Robinson Crusoe And Foe

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

KELEABETSWE MAGONGWA

MU10241473

ENGLISH 3

AAEN301

MS M. POTTER

ASSIGNMENT 1 – ROBINSON CRUSOE AND FOE

WORD COUNT – 1169

DECLARATION –

"I declare that this assignment is my own original work except for source material explicitly acknowledged, and that the same or related material has not been previously, or is being simultaneously, submitted for this or any other course. I also acknowledge that I am aware of University policy and regulations on honesty in academic work as set out in the Midrand Graduate Institute Conditions of Enrolment and of the disciplinary guidelines applicable to breaches of such policy and regulations."

Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe is a novel based on the life of Robinson Crusoe, a man who gets stranded on isolated island. J. M. Coetzee’s Foe is based on the same story, but written from a different perspective. This essay will contrast the different ways in which Friday is represented in Robinson Crusoe and Foe. Specific reference will be made to intertextuality, master and response narratives, Friday’s physical appearance, Friday’s relationship to Cruso(e), the significance of Friday’s name, his silence as well as how Cruso(e) civilises him.

The term intertextuality describes the relationship that exists between texts. A text is not seen as autonomous and authoritative, but it is seen as a re-write of a previous text. As such a present text cannot be completely understood without consulting the previous text, "One cannot understand an utterance or even a written work as if it were singular in meaning, unconnected to previous and future utterances or works" (Allen, 2006 pp.19). In this sense the texts are ‘talking’ to one another, therefore intertextuality is a discourse of texts. The author is not just an author, but he is a reader and so he reads, rewrites and then rereads the text. This can be seen as the "death of the ‘Author’ as sole authority of meaning" (Allen, 2006 pp.202).

Master narratives or grand narratives, which originated in the work of Jean-Francois Lyotard, are known as superior and universal truths that assist in the validation of Western culture. They are colonial in origin and are also known as originator narratives, in other words they "generate all the other stories" (Carico, 2008). Robinson Crusoe is an example of a master narrative. In contrast response narrative or counter narratives are a category of novels written by the ‘Other’ voice. These novels are postcolonial in origin and their objective is to "de-colonised the mind" (Chakraborty, 2003). Foe would be an example of a response narrative.

In the novel Robinson Crusoe, Crusoe describes Friday as having "European in his countenance" (Defoe, 1994, p.202), which softens his appearance showing that Friday is not black as one would assume. According to Crusoe, Friday’s hair is long straight and black, "not curled like wool" (Defoe, 1994, p.202). His skin is a yellowish-brown colour, not like other natives of America, but "a dun olive colour that had in it something very agreeable" (Defoe, 1994, p.202). Friday’s facial features are described as being narrower, which is understandable considering the fact that he’s given a European appearance. "His face was round and plump; his nose small, not flat like the Negroes’, a very well set mouth, thin lips and his teeth well set, and white as ivory" (Defoe, 1994, p.202). Later in the novel it is revealed that Friday is in actual fact Indian. In contrast, Cruso in Foe describes Friday as a black man, "a Negro with a head of fuzzy wool" (Coetzee, 2010, p.5). He is described as having a "flat face, small dull eyes, broad nose, thick lips, skin not black but a dark grey, dry as if coated with dust" (Coetzee, 2010, p.6), all of which are the norm within his race. In both novels Friday’s description is take from Cruso(e)’s perspective.

In Robinson Crusoe, Crusoe’s relationship with Friday seems to be that of saviour and saved. Friday expresses his gratitude to Crusoe for saving him from the ‘cannibals’ by doing everything that Crusoe asks him to do. This relationship can also display the "menace of mimicry", where Friday imitates Crusoe’s behaviour but he is not permitted to assert his independence, like a typical colonised individual (Mcinelly, 2003). To prove his loyalty, Friday says to Crusoe "Me die, when you bid die, Master" (Defoe, 1994, p.227). In Foe, on the other hand, Friday and Cruso’s relationship one of master and slave, because he has no tongue and thus cannot speak, resulting in him simply obeys instructions (Buday, 1988).

In Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, Friday’s name is not the name the man was born with, but it was the name that Crusoe had given him. By naming Friday, Crusoe shows his superiority and validates his authority over Friday, "thereby consolidating his resemblance to divine authority by creating the ‘Other’ on the very same day as God had created man" (Schörkhuber, 2009). Crusoe’s explanation for naming him Friday is that it was the day he had saved him, "the day I saved his life" (Defoe, 1994, p.203). According to Schörkhuber (2009) this explanation serves to strengthen Crusoe’s identity as master and ‘saviour’ while also serving as a constant reminder to Friday of how Crusoe gave him a second life. This process of naming the ‘Other’ is a way in which the coloniser strips them of their identity and giving them a new one, which is in line with their rule.

The novel Robinson Crusoe explains Friday’s silence in a metaphorical sense. Crusoe oppresses Friday by not sharing or even hearing what Friday has to say, he "ignores Friday’s story by omission" (Fulkerson, 2006). In Foe, on the other hand, Friday’s silence is literal. Friday’s tongue has been cut out and as a result he cannot speak. "He has no tongue… That is why he does not speak" (Coetzee, 2010, p.22&23). Friday’s silence becomes a form of defiance and rebellion, rather than a form of oppression. He silence does however oppress Susan Barton, because it does not allow her to relay his history, which means she is unable to tell the full story of what happened on the island (Mullins, 2009). Susan says "for though my story gives the truth, it does not give the substance of the truth" (Coetzee, 2010, p.51), because her story is fragmented.

In both novels Friday is civilised in a number of ways. Crusoe teaches Friday to speak English, alternatively Cruso only teaches Friday how to understand a limited amount of words/instructions, "as many as he needs" (Coetzee, 2010, p.21). In Foe, Susan Barton attempts to teach Friday to write but he only manages to write the letter ‘o’. In Robinson Crusoe, Friday is initiated into Christianity, which according to Crusoe is the "true knowledge of religion" (Defoe, 1994, p.216). Crusoe also educates Friday on how to use a gun. Cruso(e) in both novels dressed Friday in clothes in order to cover him up. But only Crusoe is able to get Friday to be proud of wearing such clothes, "well pleased to see himself almost as well clothed as his master" (Defoe, 1994, p.204). Friday’s clothes in Foe comprise of "a jerkin, and drawers to below his knees…, and a tall cap rising in a cone…, and a stout pair of sandals" (Coetzee, 2010, p.8), but since he feels uncomfortable in more and he often goes barefoot (Bailey, 2012).

This essay has contrasted the different ways in which Friday is represented in Robinson Crusoe and Foe. Specific reference has been made to intertextuality, master and response narratives, Friday’s physical appearance, Friday’s relationship to Cruso(e), the significance of Friday’s name, his silence as well as how Cruso(e) civilises him.