J.M Coetzee - Foe

Hello everyone,

This blog is a response to the task assigned by Yesha Bhatt Ma'am as part of a thinking activity. In which I am going to answer questions related to the novel by J.M Coetzee - name - Foe.

Who is J.M.Coetzee?

John Maxwell Coetzee[m is a South African–Australian novelist, essayist, linguist, translator and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is one of the most critically acclaimed and decorated authors in the English language. He has won the Booker Prize (twice), the CNA Prize (thrice), the Jerusalem Prize, the Prix Femina étranger, and The Irish Times International Fiction Prize, and holds a number of other awards and honorary doctorates.

Introduction of Foe:-

Foe is a novel by J.M. Coetzee published in 1986. It is an entire rewriting of Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe, the canonical novel of British imperialism. It is a written challenge to recognise the colonial and imperial ideologies embedded in Defoe’s book and thus in our society. Foe is above all a novel about silence, the silence of Friday. Through Friday’s silence, the author shows us that language can be an instrument of colonisation.

The novel examines the creative process of storytelling, not only the content of the stories but also the problems of their production as well as issues of gender, race and colonialism.

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.

Does it matter that Susan isn't able to tell her story? Does it matter that Friday does not tell him? Foe sets out to solve these questions but the non-solving of voice in Foe exacerbates the fact that there is a large gap in perception between a story and its teller.

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