Of all of the strange story lines weaving their way
throughout part III of Foe, I have found Friday’s to be most interesting. Susan
finds him to be an absolute enigma from the moment she meets him, and she is
constantly making assumptions about him, even before she knows that he cannot
speak. When Friday first finds her on the beach, she assumes he is a cannibal,
thinking that he “is trying my flesh” (6). Friday has no story to tell, so she
makes one up for him. This is best exemplified in her dialogues with him at the
end of part II. She sits next to him and questions, “where are you to meet a
woman of your own people?” (80). Susan thus names Friday’s desires for him, and
takes on an unwanted role as his mistress and keeper.
Foe, on the
other hand, sees Friday as a real human being. While Susan constantly babies
him and takes on his burdens, Foe attempts to teach him to write so that he can
express things for himself. Even when Friday finally shows some kind of
communication skill by drawing on the tablet, Susan only mocks it and tries to
take it from him. However, Foe points out, “Though you say you are the ass and
Friday the rider, you may be sure that if Friday had his tongue back he would
claim the contrary” (148). He is adamant that Friday has his own, unknown
thoughts and feelings, while Susan claims that his “desires are not dark to me”
(148). Susan once again demonstrates that she has falsely interwoven her own
desires with Friday’s. By the end of part III, she is a sort of prisoner in her
own fairytale.
The quote you chose about the "ass" and the "rider" is interesting on several levels. The fact that Barton claims Friday "rides" her is evidence of their connection. Barton feels like Friday is her burden. Coetzee uses Friday to symbolize different aspects of Barton's character--her uncertainty, doubt, connection to the island, and basis of her story that she desperately wants and needs told. All of these things (embodied by Friday) weigh down on her, like she is the "ass" carrying an unwelcome "rider" she cannot escape.
ReplyDeleteNick I agree with you on the way Susan and Foe portray Friday. I also found that this created a large gap in who Friday real is. We talked about the book having a hole in it because of Friday and I think that hole is formed from Susan and Foe. However I also think that Cruso has a large impact on the way people see Cruso. These three characters create Friday and it is frustrating as a reader because we know that is not who Friday really is. Friday is his own man and has a voice, but cannot share it because he has no tongue. I believe that Friday can find a way to share his thoughts, but Susan fears that because she will lose her story of the island. Cruso is dead and Friday cannot speak, so Susan is the only one that can describe the island. If Friday found his voice it would hurt Susan’s story. Susan and even Cruso and Foe, fear the unknown that is in Friday. Friday has all of these thoughts in his head, but cannot express and the potential that one day he will creates fear.
ReplyDeleteYour post brings up some very interesting ideas. The fact that Susan and Foe's perceptions of Friday help shape their own characters adds so much to the silence of Friday. Even the identity of Friday as defined by two of the reader's most important links to Friday is not pertaining to Friday so much as it is to the definers (Susan and Foe). I find this almost tragic that the self-centered dispositions of Foe and Susan prevent Friday from achieving character development.
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