Thinking Activity: J.M. Couetzee's novel Foe

 Hello Everyone!

I am Hinaba Sarvaiya, a student of the English department at MKBU. This blog is part of my academic activities and this task given by our Yesha ma'am. This task is based on J.M. Couetzee's novel "Foe".

About Author (J.M. Coetzee):-

John Maxwell Coetzee is a white novelist, literary critic, translator and university professor in South Africa. He moved to Australia in 2002. He is the first writer who twice won the Booker Prize, the highest prize in British literature. In 2003, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He is one of the most complex, innovative and intelligent novelists in contemporary writing. Coetzee’s creation includes thinking and trying on reality, history, philosophy, language, culture and many other aspects.

Coetzee’s identity of a descendant of the colonists, the postcolonial features in his works have become one of the hot spots in the study of his works. Coetzee in the context of postcolonial culture, explains in detail how Coetzee created his works in the context of postcolonial culture to solve the problems between history and the present, between history and novels.

About Novel:-

Foe is a novel by J.M. Coetzee was written in 1986, 267 years after the publication of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. Foe was written in response to DeFoe’s Robinson Crusoe and, through the words of J.M. Coetzee. Woven around the existing plot of Robinson Crusoe, Foe is written from the perspective of Susan Barton, a castaway who landed on the same island inhabited by "Cruso" and Friday as their adventures were already underway. Like Robinson Crusoe, it is a frame story, unfolding as Barton's narrative while in England attempting to convince the writer Daniel Foe to help transform her tale into popular fiction.

Friday's Characteristics and persona in for and in Robinson Crusoe.

Friday's is one of the main characters in Daniel Defoe’s novel. The man was a savage from the cannibal tribe. He was rescued by Robinson Crusoe on the twenty-fourth year of living on the island and named after the day it happened.

Robinson describes him as a man of twenty-six years with a pleasant appearance and kind look. From the pages of the book, we learn that he was a Caribbean native with dark eyes, hair, and tone of skin. Crusoe teaches him English and makes him a loyal servant for himself. Robinson treats his like his own child, who needs to be taught how to speak, behave and be obedient. 

The image of Friday became one of the most popular among writers of that time. He learns fast and helps Crusoe in everyday life, solving many problems, that are hard to cope with alone.

Indeed, Friday is a vibrant character in the novel, who is even more charismatic and colorful than his master. Though Robinson doesn’t appreciate intimacy with other human beings, he shows sympathy to his servant, who, in his turn, demonstrates his devotion to the rescuer.

At the end of the story, Robinson takes Friday with him, and they both leave the island. Though Crusoe left him alive and gave him clothes and food, Friday rewarded him with his loyalty, emotional warmth and vitality of spirit.

Is Susan reflecting the white mentality of Crusoe? (Robinson Cruseo)

Susan Barton describes her life during and after her time on the desolate island with Cruso. The major difference between the two novels is that Foe assimilates a woman’s voice into the highly masculine story of Robinson Crusoe. Barton’s time on “Cruso’s island” is spent in preoccupation with Cruso’s way of life, and life after her rescue is spent in reflection of her relationships with Cruso, Friday and Foe. 

This female voice is presented through the words of a male author, J.M. Coetzee, who presents Barton as a submissive supporting actress to the extremely dominant character of Robinson Crusoe.

Susan Barton, the narrator in Foe, finds herself shipwrecked on a desolate island with a man named Robinson Cruso. It does not take long for Barton to recognize her status on the island after she tells Cruso her story of being washed ashore. She says, “I presented myself to Cruso, in the days when he still ruled over the island, and became his second subject, the first being his manservant Friday” (Coetzee 11). Throughout the novel, even long after Cruso’s death, she describes the island as “Cruso’s island.” She finds herself as the mere female companion to the king and his manservant, Friday.

Who is the Protagonist in the novel?

Susan Barton is the voice of the novel, she is not the main character because she is most concerned with telling the story of “Cruso’s island.” J.M. Coetzee is a male author who uses the voice of Barton to convey a deeper understanding of Defoe’s male character, Robinson Crusoe. As a woman, she is used as an instrument to further define the characters and story of Robinson Crusoe. 

The beginning of the novel is focused on Cruso and his island, while the end of the novel is focused on Barton defining her relationship with Cruso and also her relationship with Friday. Through her meek subservience and her role as the supporting actress to the ever-present figure of Robinson Cruso, Susan Barton’s voice is lost. Coetzee uses her as merely a device to relay the stories of Cruso and Friday. 

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