Throughout the whole novel, Susan had been stuck on the idea of what happened on the island and the only way to express those thoughts was to write to Mr. Foe. Everything was about how she survived on that island with Friday and Cruso. Her focus even convinced her that her long lost daughter was not real, that she was still lost somewhere is Bahia. Susan's story is the island, but Foe is trying to understand the whole story of how Susan got there and what led her there.
Then we get to chapter IV, where we finally understand who is narrating the story and whose story. Just like Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, we find that Susan Burton is dead. She has died on the ship with the captain. The story ends with Foe in the presence of Friday and the silence that remains between them. This makes me question if the stories that are "told" by Susan are real. I also question if Friday really wasn't able to speak. Did Foe only create that aspect of the story to leave the reader wondering his story?
I also want to tie in from chapter III the story Susan supposedly told Foe. That there was a woman who spent the night with her friend, however, that woman had passed the day before. Therefore, she was talking to a ghost as well as embracing her. Is this foreshadowing Susan in someway? Did Foe experience this type of interaction with Susan to get this information for his story?
There are so many ways to interpret what truly happened in the novel. Who is Susan Barton? Is she Foe? Who holds the real truth in the story, Friday?
I really like how you mentioned the story from chapter III. I wonder if there were other stories or details in Foe that foreshadowed what was to come in part IV. This semester we discussed that if you reread a book, so you already know the ending, you get a whole new meaning from the story. You are usually able to pick up on little "breadcrumbs" in that text that lead to the big ending. However, you would of never picked up on those the first time through. I'm curious if we were to reread Foe after reading Part I4, would find the same thing?
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