We’ve talked a lot in class about
what different ways that Part IV of Foe could be interpreted, but, for the
enlightenment that comes with another perspective (and just for kicks), this is
how I interpreted Part IV. The motif of adventure carried through to the very
end in my eyes as the narrator of Part IV was a treasure hunter of sorts. He or
she came upon the writing apartment of Daniel Dafoe in order to find anything
which pointed in the direction of the “treasure.” After hearing the sounds of
the island spill out of Friday, the narrator followed this clue to the shipwreck
and then sought Friday’s guidance again. This time, Friday emitted pure and
chilling silence: nothing. Or is it nothing? A theme that we, in our
discussions, have dissected is that of the value of silence. Would this not,
then, be a very valuable treasure after all as long as the narrator is able to
appreciate it? This treasure theory is simple and honestly unsophisticated in
that it forces the artistic and vague concepts of this novel into the chains of
plot, but I find it very interesting that, even applying this interpretation,
the reader arrives at the same moral. I believe this to be a testament to the
power of Coetzee’s writing. No matter how or at what level the novel is
interpreted, the reader will be left with a new appreciation for silence.
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