"Here In The Present Tense Nothing Is Making Sense"

Alright, so despite the misleading title, I'm not actually going to be talking about tense within Foe in this blog post, I'm going to be talking about Feminism and the empowerment of female characters, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to reference Guster (from one man wrecking machine- beyond that line the song really can't be applied to Foe anyways).
A question that arose for me throughout Foe was about the conception of Susan as an empowered character. Within Foe Susan routinely identifies herself as subordinant or without individual power. For example, she refers to herself as the Cruso's second subject on his island, "the first being his manservant, Friday." (11) Furthermore, she repeatedly suggests or even says that she is not able to tell her own story, not completely and meaningfully, and that she must tell it to a man who will put it together for her and bring her the meaning she seeks. Susan suggests this as she says, "return to be the substance I have lost, Mr. Foe"(51). Still, even as Susan disputes her own abilities to create meaning and stories, she does this throughout the novel. Although she says she cannot tell her own story, that is exactly what she does. Additionally, while Susan articulates her subordination to men, both in her description of life on the island as being under Cruso and her worries that without Foe her story cannot be complete, she also voices concern about the idea that she will be seen as under Cruso or that once put out her story will instead be seen by others as his as she says, "do you think of me, Mr. Foe, as Mrs. Cruso or as a bold adventuress?" (45)
Even though Susan sees herself as without power, to us as readers her power is clear. Though she speaks of the island as Cruso's, her experiences come across to us as complete and her own. Though Cruso may have been the first upon the island, to us the island is no more his than hers. While Susan says that she cannot tell her own story, it is clear to us that that's exactly what she's doing. Though Susan sees herself as powerless, it is clear to us that this is not truly the case.
That said, can we see Susan as a truly empowered character? While we see her power, she doesn't... is that enough? To be empowered do you have to be aware of your own power? I don't know. While I think Susan is clearly a strong and powerful female character, I'm not sure I'd be comfortable calling her empowered. At the same time, I find that it's hard to justify myself in that position.