he is a plantation owner. The union between her father and mother is so frowned upon that her mother is killed because of it. Her father's ownership of a plantation is mentioned periodically throughout the work which reminds the reader of the colonial history of the white settlers and the way in which their settlements impacted the indigenous peoples there.
When Unca is living on the island, there are references made to the fact that many of the Indians begged to accompany her on her next expedition, which hints at accumulation and of her taking slaves with her on her journeys. This is a constant motif largely because Unca makes it clear that she considers herself superior to the Indians, and wants to maintain her position as teacher and leader within the community.
