One thing I found quite interesting in Part III was how honorably Foe treated Friday, especially compared to Susan. When Foe asked Susan to stay the night, she asks for Friday to stay as well. Foe offers that he has numerous beds but Susan suggests he just sleep in an alcove with a mat and a cushion and that would "be enough," (pg 137). Foe realizes Friday has potential and suggests "we must make Friday's silence speak," but Susan explains that everything she tries fails. Foe asks Susan to teach him to write because "he has fingers, and those fingers shall be his means (of speech). Even if he had no fingers, even if the slavers had lopped them all off, he can hold a stick of charcoal between his toes, or between his teeth," (pg 143). Foe urges Susan to educate Friday because Foe knows Friday is capable.
This particular passage was very interesting to me not only because Foe was desperately vouching for Friday, but also because it was so similar to the myth about Philomela. Foe expressed that Friday could write, and if he didn't have hands, he could write by holding a stick in his toes. The myth about Philomela also references cannibalism and "super natural powers" which are parallels to the novel. At the end of the myth, Philomela is turned into a bird in order to escape, which makes me wonder about the "ghosts" in Foe and what purpose they serve. Will something odd happen to Friday in order to help his "escape?"
We touched on this in class, but I think that one reason Foe is so nice to Friday is that he recognizes that part of the story Susan wants him to write involves Friday's own story. If he can substantiate Friday by treating him as an equal (ie. giving him a nice meal, a bed to sleep on, etc.) and teaching him to write, then maybe he can get at the silent story that seems to be the heart of Susan's idea for her novel. The problem lies in that Susan does not want Friday to be substantiated because if that happens, then he ceases to be her shadow and she loses control of him. Thus, Susan and Foe are again at odds in their approach to storytelling, but what neither of them realize is that both of these approaches leave them reliant on Friday and circling the buttonhole, unable to pin down exactly what it is that they want to tell.
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