For by J. M. Coetzee

Foe by J. M. Coetzee 

Using the 1719 English novel Robinson Crusoe as a jumping-off point, South African author J.M. Coetzee’s novel Foe (1986) tells the story of castaway Susan Barton who enlists the real-life author Daniel Defoe (referred to here by his birth name, "Daniel Foe") to help render her tale into a work of popular fiction. According to New York Times journalist Patrick McGrath, the book's major theme concerns the "linkage of language and power, the idea that those without voices cease to signify, figuratively and literally."

About J. M. Coetzee:

John Maxwell Coetzee was born in Cape Town, South Africa, on 9 February 1940, the elder of two children. His mother was a primary school teacher. His father was trained as an attorney, but practiced as such only intermittently; during the years 1941–45 he served with the South African forces in North Africa and Italy. Though Coetzee’s parents were not of British descent, the language spoken at home was English.

Coetzee received his primary schooling in Cape Town and in the nearby town of Worcester. For his secondary education he attended a school in Cape Town run by a Catholic order, the Marist Brothers. He matriculated in 1956.

Coetzee entered the University of Cape Town in 1957, and in 1960 and 1961 graduated successively with honours degrees in English and mathematics. He spent the years 1962–65 in England, working as a computer programmer while doing research for a thesis on the English novelist Ford Madox Ford.

In 1963 he married Philippa Jubber (1939–1991). They had two children, Nicolas (1966–1989) and Gisela (b. 1968).

In 1965 Coetzee entered the graduate school of the University of Texas at Austin, and in 1968 graduated with a PhD in English, linguistics, and Germanic languages. His doctoral dissertation was on the early fiction of Samuel Beckett.

For three years (1968–71) Coetzee was assistant professor of English at the State University of New York in Buffalo. After an application for permanent residence in the United States was denied, he returned to South Africa. From 1972 until 2000 he held a series of positions at the University of Cape Town, the last of them as Distinguished Professor of Literature.

Between 1984 and 2003 he also taught frequently in the United States: at the State University of New York, Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, Stanford University, and the University of Chicago, where for six years he was a member of the Committee on Social Thought.

Summary of the novel:

In the early eighteenth century, Susan Barton awakens to find herself washed up on the shore of an unknown island. When a man of African descent approaches her, Susan fears he is a cannibal intent on killing and eating her. Rather than causing her harm, the man—whose name, we learn, is Friday—carries Susan on his back up a hill. There, Susan meets Friday's companion, Cruso, a white man who speaks English. Though Friday seems to understand English, he does not speak at all.

Susan explains to the two men how she ended up on the island: She had been in Bahia in South America, searching for her daughter who had been kidnapped. After staying there for two years and working as a seamstress, Susan gave up her search and hitched a ride on a merchant ship headed to England. While on the ship, she had a sexual relationship with the captain. One day, the ship's crew staged a mutiny, killing their captain and assaulting Susan. After the mutineers have their way with Susan, they cast her off in a rowboat along with the captain's dead body. After rowing for some time until her hands were covered in blisters, she spotted the island and attempted to swim to it, eventually losing consciousness along the way. 

On the island, Cruso and Friday share a small hut and subsist on lettuce and fish. They allow Susan to sleep in the hut with them, warning her not to wander off alone. The island, Cruso claims, is inhabited by wild, vicious apes. Cruso struggles to explain how he and Friday ended up on the island, and Susan suspects that the years of isolation have caused him to go mad. She also learns why Friday never speaks: He was a slave whose owners cut out his tongue when he was a child.

Over the next few months, the three survive amicably, though Susan is maddened by the fact that neither Cruso nor Friday seems to have any desire to leave the island. Susan is also frustrated by the pointless tasks Cruso busies himself with, like building terraces even though there is nothing to plant. One night, Cruso makes a half-hearted sexual advance toward Susan. At first, she is repulsed, reminded of the trauma she experienced on the ship. Later, she tells Cruso he can be with her sexually if he wishes. Cruso never makes another pass at Susan, and Susan doesn't press the issue. Meanwhile, Cruso suffers from recurring fevers.

About a year passes, and a ship finally comes to their rescue. At the advice of the captain, Susan pretends to be Cruso's wife and Friday their slave. Before the ship reaches England, Cruso's fever worsens, and he dies in a fit of depression, mourning his island home. Back in London, Susan contacts the famous writer, Daniel Foe, for help in writing her story, but the two sharply disagree over what to include in the book. Susan believes the story should focus on how she, Cruso, and Friday survived on the island. Foe thinks readers would be bored by such a story and insists that Susan tell him more about her time in Bahia, but she refuses. 

One day, Susan arrives at Foe's house to find that he has abandoned it to avoid creditors. She and Friday move into Foe's house, grow their own food in his garden, and sell off many of his belongings. Over time, Susan begins to feel a great deal of empathy for Friday who, she later learns, was also castrated by slavers. Hoping to send Friday back to his home in Africa, Susan travels with him by foot from London to the port town of Bristol, sleeping in barns and living like "gypsies." By the time they reach Bristol, the two are filthy and haggard. Susan realizes her plan is deeply flawed and that Friday will just be sold back into slavery if he is found on a ship.

Back in London, Susan reconnects with Foe who has returned home. He continues to badger her about her time in Bahia, believing that the scandalous tale of her ruined womanhood will delight readers. Again, Susan refuses to tell this story, reiterating her position that the story should be about the island and, more specifically, Friday's experiences. She feels a strong responsibility to tell the story of Friday because he has no voice to tell it himself. Foe suggests teaching Friday to write, but when given a slate and a piece of chalk, Friday simply covers it with O’s. That night, Susan and Foe have sex.

The book ends with a dream-like passage revisiting events from the first chapter. Rather than swim to the shore of the island, Susan plummets to the bottom of the sea where she finds a wrecked ship. Next to the ship's stern, Friday's body is lodged in the sand and covered in chains. Susan opens his mouth, and he finally "speaks," emitting a stream of water, “Soft and cold, dark and unending, it beats against my eyelids, against the skin of my face.” 

Foe is a powerful and philosophical tale about how stories are told, and who has the privilege of telling them. 

Q-1)How would you differentiate the character of Cruso and Crusoe?

This Robinson Crusoe is much more in tune with his own reality and interested in his own accomplishments than Foe's Cruso. This is also evident in the number of tools and objects that Robinson Crusoe makes in comparison to Cruso.

Robinson Crusoe’s name is changed to “Cruso” which marks the first in a series of differences between the character of Cruso(e) in Foe and Robinson Crusoe. The Cruso that Susan describes in the quote is one who is completely disconnected from reality and confused about his own past. When Susan questions Cruso about his history on the island the details in his stories vary wildly each time they are told. When asked if Friday was a child when he came to the island Cruso would sometimes exclaim, “Aye, a child, a mere child”, but other times Cruso would say, “Friday was a cannibal whom he had saved from being roasted”. This uncertainty about events could stem from the fact that in Foe, Cruso is very against keeping written documentation of his days on the island; proclaiming,

 “Nothing I have forgotten is worth remembering”.

Cruso’s lack of journaling is a stark contrast to Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. Robinson Crusoe is much less passive and senile in regards to his own development on the island. Crusoe kept a painfully detailed account of every action he does on the island in a journal he updates daily. Robinson Crusoe fills his multiple homes with various types of pots, tables, chairs, fences, and even a canoe. All of these items Crusoe builds are to improve and aide in his growth on the island, and he must be mentally sharp in order to build these items. Cruso in Foe has not put any effort towards building tools, as he only has a bed when Susan arrives at the island, and from the quote, it seems like he may not have the mental capacity to build these tools. Although Cruso does builds many terraces, he exclaims that they are for the future generations and not himself.

The difference in mindset and mental stability in the two Robinson Crusoe’s may be that in Robinson Crusoe, Crusoe felt that his island life had more value than Cruso did. Before becoming stranded on the island, religion wasn’t a focus in Robinson Crusoe’s life, and he frequently sinned; such as when he disobeyed his father. After becoming stranded on the island, Crusoe began to read the bible and incorporate God into his daily thoughts and actions. Crusoe expressed deep regret for his sinful past, and often attributed hardships to a lesson from God. This newfound lifestyle gave significant meaning to Crusoe’s daily actions as they represented growth in his faith, and a positive change in character. For Cruso, the island did not lead him to make any significant changes in his character or ideals. Therefore, his daily actions had less significance to him, and when his reality and sense of self began to slip away from him he was not concerned.

Q-2) Friday’s characteristics and persona in Foe and in Robinson Crusoe. 

Friday doesn’t need help, in reality, he’s a more complete and complex character in both Robinson Crusoe and Foe than any other character. Even Daniel DeFoe and J.M. Coetzee creates the illusion that the white European heroes in each of the stories know better than Friday and that their stories are more compelling than his, it can be argued, neither story's protagonists know best; in spite of the rampant white saviour complex and promotion of colonisation ideology.

Friday slowly emerges as the heart of the novel. He is a slave who lives on the island with the man who is ostensibly his master. Cruso says that a slaver cut out Friday's tongue many years ago and Cruso never taught Friday any language beyond the most rudimentary instruction. This inability to communicate leaves Friday trapped in a silent world. Friday leaves the island and travels to England but it is only at the novel's end that he comes close to being able to express himself. The journey toward this act of self-expression emerges as the narrative of the novel. Friday attempts to express himself in a number of different ways. He ritually scatters petals on the sea, he plays music on his homemade flute, and he performs frenzied dances. Friday imbues these actions with a private meaning that is unknown to the rest of the world. Susan is the only person who attempts to glean meaning from these actions but she fails to understand their significance. Friday is shut inside his silent world even when he is trying to communicate. Friday eventually learns to write. Though he can only write a single letter over and over, it is the first step toward a shared understanding of Friday's pain. Foe and Susan provide Friday with a voice by teaching him to write. Meaning no longer has to be projected onto Friday's actions. He finally possesses the tools to make the world understand his pain.

Q-3) Is Susan reflecting the white mentality of Crusoe (Robinson Crusoe)?

Through the words of J.M. Coetzee, the character of Susan Barton describes her life during and after her time on the desolate island with Cruso. Barton’s time on “Cruso’s island” is spent in preoccupation with Cruso’s way of life, and life after her rescue is spent in reflection of her relationships with Cruso, Friday, and Foe. This female voice is presented through the words of a male author, J.M. Coetzee, who presents Barton as a submissive supporting actress to the extremely dominant character of Robinson Crusoe. 

Susan Barton, the narrator in Foe, finds herself shipwrecked on a desolate island with a man named Robinson Cruso. It does not take long for Barton to recognize her status on the island after she tells Cruso her story of being washed ashore. She says,

 “I presented myself to Cruso, in the days when he still ruled over the island, and became his second subject, the first being his manservant Friday”. 

Throughout the novel, even long after Cruso’s death, she describes the island as “Cruso’s island.” She finds herself as the mere female companion to the king and his manservant, Friday. Barton rationalises Cruso’s role of king as she sees him “on the Bluff, with the sun behind him all red and purple, staring out to see…I thought: He is a truly kingly figure; he is the true king of the island” . Coetzee makes Barton the woman behind the man, defining her as a “free and autonomous being like all human creatures that finds herself living in a world where men compel her to assume the status of the Other”. Barton is quick to assume the submissive role on the island as the assertive character of Robinson Crusoe takes the lead on the island and in her story.

Q. 4) Who is the Protagonist? (Foe – Susan – Friday – Unnamed narrator)

Susan Barton is Foe's protagonist and storyteller. The story is written in quotation marks, which further emphasises Susan's role in retelling her tale first with Cruso on the island and later with Friday in England. Susan struggles for voice and gradually that voice is rendered voiceless. Although she is European and essentially part of the hegemonic power structure, once she becomes a castaway on Cruso's island she becomes a subaltern character like Friday, both colonised others adhering to Cruso's authority and lifestyle.

Old Man Cruso, although once part of the elite class, becomes far removed from social conformities and expectations. He was at peace with the solitude the island brought him and he had no desire to leave it. Ultimately by the end of his life Cruso represented otherness even if it was by his own choice. His last fever came on at the time of the rescue by Captain John Smith.

Even in this weakened state Cruso resisted leaving his island: But when he was hoisted aboard the Hobart, and smelled the tar, and heard the creak of timbers, he came to himself and fought so hard to be free that it took strong men to master him and convey him below.

Susan's narrative voice is initially strong on Cruso's island. She is inquisitive and implores answers from Cruso. At one point Susan asks him why he had not built a boat: 

"Why in all these years have you not built a boat and made your escape from this island?".

 Cruso responds,

 "And where should I escape to?" 

Susan realises it is a "waste of breath to urge Cruso to save himself". Susan cannot get through to this man and it is the first glimpse of her struggle for voice. Later in the story, Susan struggles with Foe as she did Cruso: 

"Finding it as thankless to argue with Foe as it has been with Cruso, I held my tongue, and soon he fell asleep".

Mr. Foe is the only character that has elite or patriarchal power. He realises Susan is hiding or denying something from her experience in Bahia. As the novel escalates, Foe tries to persuade Susan to disregard her story and envision the possibilities that are in his mind. In doing so. Foe marginalises Susan's voice by insisting on writing the 'other' story that Susan resists telling. Susan struggles to regain control over her own story, persisting that the island tale is significant in and of itself. Her refusal to tell her 'other' story begins to discredit her character and her credibility starts to wane. The emergence of the little girl and the nanny strike a chord with Susan. A dark undercurrent becomes prevalent in the novel and Susan's denial of these characters questions her authority:

But if these women are creatures of yours, visiting me at your instruction, speaking words you have prepared for them, then who am I and who indeed are you?

Friday's voicelessness permeates through the story with a resounding silence that transforms into a voice of its own. Susan attempts to teach Friday his letters by drawing words on a slate. Soon after, Foe and Susan find Friday at the desk making 'rows and rows of the letter o. This exemplifies Friday's voicelessness. Like his mouth, the letter is open in suspended silence, Friday's silence is his choice; a victory of resistance against his postcolonial oppression and it becomes the most significant voice in Foe. Friday's defiance is evident in the last pages of the novel. The narration in the last section of Foe departs from Susan and Mr. Foe to an unidentified narrator that culminates in a pivotal display of metafictional literature. The narrator dives into the wreck and finds Friday:

But this is not a place of words. Each syllable, as it comes out, is caught and filled with water and diffused. This is a place where bodies are their own signs. It is the home of Friday.

Word count: 4503