Foe may be the only book I've ever read that literally poses questions rather than implicitly answering them. Every couple pages, Susan is compelled to ask something new: to Foe, "Where shall I send my letters? Will you continue to write our story while you are in hiding? Will you contribute to our keep?" (61), and to Friday, "Did a slave-trader cut out your tongue, Friday? Was it a slave trader or Master Cruso?" (69). These are the things we're all thinking as we read, but it seems wrong for a character to state them outright. I always thought that books were supposed to make you think critically and ask the "big questions" without, you know, actually having to put the questions out there. And regardless of this bluntness, it immediately seems unfair on a visceral level to leave so many threads free-floating and unanswered. Mitchell Sanders from The Things They Carried would say it's "against the rules." Clearly, Friday's story is not going to be told, but much to my irritation, I'm forced to dwell on it anyway (thanks, Susan). What's interesting is that the protagonist herself has the same plight. She looks to Friday and Foe to satisfy her "cravings...to have our questions answered!" (79). In this respect, she takes on the role of reader in her own story.
In all realms of storytelling and all mediums, audiences detest leaving questions unanswered. Anyone else remember the series finale of Avatar: The Last Airbender? My reaction: "That can't be it!! What happened to Zuko's mom??!!" Cliffhangers are the worst. But in many ways, they inspire a storytelling process of their own. Actually, one of the co-creators of Avatar has a blog about storytelling, and posted on this very subject a while ago (in case anyone's interested: http://mikedimartinostory.com/ 2013/03/20/you-really-want-to-know-what-happened-to-zukos-mom/). The loose threads get readers (or, in this case, viewers) to invent their own end to the story. Whether or not this is the purpose of the questions in Foe remains to be seen.
I think its interesting that although that Friday's story is unanswered (and the character himself is alarmingly vague), this cliffhanger being unanswered is in itself a major thematic point of the book. I feel as if actually knowing the story kind of ruins the 'void' Susan keeps bringing up that she wants her story around. I liked the part in your link about the 'itch' that the readers have. The itch for everything in a story to be resolved, for us to finally know the fate of Zuko's mom. The book Foe kind of acts like poison ivy in this regard, we don't have any substantial evidence about Friday's tongue, Friday's existence, her daughter (?), or Bahia.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both of you in that at the end of the story nothing is really resolved and as Prof. Schwartz said, there really is no plot. However, I think that Susan's constant questions cause the readers to question her more and become insecure in how much of her 'story' we believe. The only source of information that we get is from Susan because Friday can't talk and Crusoe dies before arriving in Bahia. Therefore, we are dependent on Susan to tell us what happened on the island. However, she says that she will tell the story according to her desires, and we question how much 'filling in' she does in order to entertain us or close in gaps of unknown events. No matter how hard she tries to communicate with Friday to find out what happened to his tongue, she doesn't get an answer and continues to assume or create her own possibilities. I, personally, am left wondering what else she created and whether her 'story' ever even happened.
ReplyDelete