Exploring the Unspoken

Part IV of Foe is of particularly exciting because we finally confront the story's great silence and ever-present void, what Coetzee calls "the unspoken" (141). In Part III, "the unspoken" is quiet clearly defined for us: "Friday's silence" (142) and why he would sprinkle flowers on the water near the island (141). Moreover, Foe and Susan even describe how this silence must be breached by "[opening] Friday's mouth and hear what it holds: silence, perhaps, or a roar, like the roar of a seashell held to the ear" (142). This is, in essence, "the unspoken" heart of the story.

Part VI focuses on just this central void by literally transporting us there. The repeated phrase "The staircase is dark and mean" from Part III serves as a land mark, signaling to us that we are right outside Mr. Foe's house, just as Susan was at the beginning of Part III. We encounter the dead bodies of Mr. Foe and Susan in bed together along with the still living body of Friday. From here, the action of opening Friday's mouth parallels the exact description from Part III and therefore serves as yet another sign post, this time telling us that we are entering the heart of the novel. Thus, as we listen to "the sounds of the island" (154) emerge from Friday's parted teeth, we witness the unspoken heart of the novel become spoken.

From this point forward, it isn't as clear what goes on. It appears that the narrator (whose identity is not clear) discovers Foe's transcript for Susan's book in the dispatch box and is transported to the shipwreck near the island. Here, we descend into the seaweed and the shipwreck and into "the home of Friday" (157) where the narrator once again opens his mouth. The stream that pours out is the supposed heart of the novel and spreads across the world. What this stream is exactly, I can't say. For me, this is a part of Part IV that requires further analysis that I'm hoping tomorrow's class can initiate.

So as we prepare to discuss Part IV in class, I believe that we must work to understand what exactly is the stream that emerges and therefore the unspoken heart of the novel? How does this central meaning incorporate all that we have observed throughout the novel? And who is the narrator in Part IV and how does this anonymous narrator impact the conveyance of the story's meaning?